Abstract
This research illustrates relationships between the position of women in the social structure of Saudi Arabian society, their family formation attitudes, and their choices about childbearing. The results help in understanding how reproductive roles and attitudes can be explained in more detail, apart from the low status of women in Islam, which many previous studies have focused on. Using the format of focus group interviews as a method, this study gathered qualitative data from married Saudi women in Jeddah, differentiated by level of education, work status, age, and tribal versus non-tribal family background. The most original finding in my research is that tribal versus non-tribal family identities make important differences in both the attitudes and the behavior of Saudi women when it comes to reproduction. This distinction is particularly important in Saudi Arabian society, but might also prove to be a useful consideration in research in neighboring countries. Tribal identity has some socially sensitive aspects, but its importance as revealed in this study suggests that other researchers could benefit from including measures of this concept in their work. In addition to tribal / non-tribal differences, my other considered variables (work, education and age) also reveal that a rational actor model may be present in some parts of Saudi society more than others.
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