The Impact of Mother–Daughter Social Intimacy on the Prevention of Social Harms: A Sociological Study among Female University Students
Keywords:
Social harms, Social intimacy, Mother–daughter relationship, Female university students, Family, PreventionAbstract
This study aimed to investigate the role of mother–daughter social intimacy in reducing social harms among young women and to examine whether maternal place of residence and educational attainment influenced this relationship. This survey study was conducted among unmarried first-semester female undergraduate students at Payame Noor University, Maragheh Center. A total of 312 students were selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected using the Miller and Lefcourt (1982) Social Intimacy Scale and the Social Harms Questionnaire developed by Aghaei et al. (2010), together with interviews. Inferential data analysis was performed using one-way and two-way analyses of variance (ANOVA). One-way ANOVA indicated a significant relationship between the level of mother–daughter social intimacy and social harms (F=13.023, p<0.001), with greater intimacy associated with lower involvement in social harms. In the analysis involving place of residence, the main effect of social intimacy was significant (F=8.071, p<0.001), whereas neither the main effect of residence (F=1.446, p=0.230) nor the social intimacy × residence interaction (F=0.238, p=0.788) was significant. Similarly, the main effect of social intimacy remained significant when maternal education was considered (F=7.184, p=0.001). However, neither maternal education (F=0.646, p=0.630) nor the social intimacy × maternal education interaction (F=0.404, p=0.918) showed a statistically significant effect. Higher mother–daughter social intimacy appears to function as an important protective factor against young women’s involvement in social harms. This association was evident regardless of maternal place of residence or educational level. Accordingly, interventions designed to strengthen mutual trust, emotional support, empathy, and intimate communication between mothers and daughters may contribute to the prevention of social harms and the promotion of social well-being among young women.
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