Temporary Marriage: Attitude and Tendency in Iran

Abstract

This study introduces temporary marriage (Siqa) and evaluates and investigates peoples' attitudes and tendencies toward it. Participants were 395 residents of Tehran. An attitude questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive results of the study showed that there was at least one case of temporary marriage in the families or relatives of the study population. Participants considered the following as the most important obstacles to temporary marriage in Iran: culture, family objections, logical objections, and permanent wife's objection. The comparison between the different groups showed that men, single people, employed people, and people with a history of temporary marriage in their family have a tendency toward temporary marriage. Although 25% of the study population was inclined to temporary marriage, its prevalence in society is about 9%. The main reason for its underdevelopment is the societal obstacles, expecially culture and family.