An investigation of the relations between unmarried youth individuals' attitudes towards gender roles, marriage and marital concerns

In this study, the relationship between gender role attitudes, marriage attitude and marriage anxiety of unmarried young people, both with each other and with the explanatory variables related to demographic and parental marriage was examined. The population of the research consists of unmarried young individuals between the ages of 18-29 residing in Ankara. The sample of the study consists of 848 participants who were reached using the Snowball Sampling Method. According to the research findings, the gender role attitudes, marriage attitudes and marital anxiety levels of the participants differ by gender. The egalitarian gender role attitude and marital anxiety levels of female participants were higher than male participants; their attitudes towards marriage were more negative. As the mother's education level increased, the egalitarian gender role attitude level of the participants also increased, while the positive attitude towards marriage decreased. The attitudes of the participants whose parents are alive and together were more positive than those whose parents were divorced or living separately. Marriage anxiety levels of those whose parents are divorced or separated were higher than those whose parents are alive and living together. Those who think that their parents' marriage is in conflict had a more egalitarian gender role attitude than those who think that their parents' marriage is happy and those who are undecided about their parents' marital happiness. The attitudes of those who see their parents' marriage as happy were more positive than those who see their parents' marriage as conflicting and those who are undecided on this issue. Participants who evaluated their parents' marriage as happy had a lower level of marital anxiety compared to those who see parental marriage as conflicting and those who are undecided on this issue Additionally, the participants who are undecided about their parents' marital happiness had a lower level of marital anxiety than those who see their parents' marriage as conflicting. In the study, the relationships between gender role attitude, marriage attitude and marriage anxiety were found to be significant. As the egalitarian gender role attitude increased, the positive attitude towards marriage decreased; Marriage anxiety was on the rise. As the positive attitude towards marriage increased, marriage anxiety decreased. The findings obtained from the study was discussed within the framework of the literature; Recommendations for research and practice are presented. Keywords: Young, marriage, gender role attitude, marriage attitude, marital anxiety.