The Expectations of Society's Strata from the Social and Cultural Roles of Clerics

Document Type : The Quarterly Jornal

Authors

1 Head of Department / University of IRIB

2 Ph.D. Candidate in Media Studies - Radio and Television

3 Ph.D. Candidate, Media Studies, IRIB University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The Islamic Revolution of Iran established a religious government, which gave the clergy a special role and position. This role and position should align with the expectations of the people from this group. The significant social changes in the decades following the establishment of the Islamic Republic and the experience of the clergy's social role in these years may have changed the people’s expectations from this group. This study aims to understand the expectations of the people from the clergy, considering their function as a reference group in society. A qualitative approach using the Q-methodology was employed to categorize and analyze these expectations. In the first stage, 22 statements about the community’s expectations of the clergy were identified through 24 in-depth interviews with various social groups. Then, 40 Q-cards were sorted by the study participants on a spectrum from +3 to -3. Finally, using factor analysis of the Q-methodology, the community's expectations of the clergy were divided and analyzed into six categories: moral expectations, operational expectations, lifestyle-related expectations, promotional expectations, passive expectations, and managerial expectations.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Albarracin, D., & Shavitt, S. (2018). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 69, pp. 299–327.
Bohner, G., & Dickel, N. (2011). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, pp. 391–417.
Dahrendorf, R. (2019). Class and class conflict in industrial society. In Social stratification (pp. 105–111). Routledge.
Fathi, E., & Fathi, R. (2013). Expectations of different social groups from the clergy. Journal of Islam and Social Studies, 1(2), pp. 2–31.
Hosseinian, S. H., Kianpour, M., & Robani Khorasgani, A. (2019). A qualitative description of the communication process between the public and the clergy in religious propagation: A pathological view from the perspective of elite clerics. Strategic Research on Social Issues in Iran, 8(26), pp. 57–82.
Isania, R. (2014). The social and political role of the clergy in the three decades following the Islamic Revolution. Sepehr-e Siyasat, 1(3), pp. 105–131.
Khmil, V. V., & Popovych, I. S. (2019). Philosophical and psychological dimensions of social expectations of personality. Anthropological Measurements of Philosophical Research, 16, pp. 55–65.
Khoshgouyan-Fard, A. (2007). Q methodology. Tehran: Research Center for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
Moeidfar, S., & Akhondi, M. B. (2013). The impact of social capital on the social influence of religion in Quranic teachings. Quranic Teachings, 17, pp. 71–94.
Popovych, I., Borysiuk, A., Zahrai, L., Fedoruk, O., Nosov, P., Zinchenko, S., & Mateichuk, V. (2020). Constructing a structural-functional model of social expectations of the personality. Revista Inclusiones: Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, 7(5), pp. 154–167.
Sajid Hashemi, M., & Farrokhi, M. (2015). Representations of the public's view of the clergy in Iranian cinema. Media and Culture, 5(1), pp. 105–126.
Shah Javan, M., & Momeni Mamhoui, H. (2019). Typology of faculty members' mindset on the requirements of outcome-based curriculum in higher education (Using Q methodology). Journal of Curriculum Studies in Higher Education, 10(20), pp. 207–236.
Verplanken, B., & Orbell, S. (2022). Attitudes, habits, and behavior change. Annual Review of Psychology, 73, pp. 327–352.
Journal of Islam and Social Studies
Volume 12, Issue 47 - Serial Number 47
ExecutiveExpert
March 2025
Pages 187-218

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 29 August 2023
  • Revise Date: 07 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 04 January 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics