Gender considerations of demographic attitudes in Iran

Abstract

This research paper primarily focuses on gender considerations of demographic attitudes in Iran. More specifically, it has three major research objectives. First, it examines whether males and females hold varying demographic attitudes. Second, it aims to explore the effects of gender perceptions on demographic attitudes. Third, it takes a comparative approach to investigate whether and how demographic attitudes are affected simultaneously and comparatively by sex and gender attitude. Five key components have been measured in the course of study: childbearing desires, attitudes towards the current official population policy or the so-called pronatalism, and attitudes towards emigration, divorce, and women’s age at first marriage. In addition, the term sex refers to both males and females, while their gender attitudes are measured on the basis of the respondents’ views on working women. This is a survey-based study with samples including 5200 males and females aged 15 years and more from the selected rural and urban areas of Iran. Outcomes of the research analysis support the key notion of the contemporary scholars of gender theory: a comprehensive knowledge on gender considerations of demographic attitude requires not only to going beyond the simple differences between males and females, but also to take into account the effects of gender attitudes of both sexes from comparative and simultaneous perspectives.

Keywords

• gender difference
• demographic attitudes
• males and females
• gender attitude
• socio-cultural analysis
• iran