Marriage Anxiety of University Students in Terms of Family Belonging and Parental Attitude

Abstract

In today’s modern societies, marriage is less and less preferred by young people. Marriage anxiety is one of the reasons for this. This study examined the correlation between the level of marriage anxiety of university students and two main factors related to it: family belonging and parental attitudes. The sample consisted of 992 university students from public universities in Turkey. It was found that the students with high marriage anxiety had a low sense of belonging to the family and a low level of family affiliation. In addition, the students with high marital anxiety perceived their parents' attention as low and their psychological autonomy was low. It was also found that the attention of parents was perceived as high in students with a high level of family affiliation, that their psychological autonomy was low, and that their level of parental supervision was high. According to the results of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that family membership status and parental attitude explained 0.5% of the total variance of marriage anxiety. In conclusion, family belonging and parental attitudes are parallel, affecting individuals' marriage anxiety. Parental attitudes seem to reduce / trigger marriage anxiety in university students.