From Material to Non-Material Needs? The Evolution of Mate Preferences through the Twentieth Century in France

Quentin Lippmann

doi:10.1017/s0022050721000322

Abstract

This paper studies the evolution of mate preferences throughout the twentieth century in France. I digitized all the matrimonial ads published in France’s best-selling monthly magazine from 1928 to 1994. Using dictionary-based methods, I show that mate preferences were mostly stable during the Great Depression, WWII, and the ensuing economic boom. These preferences started transforming in the late 1960s when economic criteria were progressively replaced by personality criteria. The timing coincides with profound family and demographic changes in French society. These findings suggest that, in the search for a long-term partner, non-material needs have replaced material ones.

Highlights

This paper studies the evolution of mate preferences throughout the twentieth century in France
The publication of matrimonial ads stopped during WWII and resumed in 1946
I studied how mate preferences evolved throughout these changes by using newly digitized data from all the matrimonial ads published in France’s best-selling monthly magazine over the 1928–1994 period

Summary

Introduction

This paper studies the evolution of mate preferences throughout the twentieth century in France. Using dictionary-based methods, I show that mate preferences were mostly stable during the Great Depression, WWII, and the ensuing economic boom. These preferences started transforming in the late 1960s when economic criteria were progressively replaced by personality criteria. The timing coincides with profound family and demographic changes in French society These findings suggest that, in the search for a long-term partner, non-material needs have replaced material ones. The long-term trajectory of mate preferences is mostly unknown Our knowledge of these preferences during the first half of the twentieth century largely relies on anecdotal evidence and, starting in the 1960s, on episodic surveys. I am grateful to Olivier Marion and Christine Lamothe for their excellent research assistance

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Conclusion