Youth and Love Eflect of Social Context on Conceptualization of Love Relationships

This artkle stadie, the social context effecr on conceptuaHzatioo of love n,Jat;ooships among the youth. Questfo,s addn,ssed here include the effecr of concept of love on youths' view,, underntaoding love-,eJated hehavio,s, examfuing pathologkal outcome, a,i,iog from love expe,iences and strategfo, used by the youth. This <esean,h has been based on quaHtative methods, g,ounded theo,y and sem;.,tructuced inten,iew technique. A goal-orieoted sampling method was used to ioten,iew young people betweeo 19-JO years of age, who Hve in Tehran, and who have experienced love. Data ceding yielded useful categories. Tbe aoaJysis of these categories fumished an uoderntaodfug on a pheoomenoo which govern, modem mmanee celat;onships of youog people in lran. This phenomenon fa named 'P<uposive risk'. Moce spedfieally, despite socfal changes, which have, among other tlungs, inecea.sed the age of marriage, the society keep, emphasizing that an enhancement of gfrls' social vaHdity ;, obtained almost solely through marriage. Tlus idealfatic baekg,ound of love celatiooships cooted in social envimoment puts social cestrict;ons on opposite-sex celationslups, eausfug boys and gi,Js to have less cognitional uoderntandfog of each other thmugh socialization, and thus thefr peceeption tnt, toWacds idealistic imagfuat;ons of love. Moceovec, this land of social validity, as alluded to, is s~essed by society which provides gfrls with man/age anxiety. Thecefo,e, girls have to accept the cisk of pce-marrfage celatioaships with the ult;mate aim of achievO,g marriage which ;, called here as P<uposive risk wheceas such a phenomenon has not been observed in boys.