Marital Selection Research Articles

Marital Selection Criteria among a Sample of Youth in Al-Dawadmi City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Marital Selection Criteria among a Sample of Youth in Al-Dawadmi City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The effect Criteria of Mate-Selection on Emotional Needs of Married Couples

Background and Aims: Partner selection has emerged as an important topic and research direction in behavioral ecology. This study aimed at determining life partner selection factors affect married couples' emotional requirements. Methods: Three hundred eighty-seven couples joined. For an efficient sample, we removed four individuals, owing to neglect and inadequate effort to answer survey items, from 383 people. The population was 25–45 years old, with 171 men and 212 women. Results: The mean and standard deviations for couples' Marital selection criteria (CMS) and emotional needs scale (ENS) were (49.6), psychological (10.5), and religious (5.36). Couples had high ENS (50.98). No indirect relationship existed between gender, number of children, (CMS) choice satisfaction, (ENS) among married couples, and (ENS) satisfaction. Child count and marital choice variables are directly and statistically associated with ENS satisfaction in married couples. The direct and indirect linkage model demonstrated that CMS and children had a statistically significant influence on married couples' ENS. There were no statistically significant differences in the criteria for choosing a life partner and satisfying (ENS) married couples by gender. However, education level affected intellectual, religious, physical, and formal dimensions and the total score. Education level did not affect favoring postgraduate education when meeting emotional needs. Conclusion: Despite the differences in some points of view between both genders about considering the criteria for choosing a future spouse, according to all participants, it was important for the participants to include psychological, cultural, familial, and social criteria for choosing a mate‐selection

Men's physical health and life history transitions in the Philippines: Evidence for ‘marital selection’ but not protective effects of partnering and fatherhood

In Euro-American societies, married people typically have lower overall risks for total mortality and for certain chronic conditions compared to non-married people. However, people becoming partnered and parents also tend to gain weight in Euro-American settings. Few studies have tested whether links between physical health and life history status translate to other cultural contexts where the socio-ecological dynamics of family life may differ. This limits the application of these insights to men's well-being in global public health. To help address this gap, we drew on a large, long-running birth cohort study of Filipino men, using data collected at three waves between 2005 and 2014 when men were 21.5–30.5 years old (N = 607, obs. = 1760). We tested for the effects of the transition to partnering (marriage/cohabitation) and fatherhood on men's physical health (waist circumference, fat-free mass index, and grip strength). Men becoming partnered or partnered fathers (P/PF) had comparable longitudinal physical health trajectories to men remaining single non-fathers. However, men who became P/PF by their mid 20s had higher fat-free mass index values than single non-fathers at each wave, with the largest effect observed when all men were single non-fathers at baseline. Men who became P/PF by their early 30s were also stronger than the reference group at baseline. Thus, men who were more muscular and stronger at baseline were more likely to transition to P/PF status, consistent with a ‘marital selection’ model. In complementary analyses, men did not exhibit adverse health effects when they became partnered fathers as young adults or parents to infants, respectively. These findings suggest that links between health and life history transitions in this setting differ from those commonly observed in Euro-American societies. While transitions to marriage and fatherhood are promising windows for interventions to improve men's health, our results highlight the importance of tailoring such approaches to local dynamics.

Marital Selection in Intercultural Marriages

Studies on the patterns of marital selection began in the 1920s, and since then researchers have identified a set of variables that should be taken into account in marriage selection research. In this study the following variables are considered: age, nationality, race, social class, environmental background, attitude to faith, religion, attitude to religious practices, education, current employment status, previous marital status, number of marriages, number of children from previous marriages, and financial situation before the present marriage. One hundred and twelve Polish women who married foreigners from non-European cultures took part in the study. Their husbands were representatives of African, Asian and Australian countries; none of them came from Europe or the Americas. The aim of the study is to examine marital selection among intercultural marriages and to provide new knowledge on the subject. In connection with the adopted topic, the purpose of the research and the analysis of the literature on the subject, the main problem of the research was formulated as follows: what are the similarities and differences in marital selection in intercultural marriages? The study revealed that, in most cases, marital selection among the couples who participated in the study followed a similar social biography: the spouses were of a similar age (79.5%) and shared race (90.1%), social class (74.1%), environmental background (61.6%), education (56.2%), attitude to faith (92.8%), and their financial situation before the present marriage (65.2%). The results obtained confirmed Farle’s theory, in which he distinguished three main factors influencing the frequency of intercultural marriages: military service, higher education and place of residence. The analysis of the data indicates that the majority of the respondents lived in big cities (57.1%), and higher education was the most common level of education among both the respondents (60.7%) and their husbands (41.1%).

What Factors Explain the Decline in Widowed Women's Poverty?

