Predictors of intention to marriage based on theory of planned behavior among university students in Iran
Keywords:
Marriage, Students, Single person, Theory of planned behaviorAbstract
Introduction: Marriage is a social capital in society, so that makes the behavioral and social stability of parents and children in a generation, productive. Various factors can affect the intention of marriage, including individual, economic, social and cultural factors. The present study aimed to determine predictors of university students' intention to marriage based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB).
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among 192 single students (Master and PhD students with five to seven years of dentistry and medicine) in Hamadan, in 2014. The samples in this study were selected through convenient sampling. The data collection tools were demographic and TPB questionnaires. A questionnaire based on the TPB model was used in order to assess attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention. Data were analyzed by using SPSS16 and descriptive indexes, independent-samples t-test, One-way ANOVA and multivariate linear regression at 95% significant level.
Results: The results showed that attitudes toward marriage (β=0.217; p=0.001), subjective norms (β=0.366; p<0.001), and perceived behavioral control (β=0.279; p<0.001) significantly predicted students' intention to marriage. The TPB constructs explained 44% of the variance of intention.
Conclusion: Results indicated that strategies to improve the intention of marriage can include: expression of psychological needs such as having a companion, the importance of responsibility, society attitude of marriage, parents and marriage, the importance of the decision-making power and job position.
References
Steinmetz SK, Sussman MB, editors. Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer Science & Business
Media; 2013.
Jackson C. Introduction: Marriage, gender relations and social change. J Dev Stud. 2012; 48(1): 1-9. doi:
1080/00220388.2011.629653.
Palamuleni ME. Socioeconomic determinants of age at marriage in Malawi. Int J Sociol Anthropol. 2011;
(7): 224-35.
Jones GW. Delayed marriage and very low fertility in Pacific Asia. Population and Development Review.
; 33(3): 453-78. doi: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2007.00180.x.
Ola M, Mathur R. Is marriage essential for good physical and mental health of women? Indian Journal of
Health and Wellbeing. 2016; 7(3): 359-62.
Peng TN. Trends in delayed and non-marriage in Peninsular Malaysia. Asian Population Studies. 2007;
(3): 243-61. doi: 10.1080/17441730701746391.
Miriam M. Determinants of delayed male marriage in Egypt. The stanford journal on muslim affairs. 2011;
(1): 22-9.
Weir K, Pierce LM, Lucey C. Establishing Innovative Student Training Clinics for Counselor Educators
and Marriage and Family Therapists. CLEARvoz Journal. 2014; 1(1): 19-34.
Heydari J, Jafary H, Afzali M, Mohamadpor R, Mahmodi G. Assessing unmarried students’ marital criteria
in mazandaran university of medical sciences in 2006. Iranian Journal of Nursing Research. 2008; 3(10):
-60.
The National Organization for Civil Registration of Iran, Statistics and Information Office of Population
and Migration. Analytical report of the event registration of marriage and divorce in the country with
emphasis on national and international population indicators in 2010. 2016; 13-4.
Institute of Labour and Social Security. Comparison of marriage and divorce in iran 2010-2011. Journal of
Work and Society. 2012; 148: 75-80.
Heydari J, Jafary H, Afzali M, Mohamadpor R, Mahmodi G. Criteria of marriage for single students of
Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Iranian Journal of Nursing Research. 2008; 3(10): 56-62.
Rezadoust K, Mombeni I. The relationship of income, graduation and other variables with delay in
marriage among single employed woman. Journal of applied counseling. 2011; 1(1): 105-22.
Hazrati Z, Bahiraee E. Social factors influencing age at marriage, female students (case study: working
students in 1390 to study at Islamic Azad University, Science Research). Sociological studies of Iran. 2012;
(4): 1-15.
Glanz K, Barbara K, Rimer K. Health Behavior And Health Education Theory, Research, and Practice. 4th
ed. Jossey-Bass: 2008; 23-38.
Ajzen I. The theory of planned behavior. Organisational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 1991;
(2): 179-211. doi: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T.
