Prestige Influences in Serious Dating Relationships of University Students

Abstract

The idea of a status hierarchy governing the serious dating relationships of university students is subjected to definitive test. The data, from a state university population, support the assertion. agreement, within and between sexes, is found on the ranking of fraternities and sororities. Drops, pinnings, and engagements all tend to occur disproportionately among persons from similar prestige levels. The findings hold both for Greek-affiliated and for independent students. The degree of status homogamy tends to increase with the seriousness of the involvement. Interpretations of the findings are offered. T | nhe interests of sociologists in American dating patterns have ranged widely. Some have studied the ages at which dating begins,' some have analyzed the normative system governing early dating,2 while *Revision of a paper read at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, 1968. The authors are grateful to Robert G. Lembke for his assistance in collecting the original data. 1 Carlfred B. Broderick and Stanley E. Fowler, New Patterns of Relationships Between the Sexes Among Preadolescents, Marriage and Family Living, 23 (February 1961), pp. 27-30; William J. Cameron and William F. Kenkel, High School Dating: A Study in Variation, Marriage and Fanmily Living, 22 (February 1960), pp. 74-76; August B. Hollingshead, Elmtown's Youth (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1949), pp. 224-225; and Samuel H. Lowrie, Early and Late Dating: Some Conditions Associated with Them, Marriage and Family Living, 23 (August 1961), pp. 284-291. 2 Warren Breed, Sex, Class and Socialization in Dating, Marriage and Family Living, 18 (May 1956), pp. 137-144; Harold T. Christensen, DatThis content downloaded from 157.55.39.32 on Mon, 10 Oct 2016 04:21:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms