A phenomenological exploration of cohabitation (Case study: youth in Tehran)

Cohabitation is an unofficial lifestyle that has been accepted amongst Iranian youth. The purpose of this study was to phenomenologically evaluate cohabitation in the youth of Tehran. The population of this study was all couples (not officially married) between 18 to 40 years old in Tehran who had been living together for at least 6 months until May 2021. The purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to select samples (n=10). In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to analyze their experience. In order to analyze the data, the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis method (IPA) was applied. Ten main topics and four core categories were extracted. The main themes of this study were: satisfaction; diminishing religious beliefs; openness to experience; personal independence; globalization; avoidance of marriage; the prelude to marriage; individualism; the role of peers; and functional life. It seems that as the Iranian society undergoes the process of modernization, cohabitation has become a free and at the same time committed form of relationship which is chosen more than ever as an alternative to official marriage by couples in Tehran.