Interpretation of Opposite-Sex Friendship Based on Social Ecology Model in Iranian Females

OBJECTIVE One of the main cultural issues in universities is relationships between male and female students. Due to the adverse consequences of this issue, explaining of the beyond the causes of friendship with opposite-sex, is one of the first steps in planning for youth issues. METHODS This qualitative research was conducted based on content analysis. Nineteen female university students were enrolled. Semi-structured questions through four sessions were used to gather required data. Two themes were extracted. One was the behaviors leading friendship which consisted of 5 subsets including self and extra-self, meso, exo-, and macro-systems. The other theme was the actions against with consequences of sex which are made of 2 subsets of the quality and the consequences of sex. RESULTS Various factors such as person attitude, felling lonely, and community atmosphere, including the university environment, family, friends, religious beliefs and media that promote the Western culture can be effective in friendship before marriage. CONCLUSION Since the society of our country is considered a young populated one and the culture of the West through the media currently influences on our culture, reproductive health programs should be developed in a high priority focusing on youth fitted with their current needs according to Islamic-Iranian culture.