چكيده لاتين :
Political participation is seen as one of the major indicators of development. As part of the human capital of any society, women can play a decisive role in governing the country with their political participation. In the process of changing patterns of life, the phenomenon of “political participation” means “opportunities for many citizens to engage in political affairs” and it can also be referred to as a point of intersection of cultural and political structure in any society. Political participation can be meaningful at both mass and elite levels, but in any case, it has always been prevalent among different sections of society, both men and women.So women in every society appear to be a central force whose employment and activities along with men as part of the active population of society have a great impact on the growth, development, and building of society, but when women are involved in the process of political participation in a way, like downtown voters, they only go to the polls on the elections day.The widespread propaganda of enemies in political and soft warfare and their cultural aggression and their major efforts are focused on reducing political participation, especially that of women, with excuses such as the lack of democracy and oppression of women in political, social, cultural, and other spheres. A scientific study of the factors that influence women’s participation and their attitudes in this regard, and especially the factors such as self-concept, which influence the process of women’s development and personality formation during their life experiences, can be of great importance and necessity. Thus, in general, women’s participation, especially in politics and decision-making, plays an important role in the development and modernization of each country. Besides, taking the importance of this partnership into account, every country should strive to remove the cultural, social, political, and economic barriers to women’s participation so as to re-socialize women and understand their abilities to provide the ground for the growth and prosperity of society in all fields. Therefore, regarding the relationship between political participation and self-concept, it is also important to build on women’s personal experiences in the field of political participation and to influence their relationship with the environment of fundamental change.
Method
The research method in this study was descriptive (survey) and purposeful. The statistical population of the study consisted of all women of Tehran who were of political age and eligible to participate in political activities, including elections. According to the Census of 1395 (2016) in Iran, the number of these people is about 3.5 million. In this study, Cochran formula was used to determine the sample size. According to the statistical population, the sample was composed of 389 persons. Also, multi-stage cluster sampling was used to select and access the samples. For this purpose, Tehran was first divided into 22 municipal districts as the first cluster. Then, four districts were randomly selected from among the 22 districts. Based on sampling, districts no. 2, 6, 14, and 17 were selected. Then, in the selected areas, the second clustering, namely, the designation of neighborhoods was performed, and three neighborhoods in each district were selected using simple random sampling. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to estimate the reliability of the questionnaire. In order to ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, pre-test was performed on 26 statistical population before data collection. Cronbach’s alpha for both scales of political participation (0.724.) and self-concept (0.753) indicates the reliability of these scales and the high internal consistency and consistency of the items.
Findings
Based on the results of the background variables (respondents’ image), it can be stated that the highest level of education was for bachelor degree holders (37%), indicating the appropriate level of education of the respondents to collaborate with the researcher. The highest age ratio was related to 18-27 year olds (30%) and the highest marriage rate was married (51%).
Discussion
In the end, it can be said that understanding the factors that influence political participation, especially among women who make up half of the country’s active population, is very important in the fate of the country because if they do not participate, democracy will not literally exist in the current society. The right choices are not made in different elections and political events. The notion that women are based on the status of society and the patriarchal system in a way that makes them inferior to men and weaker than them makes them incapable of choosing right or inclined to participate in political affairs and political participation, and women perceive themselves to be so. Besides, their religion, age, abilities, and gender, if reinforced, could well form a high level of political participation in the society, which also confirmed the relationship between the two variables, and whatever the women’s perception as regards themselves and their religion, gender, and their abilities and age, and generally high level of self-concept, have greater level of political participation and democratic system.
