Afghan Diaspora: Influence of the Partner Selection Process on Female Afghan American College Students and Recent Graduates
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Authors
Ataie, Diba
Issue Date
2011
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This qualitative study investigates the process and experiences of nine female Afghan Americans; five are attending college and four have graduated with degrees from universities in California. Five of the participants are currently single, two are married with one child, one is recently married, and one is engaged and planning to marry. The research participants were interviewed in order to identify direct and indirect barriers in the partner selection process while living in the United States. As these two divergent worldviews intersect, the researcher identified each participant's perception of the partner selection process. The literature review describes the Afghan diaspora in the United States and how this forced mass migration affects the partner selection process. Due to the limitation of research on Afghan Americans, the experiences of similar ethnic groups in Asia that follow similar cultural and religious practices are included. To analyze the findings, grounded theory was applied, which involves creating a coding scheme of barriers, identifying nineteen categories labeled as specific types of barriers that emerged from the transcripts (Lyons & Coyle 2007). These categories were then grouped into subcategories of barriers that the interviewees identified in their partner selection process. This study identified additional areas for future research such as analysis of the barriers that Afghan American males may experience. It was also found that there is an additional need to determine the amount of family influence versus peer influence in their partner selection process within the Afghan community.