Pros and cons of Covid-19 in Iran: How Coronavirus outbreak has affected culture and living style of people of this ancient land

Abstract

ABSTRACT Covid-19 outbreak has affected the lives of many Iranians and also many people around the world. Since the outbreak of Coronavirus was coincided with Nowruz holidays, many Iranians have been forced to reduce their commuting and most of them have canceled their Nowruz travel plans, but these restrictions did not end with travel cancellations, and people were forced to change their lifestyle and culture. But do these lifestyle changes have any benefits, other than reducing the risk of Covid-19 outbreak? This study examines whether the Coronavirus outbreak has affected Iranian people’s culture of life, positively or negatively. For this reason, 167 Iranian individuals (123 females, 44 males) were selected for this study. A semi-structured interview was performed through voice and video calls and it aimed to explore positive and negative consequences of Coronavirus outbreak on their culture and lifestyle. The results of the study showed that Covid-19 pandemic has been significantly affected people’s emotions and stimulated their sense of empathy for other individuals. Besides, the participants asserted that the decrease in people’s presence in environment, have affected the environment, positively. They also said that cyberspace played an important role during home quarantine and they benefited from it for their education and family conversation. Unlike those who emphasized on positive aspects of Covid-19 outbreak, individuals who were employed declared that technology and cyberspace, have not had a major role for their working and their jobs suffered irreparable financial loses.