WOMENS STUDIES
Year:2012 | Volume:10 | Issue:1 (30)|Papers Count:9

The purpose of this study is to compare social commitment, happiness and mental health among teenagers and young high-school and university students distinguished by their gender. Research methodology is descriptive and non-experimental. The sample consists of 293 high-school and B.A.-level college students chosen randomly for the study. The data analysis consists of the statistical method of one way analysis of variance, and the Shefe's post hoc test. The findings show that there is a meaningful correlation between age and the context and intensity of positive experiences and the level of social commitment. There is also a meaningful correlation between gender and the context and intensity of positive experiences and the level of social commitment. It was also found that those whose social commitment level is self-centered or self-indulgent, experience more anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction and depression compared to those who have social commitment towards others. These have also lower mental health. Moreover, those who present their happy experiences containing high intensity as their source of happiness enjoy a higher level of mental health.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of forgiveness training on post-divorce adjustment in divorced women. Participants were 30 available divorced women who agreed to take part in the study. They were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The study was of pre-test/post-test design with control-group type. The main hypothesis of the study was forgiveness training will enhance post-divorce adjustment in divorced women. Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale was used in order to collect the data. ANOVA and MANOVA were administered to analyze the data. The results confirmed all research hypotheses and showed that forgiveness training enhanced feelings of self-worth (p<0.001, F=18.48), disentanglement from love relationship (p<0.03, F=4.71), social trust (p<0.001, F=21.38), and social self-worth (p<0.001, F=19.27) and decreased feelings of anger (p<0.01, F=7.05) and symptoms of grief (p<0.001, F=30.73) in divorced women.

The purpose of this article is to study the prevalence of cosmetic surgery among women in Tehran and to determine factors influencing women toward such surgeries. The study was conducted via survey research method using the questionnaire as the data gathering technique. This research through the questionnaire examined 426 females residing in Tehran. The findings show that about 15 percent of the respondents have had cosmetic surgery of some kind. Most of the women were under 35 years of age, single, college-educated at the B.A. level, and of the middle class. The majority of the women expressed that their main motivation for going through these operations was to enhance their beauty as a factor for upgrading the self-confidence. The willingness to be operated on was affected by individual characteristics as well as by the influence exerted from outside. So that the number of singles, with higher education, those who hadnegative body image, and who had lower self-esteem was greater compared to other groups. Among other influential factors persuading women toward cosmetic surgery were: the family and friends, relatives, spouses, doctors, TV, and the satellite channels. The following characteristics were irrelevant: age, employment, class base, life satisfaction, religious beliefs, and attitudes.

This article investigates the role demographic transition plays in sociological changes occurring in the family. Does family structure in various stages of demographic transition differ? It is used from demographic transition theory as theoretical framework of research. The data of survey value world and population bureau of United Nations for 50 countries have been used for empirical test of research hypothesis. The results showed that family structure is different in countries according to demographic transition stages. Some countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Iraq, Zambia, etc. which are in primary stages of the first demographic transition, the family possesses much significance. They exhibit positive attitude toward marriage and family formation. But in countries which are in second stage of demographic transition, such as Sweden, Finland, France, etc. the family is of little importance. The attitude toward marriage and family formation is negative. The trend of marriage changes and attitude toward family and marriage in some countries such as Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia, etc. show that the role of cultural factors and especially Islamic teachings are so important in forming family and family importance. Therefore the trend of second demographic transition is not nonlinear and it is different according to cultural structure of countries.

This study investigated the effects of emotional safety training on marital conflict of the married women in the city of Isfahan. A semi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test design was carried out to pursue this purpose. Statistical population of this research included all the married women with at least one year experience of marital life who referred to cultural center in Isfahan.  Research sample included 40 married women who were selected within availability sampling method and randomly assigned in control and experimental groups. The research tool was the marital conflict questionnaire, with five subscales included perceptional difference, interaction, power/control, affects/needs and environmental factors. Experimental group took part in 8 sessions of emotional safety training once a week. Covariance analysis was used to analyze the data collected by SPSS software. The result indicated that emotional safety training significantly influenced marital conflict and all its dimensions (P<0.05).

This study concerns female teachers’ experiences of conducting simultaneous roles at work and home and its effects on their teaching performance. The research adopted a qualitative approach and the target group was a sample of 20 female teachers who were selected through a purposeful sampling method. The teachers in this sample were married, had children, and having had performed more than five years of teaching experience at high-school level in the city of Ezeh. The findings showed they mainly suffer from an overwhelming pressure of the conflicts between their various roles at work and home.  They experienced different scenarios of conflict, stress, and feeling of failure in diverse aspects of their roles. As their husbands do not mainly contribute to housework, this lack of support is one of the major contextual elements in creating such stressful situation.  Their experiences of work-family conflict have been reflected in two main categories of ineffective teaching and selecting teaching as their carrier.  Female teachers had to employ a number of coping strategies to overcome the pressure and stress in their roles which finally had a negative impact on their teaching performance and students’ learning.  Moreover, their assumptions about the features of teaching as a profession, including not working with men and to have more free time to spend on housework, was one of the reasons which led to this situation. Finally, the paper concludes that existence of a number of contextual elements and the conflicts between their roles at work and home cause an ineffective teaching in the target group in this study.

Participation of the Iranian rural women in economic activities, especially in agriculture, is an indisputable fact. This presence in the economic areas reduces production costs and increases household income. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of individual and family characteristics of rural women on their motivation in participating in agricultural activities. Statistical population includes all rural women who reside in Asara (Karaj) and are older than 15 years old (N=2810). A sample of 110 rural women was selected by using proportional random sampling method. The research results indicate that there is positive and significant relationship between motivation of participating in agricultural activities and household size, number of children and level of using agricultural technology while there is negative and significant relationship between the dependent variable and level of literacy and household income. In addition, married womenhad stronger motivation for participating in agricultural activities than the single one. The multiple regression analysis showed that using information resources, using agricultural technology and level of literacy explain 25.6 percent of variations in level of motivation of rural women participation in agricultural activities.