Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Fatemeh Hamzavi Abedi ¹
• Fatemeh Bagherian ²
• Mohammad Ali Mazaheri ³

¹ Ph.D. Student in General Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University

² Assistant Professor, Psychology Dept. Shahid Beheshti University

³ Professor, Psychology Dept. Shahid Beheshti university

Abstract

Aims: People’s understanding of their social world has a significant impact on their behavior. Their perception of their role in society and social expectations of them are important parts of this understanding. This study investigated young -18 to 25 year old- women’s perception of femininity and the social expectations related to it. Method: The study used descriptive design and availability sampling. Forty-five female students from Fars, Turk, and Kurd ethnicities participated voluntarily in this explorative study. Seven focus groups, each consisting of 6-8 participants discussed femininity, social expectations from women, and their experiences in this regard. Results: Content analysis of focus groups discussions revealed 8 themes in young women’s perception of feminine norms. The most important of these themes were success-directedness especially in education on one hand and chastity on the other hand. Conclusion: The findings revealed that there are notable similarities between young Iranian women’s perception of feminine norms with those of young women from other cultures. On the other hand, norms such as chastity, religiousness, and respect for elders are among themes that distinguish our findings from western studies’ results.

Keywords

• femininity norms
• perception of social expectations
• young women

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