A sociological study on the attitudes of generation Z, who are university students, towards family and marriage: The case of Van YYU

This study; It aims to examine the attitudes of young people studying at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University about family and marriage from a sociological perspective. The family has been at the center of the social structure since the existence of humanity and has always ensured the continuity of society by re-creating it. The family structure and marriage phenomenon, which has gone through many processes from the hunter-gatherer family to the modern family, continues to maintain its importance among young people. The youth segment, influenced by popular culture and defined as Generation Z, attributes different meanings to the concepts of family and marriage than those of previous generations, and shapes their lifestyles according to this interpretation. In this regard, Generation Z youth studying at university, in addition to continuing their education, depending on their age and the environmental conditions they live in; follows the concepts of marriage and family more closely. In this context, it was examined how the sample group within the research population evaluated today's family and what their attitudes were about the necessity of family. In addition, issues such as instant information coming through virtual channels, marriage of individuals from different cultures, increase in divorce rates, unemployment after graduating from educational institutions, oppressive effects of the traditional family structure on young people, and cohabitation, one of the alternative lifestyles, were examined. Thesis; It was conducted with 15 participants using qualitative research methods, semi-structured interview forms and in-depth interview techniques. The data obtained were examined through descriptive content analysis and evaluated from a sociological perspective. When we look at the attitudes of Generation Z youth studying at Yüzüncü Yıl University towards the phenomenon of marriage and the institution of family, it is seen that they prefer the life practices of the modern family structure as a result of the social changes experienced along with the values of the traditional family structure.