A Study of Social Factors Influencing Tendency towards Divorce in Yasouj

Introduction The family is a vital and initial basic social institution that is essential for both personal and public health. Individuals are affected by the families not only biologically and physically but also in terms of emotional, psychological and personality needs. In sociological and demographic terms, the legal, religious and customary dissolution of marriage is called divorce. In a specific meaning, divorce include dissolution of the relationship between husband and wife in a permanent marriage, followed by an absence of responsibility for couples in terms of rights and duties of marriage (Hoseini Beheshti, 1358-322). Divorce is a social problem that affects peoplesâ lives severely. A look at the position of divorce in Iran shows that its rate has been upwardly increased in recent years. And this alone shows that divorce is an important problem. According to official statistics published by the Registry Office in 1380, 60559 cases of divorce have been registered. This number has increased to 98756 in 1385 and to 125747 in 1388. Kohgiloyeh and BoyerAhmad province has a high rate of divorce. In the city of Yasouj, for example, 1537 cases of marriage were registered in the year 1388, while 136 cases of divorce occurred. In other words, from each 11 marriages, one divorce occurred. But this statistics become worse in 1389 so that out of each 7 marriages one divorce occurred. One theory is that modern social changes instead of protecting the family, has lead to its collapse. This has a deep influence on health of the divorced or divorcing couples, their children and the health of society at large. So study and research about divorce from different dimensions seems to be essential. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to investigate social factors that are influencing tendency to divorce in Yasouj city. Materials & Methods The theoretical framework used in this study is a composition of exchange theory, social relationships within community, spouse similarity theory and theory of Randall Collins for explaining the tendency towards divorce. Based on the above theories, we developed 9 hypotheses including: 1-there is a significant relationship between educational difference of spouses and their tendency towards divorce. 2- There is a significant relationship between age differences and tendency towards divorce. 3- There is a significant relationship between levels of interaction with kinship groups and tendency towards divorce. 4- There is a significant relationship between sexual and emotional satisfaction with partner and tendency towards divorce. 5- There is a significant relationship between understanding the partner before marriage and tendency towards divorce. 6- There is a significant relationship between sense of loyalty and tendency towards divorce. 7- There is a significant relationship between level of emotional energy and tendency towards divorce. 8- There is a significant relationship between the main criteria for choosing a spouse at the time of marriage and tendency towards divorce. 9- There is a significant relationship between class difference and tendency towards divorce. The method of research is survey and research population include families of Yasouj city in 1390. Sample size included 384 individuals who were selected by using Cochran formula. Sampling method was multi-stage clustering method. A research-made questionnaire was used for data collection, whose face validity was confirmed and whose reliability was guaranteed by using Cronbach alpha coefficient. Discussion of Results & Conclusions According to the findings of this research, %54.7 of respondents had little tendency, %23.7 had medium tendency and %21/6 had strong tendency towards divorce. 8 hypotheses out of all research hypotheses were accepted and only one was rejected, that is, the relationship between spouse age differences and tendency towards divorce. The results of correlation coefficient tests show that there is a significant relationship between educational difference and tendency towards divorce. Also, communication with relatives and tendency towards divorce are in a reverse and significant correlation with each other. The fourth hypnosis was sexual and emotional satisfaction from wife and its relationship with tendency towards divorce. This correlation coefficient was significantly confirmed, showing that there is reverse relationship between the two variables. Results obtained from Pearson correlation test between understanding of spouses before marriage from each other and their tendency towards divorce is significant in a reverse direction. Also correlation coefficient test between loyalty to spouse and tendency towards divorce is significant and at a negative direction. There is also a significant and reverse relationship between the level of emotional energy and tendency towards divorce. Class differences of the families and tendency towards divorce is also in a significant relationship. According to the theories that were considered in this research, it can be concluded that exchange theory, with an emphasis on attractiveness as a principle, suggests that correspondence of opponent with criterion is important for mate selection. Also, violation from rules and norms of marital relationship can lead to divorce