نفیسه معصومی

Abstract

The present study aimed to comprehensively explain “women’s narratives of contractual conditions in cohabitation.” The statistical population of this study was married women in Tehran who had been married for at least four to five years and had a contractual condition in their marriage contract. This study analyzed and collected data (obtaining common patterns and themes) using semi-structured interviews with ۱۶ Tehrani women who had experience in making conditions, in accordance with the purposive sampling method and the principle of theoretical saturation - and the qualitative approach of thematic analysis (based on the Brown and Clark method). The findings were extracted in five key areas: motivations, process and challenges of setting conditions, contexts of realization, mutual consequences, and preferential conditions. In this section, these findings were examined in direct dialogue with key theoretical concepts (such as agency, fluid commitment, risk management). The findings show that women in Tehran consider contractual conditions in order to prevent and manage possible future risks, equality, independence, and preservation of their identity. In this direction, the existence of a context of informed cultural and social capital and communication skills facilitates the process of stipulation. However, the consequences of these conditions, depending on the circumstances, can be life-saving or a factor in escalating tension. The realization and implementation of the conditions requires conformity at the relational, cognitive, and institutional levels, and the weakness of the guarantee of the implementation of laws against psychological abuse and cultural pressures is one of its main obstacles.

Keywords: Conditions of marriage, cohabitation, fa Abstract