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Family life and developmental idealism in Yazd, Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Jalal Abbasi Shavazi

    (Vienna Institute of Demography (Austrian Academy of Sciences))

  • Arland Thornton

    (University of Michigan)

  • Abbas Askari Nodoushan

    (Yazd University)

Abstract

Background: This paper is motivated by the theory that developmental idealism has been disseminated globally and has become an international force for family and demographic change. Developmental idealism is a set of cultural beliefs and values about development and how development relates to family and demographic behavior. It holds that modern societies are causal forces producing modern families, that modern families help to produce modern societies, and that modern family change is to be expected. Objective: We examine the extent to which developmental idealism has been disseminated in Iran. We also investigate predictors of the dissemination of developmental idealism. Methods: We use survey data collected in 2007 from a sample of women in Yazd, a city in Iran. We examine the distribution of developmental idealism in the sample and the multivariate predictors of developmental idealism. Results: We find considerable support for the expectation that many elements of developmental idealism have been widely disseminated. Statistically significant majorities associate development with particular family attributes, believe that development causes change in families, believe that fertility reductions and age-at-marriage increases help foster development, and perceive family trends in Iran headed toward modernity. As predicted, parental education, respondent education, and income affect adherence to developmental idealism. Conclusions: Developmental idealism has been widely disseminated in Yazd, Iran and is related to social and demographic factors in predicted ways. Comments: Although our data come from only one city, we expect that developmental idealism has been widely distributed in Iran, with important implications for family and demographic behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Jalal Abbasi Shavazi & Arland Thornton & Abbas Askari Nodoushan, 2012. "Family life and developmental idealism in Yazd, Iran," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(10), pages 207-238.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:26:y:2012:i:10
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2012.26.10
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    3. Arland Thornton & Georgina Binstock & Kathryn Yount & Mohammad Abbasi-Shavazi & Dirgha Ghimire & Yu Xie, 2012. "International Fertility Change: New Data and Insights From the Developmental Idealism Framework," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 677-698, May.
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    8. Djavad Salehi‐Isfahani & M. Jalal Abbasi‐Shavazi & Meimanat Hosseini‐Chavoshi, 2010. "Family planning and fertility decline in rural Iran: the impact of rural health clinics," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(S1), pages 159-180, September.
    9. Abbas Tashakkori & Vaida Thompson, 1988. "Cultural change and attitude change: An assessment of postrevolutionary marriage and family attitudes in Iran," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 7(1), pages 3-27, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Serap Kavas & Arland Thornton, 2020. "Developmental Idealism and Beliefs About Marriage and Fertility in Turkey," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(1), pages 47-75, February.
    2. Akbar Aghajanian & Sajede Vaezzade & Javad Afshar Kohan & Vaida Thompson, 2018. "Recent Trends of Marriage in Iran," The Open Family Studies Journal, Bentham Open, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; marriage; Iran; family change; modernization; developmental idealism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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