Village and Development

Village and Development

An Investigation of Villagers' Attitudes toward the Impacts of Tribalism on the Quality of Rural Management (Case Study: Villages of the Sistan Region)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
M. Pirani 1
S. Asghari Lafmejani 2
M.R. Mirlotfi 2
1 M.A. Graduate in Geography and Rural Planning, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran.
10.30490/rvt.2026.367484.1683
Abstract
Introduction
The existence of diverse ethnic (Sistani and Baluch) and religious (Shiite and Sunni) compositions in the villages of Sistan and the transfer of village management to councils and village heads in the country's new management system has revealed the impact of clan tendencies in the selection of local managers and ultimately its impact on the quality of rural management. Accordingly, the present study has been done with the aim of investigating the effects of tribalism on the quality of management in Sistan villages and provide appropriate strategies.
Materials and Methods
This research is based on a combination of descriptive-analytical methods and based on library studies, documentary and field studies in which statistical population of the study consisted of 9356 people of voting age in households living in 40 sample villages with councils and villages in the Sistan region, of which 369 people were randomly selected as the sample size based on the Cochran formula. The data collection tool was a questionnaire, the validity of which was confirmed based on the opinions of experts. In order to examine its reliability level, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was also calculated. Data analysis was performed with the help of SPSS, ArcGIS, and Expert Choice software, using the ARAS model and stepwise linear and multivariate regression tests.
Results and Discussion
The results of the regression model show that the social dimension of tribalism has made the largest contribution to explaining changes in the quality of rural management. This finding confirms the importance of social structures in shaping the performance of local management in rural communities in the Sistan region. In contrast, the security dimension, despite its statistical significance, has had a relatively limited practical impact, which indicates that interventions to improve management should focus more on changing social attitudes than anything else. In this regard, it should be noted that the very low significance of the error level (Sig=0.000) in the regression analysis is due to the relatively large sample size and high statistical power of the test and does not mean the existence of a strong effect. For this reason, the interpretation of the effects of the variables has been carried out based on standardized coefficients (Beta) and t-values, and in this framework, only the social and cultural dimensions have had a significant and significant effect.The results show that the Sistan villages have a significant difference in terms of quality of rural management and tribalism intensity. Also, the results of regression analysis regarding the intensity of the effects of tribalism on the quality of management of the studied villages confirm that the intensity of tribalism has a negative and statistically significant effect on the quality of management of the studied villages.
Conclusions
The overall results of this study show that to improve the quality of rural management in regions such as Sistan, there is no choice but to distance oneself from clan-based choices and move towards meritocratic criteria. Otherwise, the continuation of clan-based orientation can pave the way for continued inefficiencies and the spread of social distrust. According to the research results, it is essential to adopt measures to guide rural communities in the right and far-sighted directions for selecting local managers based on meritocracy, knowledge, and experience.
Keywords
Tribalism
Quality of Management
Village
Sistan
Subjects
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