Glanz K, Barbara K, Rimer K. Health Behavior And Health Education Theory, Research, and Practice. 4th
ed. Jossey-Bass: 2008; 67-92.
Wang Y. Consumers' purchase intentions of shoes: theory of planned behavior and desired attributes.
International Journal of Marketing Studies. 2014; 6(4): 50-8. doi: 10.5539/ijms.v6n4p50.
Fila SA, Smith C. Applying the theory of planned behavior to healthy eating behaviors in urban Native
American youth. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2006; 3(1): 1-10. doi:
1186/1479-5868-3-11.
Gholamnia Shirvani Z, Ghofranipour F, Gharakhanlou R, Kazemnejad A. Determinants of physical activity
based on the theory of planned behavior in Iranian Military Staff's Wives: a path analysis. Global journal of
health science. 2015; 7(3): 230-9. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v7n3p230.
Dumitrescu AL, Wagle M, Dogaru BC, Manolescu B. Modeling the theory of planned behavior for
intention to improve oral health behaviors: the impact of attitudes, knowledge, and current behavior. J Oral
Sci. 2011; 53(3): 369-77. doi: 10.2334/josnusd.53.369. PMID: 21959666.
Williams SL, French DP. Theory of planned behaviour variables and objective walking behaviour do not
show seasonal variation in a randomised controlled trial. BMC public health. 2014; 14(120): 1-10. doi:
1186/1471-2458-14-120.
Borhani M, Rastgarimehr B, Shafieyan Z, Mansourian M, Hoseini SM, Arzaghi SM, et al. Effects of
predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors on self-care behaviors of the patients with diabetes mellitus
in the Minoodasht city, Iran. J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2015; 14(27): 1-6. doi: 10.1186/s40200-015-0139-0.
Ajzen L, klobas J. Fertility intentions: An approach based on the theory of planned behavior. Demographic
Research. 2013; 29(8): 203-32.
Ibarra-Rovillard MS, Kuiper NA. Social support and social negativity findings in depression: perceived
responsiveness to basic psychological needs. Clin Psychol Rev. 2011; 31(3): 342-52. doi:
1016/j.cpr.2011.01.005. PMID: 21382539.
Rodrigo-González A, Caballer-Tarazona M. A model to assess students’ social responsibility behavior
within a classroom experiment. Int Rev Econ Educ. 2015; 18: 62-82. doi: 10.1016/j.iree.2015.01.002.
Collins S, Witkiewitz K, Larimer M. The theory of planned behavior as a predictor of growth in risky
college drinking. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2011; 72(2): 322-32. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2011.72.322. PMID:
, PMCID: PMC3052901.
Farzadnia S, Giles H. Patient-Provider Interaction: A Communication Accommodation Theory Perspective. IJSCL. 2015: 3(2): 17-34
Hamdan S, Mazariegos D, Melhem NM, Porta G, Payne MW, Brent DA. Effect of parental bereavement on
health risk behaviors in youth: a 3-year follow-up. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012; 166(3): 216-23. doi:
1001/archpediatrics.2011.682. PMID: 22393180, PMCID: PMC3739453.
Lee C, Geiger-brown J, Beck K. Intentions and willingness to drive while drowsy among university
students: An application of an extended theory of planned behavior model. Accid Anal Prev. 2016; 93:
-23. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2016.05.002. PMID: 27180286.
Gutnik LA, Hakimzada AF, Yoskowitz NA, Patel VL. The role of emotion in decision-making: A cognitive
neuroeconomic approach towards understanding sexual risk behavior. J Biomed Inform. 2006; 39(6): 720- 36. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2006.03.002. PMID: 16759915.
Seyfzadeh A, Ghanbari A. A Study on the Factors Affecting University Students' Attitudes on Marriage in
Mahalat Payamnoor University. Sociol Stud Youth J. 2014; 5(15): 89-114.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 KNOWLEDGE KINGDOM PUBLISHING
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
