Males and Females' Roles in Jordanian Family: An Explanatory Study

Yahya  Ali; Kholoud  Mashal; Mousa  Mohsen

doi:10.35516/hum.v49i3.1375

Authors

Yahya Ali The Hashemite University
Kholoud Mashal The Hashemite University
Mousa Mohsen Ministry of Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v49i3.1375

Keywords:

Gender Roles, Family, Socialization, Family's decisions, Social status

Abstract

This article aims at investigating the roles associated with males and females in Jordanian family. The survey was conducted on (3000) randomly selected households in collaboration with the Department of Statistics. Ten focus groups were chosen to represent the different social strata (urban, rural, and badia) and distributed to the Kingdom's three regions. In addition, twenty intensive interviews with public opinion leaders such as former ministers, secretary generals, activists in women's issues, journalists, members of the parliament and others. The study concluded that there is a continuation of the stereotype of the male and female roles. Although there are signs of change in various aspects, where the results showed that male dominance in the family decision-making has changed significantly towards a participatory trend and activating the role of women within the family. However, in respect of expenditure the results showed that men still have conquer decisions in this regard. The results indicated support for delaying the marriage age for females until after 23 years-old, which was reflected on the existence of a clear role for the daughters in taking decisions related to them such as marriage, education, dress and choice of friends with continued presence of intervention by the father and the mother comparing with the son who has a greater role in taking decisions of his own.

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Author Biographies

Yahya Ali, The Hashemite University

Humanities & Social Sciences Department, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan

Kholoud Mashal, The Hashemite University

Land Management & Environment Department, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan

Mousa Mohsen, Ministry of Education

Commission for Academic Accreditation, Ministry of Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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