Experts believe that if you want to have a successful marriage, you should learn and hone your skills in tolerance, and reinforcement of the family. Under difficult circumstances, people usually react in two ways. They either become selfish or only think of themselves, or they become selfless and only think of the other party. If you are included in the former group, you are still not prepared for getting married.

The marriages which are based on selfishness, are founded on worldly and materialistic motivations and incentives. Naturally, such a relationship will not last.

Today, we become familiar with other types of families. It was said that in the recent decades, families in Iran went through a number of changes, and with the passage of time, and emergence of social developments, different types of nuclear and extended families have taken shape. The traditional family has maintained its presence in the form of extended families.

In the meantime, the incomplete nuclear family is one, within which one of the main family members, such as one of the spouses, or a child is absent, due to a number of reasons. Different types of this kind of family exist in various parts of the world. There are minimal families, within which the young couples do not seek to have a child. The other type of family is the one, within which the adult children of elderly couples have gotten married and have therefore left their parental home. Another kind of incomplete nuclear families are the ones who are childless due to impotence of the man or infertility of the woman.

In another form of families, referred to as divided families, due to the death of one of the spouses, or their separation, and/or due to immigration, only one of the spouses are present in the family. Furthermore, short-term nuclear family is the one that is formed based on temporary marriage. Temporary marriage leads to formation of a type of incomplete nuclear family, which has been recommended in order to prevent sexual misconducts. In the type of marriage, after a set period of time, the relationship between the woman and the man is annulled, and there is no need for an official divorce.

According to a well-known sociologist, a kind of cultural revival is taking place in the Iranian community, and the Iranian family is gradually turning into a complete nuclear family, consisting of both parents, and a few children. Although in such families, individualism also emerges, however, basically, a new social philosophy is taking shape, based on the importance of life.

This sociologist adds: "Although some may say that these developments are rooted in modernization of the Iranian community; one has to realize that modernization is not tantamount to chaos and collapse."

He adds that he believes in the positive connotation of modernity, while noting that the modern family, in a positive sense, takes shape based on the Iranian tradition, culture, and ethics. In this case, the family takes shape based on a religious role model. The modern human being in the Iranian community or Western communities, is the product of the family's performance, more than anything else, rather than being the product of educational system, policies, or the government. In fact, it is the family that educates and conveys culture and customs to individuals. Other organizations such as the educational system, are the complementary establishments, in relation to conveyance of customs and culture.

It can be said that currently, the changes in Iranian families are not in the form of linear developments, and currently, traditional, modern, and post-modern families can be observed in different parts of Iran. The nuclear families still maintain strong cultural, emotional, and economic bonds with their parents.

Sara is an Iranian girl, who leaves her family and goes to Canada for further education. However, she is permanently in touch with her family via landline, cell phone, and email. This communication builds warm, emotional bonds between the family members, and provides mutual support for the members of the family. The related parents, provide and send the items needed by their daughter, every now and then. They even buy gifts for their daughter's friends. However, the warmth that results from emotional relations between family members from face-to-face encounters, are lesser sensed in this approach, and an important part of family's function, which is achieved through physical contacts, such as get-togethers in nuclear families, fades away. At times, the family members make use of their major assets for traveling to, and visiting Sara, considering her as an integral part of the family, and realizing that she will rejoin her family after completion of her studies.

MR/SS