The concept of value is different in every society and in every period of time, and it also has varying levels of intensity and impact. Multiple factors such as history, psychology, geography and climate, social and cultural relationships, religion, ethics, etc. play a role in shaping, increasing or decreasing values. For example, in East Asian societies, “work” is a highly sacred value and unemployment and avoidance of work for any reason is considered a negative value. However, in ancient Greek society, “work” in its physical sense, such as farming or construction, was seen as a negative value and was considered specific to slaves and animals.

Every culture presents patterns of human behavior that determine individuals’ activities, successes, and social responsibilities. Members of society follow these patterns and values to shape their lives. With generational changes, wars, revolutions, and any fundamental change in a society, there comes a time when individuals must reflect and reconsider these patterns. In the process of development, the spirit of rationality also increases; family, class, racial, gender, religious values, and oppressive social traditions lose their credibility and strength, and there is a need to review these values.

We should not overlook the fundamental reasons for change in Iran. As a country on the path of development and modernization, Iran, like all other countries, must experience this transformation. One of the characteristics of transitioning from tradition to modernity is a change in values. The younger generation, due to their access to social media, satellites, and the internet, is faced with lifestyles, values, and norms that contradict the values promoted by the state-run television and public sphere in Iran. This contradiction ultimately leads to a clash of values, and the government, by ignoring this contradiction and insisting on its own values and patterns, only exacerbates this clash. The internet becomes the main source of understanding the world, a source that is certainly not complete and must be explained by families and the education system. A simple example is learning about sexual relationships, drugs, and alcoholic beverages, which, because they are prohibited in the education system, young people become familiar with in inappropriate spaces, and this incorrect education not only

Resistance and the lack of change in values and public beliefs create new issues in the path of development and create new obstacles. Such conditions, due to conflicting values between the government and the people, between generations, or between different social classes, create a type of conflict of interest that may pit parts of a society against each other. Therefore, understanding, promoting, strengthening, transferring or weakening and changing social values is of particular importance and should be taken into consideration in development studies.

It can be said that changing values is the first and most difficult step towards development, which has the greatest impact on achieving development goals. However, caution must be exercised in this process to avoid facing resistance and negative reactions from society. Governments usually try to design appropriate educational measures with the first signs of changing values in younger generations; but in governments like the Islamic Republic, which has rigid values based on political Islam ideology, opposing values are not redefined, and only the values of the government are considered true, and in order to preserve these values, even in the face of the formation of opposing values in society, the government remains silent.

In general, it can be said that the collection of differences between two generations is expressed as:

1- Differences in ideals and goals between two generations
2- Differences in concepts between two generations
3- Differences in role models and reference groups
4- Differences in everyday terminology between two generations
5- Differences in appearance, clothing, and way of speaking between two generations
6- Differences in expectations from life and consequently differences in lifestyle.

It is these differences and characteristics that create a new, fresh and different nature for the new generation compared to past generations. Various factors play a role in the formation of this gap and difference between generations, some of which are natural (such as age requirements) and some are caused by the specific conditions of society and the current world.

The young generation of Iran also defines its values and norms despite all the pressures and oppressions, and sometimes, instead of creating new values, it turns to anti-values to express opposition and contradiction with the values of the government. This is where, in the absence of proper education and with the dependence on education and upbringing, as well as the media and higher education being aligned with the government’s values, a deep gap is formed between the government and the people; this gap and difference in values can be one of the obstacles to development.

Given that the Islamic Republic has been trying for 43 years to make religious patterns and values attractive to young people, how today all those efforts have been in vain and futile! How, according to statistics, Iran is the most secular country in the Middle East with the highest alcohol consumption! (1) and (2)

A collection of underlying factors of change in values, shape the approach of individuals in society towards adherence to religious values. Some of the most important of these factors include: selective confrontation with values and religious elements, inconsistency between action and the claims of religious individuals, failure to adhere to behavioral principles in inviting others to religion, inability to provide for the essential needs of the community in a religious society, and…

“Family and children of government officials live outside the country, simple slogans of living have become meaningless and most officials are owners of aristocratic houses. News of corruption and embezzlement have become the headlines of domestic media and the head of the judiciary is appointed as the head of the anti-corruption task force. The new generation, who consider themselves close to the government, do not implement any of the slogans and teachings of the revolution; like the mayor’s son of Qom who said he will not return from America to Iran and has his father’s views on domestic consumption! And dozens of similar examples that we have seen in recent years.”

What is concerning for Iran today is the transformation of anti-values into values.

Values arise from personal needs; therefore, some scientists like Maslow believe that the concept of value is equivalent to the concept of need. Needs and values ​​initially have a biological and individual aspect, but as individuals grow, they change to social values. Therefore, “need” forms the basis of individual and social values. Following “need”, “attention” and “tendency” are formed. Members of society consider something “valuable” if it is somehow related to their needs and can meet their needs. If members of society recognize a behavior as consistent and harmonious with their needs and act on it as a “social value and norm”, their expectation is that this behavior can fulfill their needs. If their expectation is met and they feel that the desired behavior is truly related to one of their basic needs, they will give more value to it and act on it; meaning that a qualitative change is created in the value system of society and the “valuable” behavior becomes even more valuable

The value of honesty has been replaced by the skill of lying; a skill that can lead to progress and if someone can gain benefits through any lie or unethical act, not only are they encouraged, but others try to imitate them and be as clever and capable as them! Those who have morals and a positive approach in life are ridiculed and considered worthless compared to harmful and unethical individuals. If someone perceives in the media that in a society of evil people, there are those who are held accountable by the people and are seen as brave individuals in that society, this mindset of being brave for an evil person also applies to them; wickedness and violence can be turned into a value.

As a simple example, one of the values among Islamists and left-wing forces is the environment, but in recent years, with the increase in government corruption and changes in the lifestyle of Islamic Republic officials, this value is changing. The government, for political reasons, has turned a blind eye to these economic corruptions and in some cases, even redefines terms, such as the redefinition of the oppressed by Khamenei after the 1998 protests.

Usually in such situations, governments try to improve the overall society by promoting values and destroying anti-values. The presence of an incentive factor in social systems seems necessary; as it motivates social actors to behave in line with the system. However, the more successful the system is in inducing its own reproduction mechanisms in individuals, the more the “incentive” manifests itself as “satisfaction” in their behavior; therefore, there is no need for an external, material or spiritual, factor to incentivize them.

The final word is that in a situation where A) values give way to anti-values and B) the values of government and society are increasingly diverging, the possibility of creating more social crises increases. These are conditions that can be seen in Iran today.

Sources:

1- The survey “Attitudes of Iranians towards Religion” was conducted by the Iranian Opinion Studies Group (GAMAAN) from 17 Khordad to 1 Tir 1399 for a period of 15 days. Approximately half of the Iranian society has stated that they have moved from being religious to being non-religious.

2- The report by the World Health Organization shows that Iran ranks ninth among 189 countries in terms of per capita alcohol consumption among regular alcohol consumers.