Introduction
Early marriage has been emphasized in different societies and cultures. Evidence suggests that married people live longer and have better quality of life than single people. The best age to marry is 22-25 years. However, nowadays, marriage is not a high priority for young people, and academic, occupational, and social achievements are more important for them, and marriage is postponed until these achievements are achieved. Therefore, it is necessary to study individual and personal factors along with external factors. This study aims to identify the psychological factors that prevent Iranian women from marriage.

Methods
This is a qualitative study that was conducted in 2023. Fourteen single women aged 26-41 years in Tehran, Iran were purposefully selected. To identify the psychological factors postponing the marriage, semi-structured interviews were conducted, each taking 27-84 minutes. At the beginning of the interviews, the main open-ended questions were asked. Then, according to their answers, follow-up and probing questions were asked to collect more information. All the interviews were recorded by a digital recorder. The recorded information was transcribed and read. Then, the analysis was carried out based on Graneheim and Lundman’s content analysis method. This method includes three stages of preparation, organization, and reporting. Guba and Lincoln’s criteria (credibility, confirmability, transferability, and dependability) were used to determine the trustworthiness of the data. MAXQDA 2020 software was used for data analysis.

Results
Among the participants, 8 (57%) had a bachelor’s degree, 4 (29%) had a master’s degree, and 2 (14%) had a doctorate degree. Only two women (14%) did not have a history of employment or were students. Others were either currently employed, or had a history of employment. Regarding their socio-economic status, they had a household income of 80-300 million Rials.
The analysis of the interviews led to the extraction of 1092 semantic units, 177 open codes, 35 first-order sub-themes, 13 second-order sub-themes, and three main themes. These themes were: idealistic cognitive beliefs, negative cognitive attitudes, and individualistic personality traits.
The first theme refers to the beliefs, standards, and expectations that women have for their romantic partner and future spouse, their marital life, and their ideal conditions. It included 10 first-order sub-themes and four second-order sub-themes: Ideal personality characteristics (maturity, attractiveness, progressivism, and health-oriented), ideal relational characteristics (mutual understanding and perfect love), ideal socio-economic characteristics (financial self-sufficiency and flexible working conditions), and ideal family characteristics (familial differentiation and familial status).
The second theme refers to the perceptions of and attitudes towards marriage and its outcome. It also included 10 first-order sub-themes and four second-order sub-themes: Negative attitudes towards the marriage outcome (fear of bad relationships, fear of divorce, fear of infidelity, and fear of boring sexual life), negative attitudes towards the marriage (being against marriage, non-adherence to traditional marriage), negative attitudes towards childbearing (responsibility of having children and reluctance to have children), and prioritizing work over marriage (conflict with professional roles and conflict with work tasks).
The third theme refers to personality traits that are incompatible with being in a relationship and living with another person and prevent from starting or continuing a relationship. It included 15 first-order sub-themes and five second-order sub-themes: Perfectionism (detail-oriented/excuse-making, obsessive comparisons, over-thinking), intimacy avoidance (limited relationships, superficial relationships, unstable relationships), emotional orientation (pessimism, diversity seeking, and irrational decision-making), self-centeredness (avoidance of responsibility, avoidance of limitations, and dictatorship), and negative self-identity perception (self-deprecation, low self-esteem, passiveness).

Conclusion
For a successful marriage, in addition to providing the necessary external conditions, it is necessary for the women to have a positive attitude, realistic beliefs, and empathetic and egalitarian characteristics in order to be able to form, maintain, and flourish a desirable and efficient marital relationship.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences (Code: IR.USWR.REC.1402.137). A written informed consent was obtained from all participants after explaining the study objectives and methods to them. They were assured of the confidentiality of their information and were free to leave the study at any time.

Funding
This article was extracted from the master’s thesis of the first author, funded by the Social Determinants of Health Research Center of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Authors contributions
Conceptualization: Bahman Bahmani and Seyed Mohsen Kheirkhah Alavi; Methodology: Kianoush Abdi and Seyed Mohsen Kheirkhah Alavi; Investigation: Seyed Mohsen Kheirkhah Alavi; Writing, review & editing: All authors.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Social Determinants of Health Research Center of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences and all participants for their support and cooperation in this study


 

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