Determinants Affecting Reproduction Among University Youth Who're Getting Married in
Jordan an Applied Study of the University of Jordan Students
Hind Khaled Sarayreh
1
, Nesreen Nabil Atieh
2
, Ayed Mohammad Taran
3*
, Hamzeh Mohammad Bani-Khaled
3
1
Department of Geography, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
2
Department of Social Work, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
3
Department of Applied Geography, Al al-Bayt University, Al-Mafraq 130040, Jordan
Corresponding Author Email: Taran@aabu.edu.jo
Copyright: ©2024 The authors. This article is published by IIETA and is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsdp.190222 ABSTRACT
Received: 16 October 2023
Revised: 6 January 2024
Accepted: 3 February 2024
Available online: 28 February 2024
The research aims to identify the most important environmental, economic, and social factors
influencing reproduction among university youth, in addition to identifying the statistical
significance of the impact of these factors on reproduction among this group of Jordanian
society. The descriptive approach is applied to suit the objectives of the research. The scale
that the researchers created to gather data was used in the study. The research sample was
chosen randomly, at an error level of 0.05, from the undergraduate students at the University
of Jordan in the scientific and humanities colleges, who were 381 male and female students,
for the academic year 2023-2024 for the first time. The statistical methods used in the research
are summarized as follows: Calculate frequency and proportions to identify the social
characteristics of participants. To confirm the validity of the questionnaire's internal structure
and item distribution based on dimensions, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated
for each research tool item and its corresponding dimensions. It was shown from the results
that the most influential environmental factor in the desire to have children among young
people, from the point of view of the University of Jordan students, is their feeling of fear for
their children when thinking that they will live in an unhealthy environment, as this factor
received a high level, and that the most preferred social factor is understanding the partner
before having children, and their fear of not agreeing after marriage limits their thinking about
having children. The study recommends the necessity of providing financial and social support
to couples who wish to have children and face economic challenges.
Keywords:
reproduction, youth, University of Jordan,
marriage, Jordan
1. INTRODUCTION
Population is considered the main focus around which many
studies revolve, especially those related to development and
planning. Here, economic and social policies require
knowledge of the characteristics related to the population, their
growth rates, and their distribution, as they are among the most
important and ever-changing elements. Among all of these,
population issues come first among other issues and problems
due to their great impact on public life and their close
relationship with development [1, 2].
The relationship between population and development is an
important one characterized by mutual interaction. The size of
the population and its demographic characteristics affect the
quality of life, the reduction of poverty, and the possible
relationships between population characteristics and
reproductive behaviors. Religious and Cultural Aspects: Since
the majority of people in Jordan are Arab Muslims, cultural
and religious influences frequently have a big impact on how
people reproduce. Conventional wisdom, religious
convictions, and social conventions can impact choices about
getting married, starting a family, and how many kids you
want. Academic Achievement: The level of education attained
by people of university age may have an impact on their
reproductive decisions. As people concentrate on their
academic and professional goals, higher education may cause
them to put off getting married and starting a family. Financial
Elements: Family planning decisions can be influenced by
employment opportunities and economic stability. People may
put off having children until they feel financially secure due to
financial difficulties. Reproductive health is accessible. The
outcomes of many relevant conferences, such as the
Conference on Population and Development in 1994,
emphasized the necessity of international cooperation in
population and development issues, such as the right of
couples to decide freely and responsibly on the size of their
families and the spacing between births and to obtain the
necessary education to achieve these goals. Reproduction, in
this case, is an inbuilt role that the Almighty designed for this
existence and is connected to several social, economic, and
health-related aspects [3].
Reproduction is affected by many environmental, economic,
and social factors among university youth who are getting
married. Reproduction decisions are particularly complex due
to many different factors, so it is necessary to understand the
factors influencing reproduction decisions among university
International Journal of Sustainable Development and
Planning
Vol. 19, No. 2, February, 2024, pp. 651-661
Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/ijsdp
651