Are women in Iran who use Facebook less likely to wear a veil?

Use of social media such as Facebook can influence attitudes and behaviors among people of all countries and cultures. Among women in Iran, the duration and amount of daily Facebook activity is associated with their desire to wear a traditional head-covering and their willingness to display pictures of themselves without a veil, according to an article in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

In "The Influence of Social Networking Technologies on Female Religious Veil-Wearing Behavior in Iran," Sean Young, PhD, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Abbas Shakiba, University of Shahid Chamran (Ahvaz, Iran), Justin Kwok, UCLA, and Mohammad Sadegh Montazeri, University of Semnan, Iran, report the results of a survey of Iranian women. They found significant relationships between several factors and how likely the Iranian women surveyed were to cover themselves with a veil and whether they would post unveiled photos on Facebook.

"This study is an important foray into the impact technology and social media is having on cultural and religious norms," says Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB,BCN, Editor-in-Chief of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, from the Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, CA.