Historically, women in widowhood in the United States have been vulnerable, with high rates of poverty. However, over the past several decades, their poverty rate has fallen considerably. In this article, we look at why this decline occurred and whether it will continue. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study linked to Social Security administrative earnings and benefit records, we address these questions by exploring three factors that could have contributed to this decline: (1) women's rising levels of education; (2) their increased attachment to the labor force; and (3) increasing marital selection, reflecting that whereas marriage used to be equally distributed, it is becoming less common among those with lower socioeconomic status. The project decomposes the share of the decline in poverty into contributions by each of these factors and also projects the role of these factors in the future. The results indicate that increases in education and work experience have driven most of the decline in widows' poverty to date, but that marital selection will likely play a large role in a continuing decline in the future. Still, even after these effects play out, poverty among widows will remain well above that of married women.

Marital Status and Self-Rated Health in China: A Longitudinal Analysis

Research has shown that there exists a positive correlation between marriage and good health, but the reasons for this association are disputed. Scholars acknowledge that the key to answering these questions lies in understanding the role of marriage in specific social contexts. This paper utilizes marital protection, marital selection, and life course perspectives to investigate the relationship between marriage and health in China, a society characterized by nearly universal marriage, strong societal pressure to marry, especially for women, and a distinct rural and urban divide in family life. I analyze the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) with lagged dependent variable models and fixed-effects linear regression models, to predict self-rated health and control for baseline health status and time-invariant omitted variable bias. The health status difference between those who are single and those who are married is primarily explained by marital selection, while marital protection explains the health differences between married and widowed rural women. The health differences between widowed and married rural women vary over age, consistent with the prediction of the life course perspective. Health differences associated with marriage are found mainly among the rural population and less among the urban population. The selection, protection, and life course perspectives each contribute to understanding different pieces of the marriage–health relationship in China. Marriage, gender, and age intertwine with the rural–urban divide to shape self-rated health in different ways and directions for different groups. Most notably, marriage effects on health are mainly a rural phenomenon in China.

Educational heterogamy during the early phase of the educational expansion: Results from the university town of Tartu, Estonia in the late 19th century

Background: From a historical perspective, the transition from a pre-industrial to a modern society is associated with increasing social status heterogamy. As individuals’ acquired characteristics became more important for partner selection than inherited class status, the importance of status homogamy declined and marrying outside one’s own social group became more frequent. Objective: We investigate educational heterogamy in a university town at the end of the 19th century. We ask whether marriage of unequally educated partners is related to dissimilarity in the partners’ other characteristics. Ethnic background, origin (place of birth), and age difference between the spouses are considered as characteristics that may associate with sorting into educationally heterogamous unions. Methods: The analysis uses data from the 1897 census in Tartu. Using logistic regression modelling, we estimate how age difference, origin heterogamy, and ethnic heterogamy of the spouses associate with educational heterogamy. Results: The results indicate a positive relationship between educational heterogamy and marrying outside one’s own ethnic or origin group, but no effect for spousal age difference. Conclusions: Our study provides new evidence about marriage markets during modernisation, specifically regarding the role of education. We show that educationally heterogamous unions in Tartu were often also more heterogamous in terms of partners’ background characteristics. This suggests that the partner’s education may have motivated intermarriage by ethnicity and origin. Contribution: Previous literature on this period has focused on social homogamy based on occupational information, while research on educational assortative mating mostly exists for the second half of the 20th century and later. We contribute by studying the importance of education in marital selection in the early phase of educational expansion and economic modernisation.

Partnership and Insomnia Status Among Mothers

ObjectiveMothers are particularly vulnerable to sleep disorders, such as insomnia (i.e., poor sleep quality more than three times per week).BackgroundPartnership status (i.e., being married, formerly partnered, cohabiting, or lone) is predictive of other health outcomes via marital selection, protection, and crisis theories. However, research has yet to address whether mothers' risk of insomnia varies by their partnership status.MethodUsing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a nationally representative and longitudinal cohort study (n = 1721), the primary aim of the present study is to test the association between partnership status and sleep. Further, given the association between race–ethnicity and partnership status, as well as race–ethnicity and sleep, this study also considers whether the association between mothers' partnership status and risk of insomnia varies by race and ethnicity.ResultsLogistic regression results suggest that married mothers are less likely than cohabiting and formerly partnered mothers to experience insomnia. No sleep differences were found when comparing among the unmarried groups.ConclusionWhen considering race and ethnicity, marriage is protective against insomnia among White and Hispanic mothers but not Black mothers.ImplicationsThis study illustrates one way in which partnership status contributes to sleep problems in different ways for White, Black, and Hispanic women.

Spousal Relative Income and Male Psychological Distress.

Using Panel Study of Income Dynamics 2001-2015 dataset (6,035 households, 19,688 observations), this study takes a new approach to investigating the relationship between wife's relative income and husband's psychological distress, and finds it to be significantly U-shaped. Controlling for total household income, predicted male psychological distress reaches a minimum at a point where wives make 40% of total household income and proceeds to increase, to reach highest level when men are entirely economically dependent on their wives. These results reflect the stress associated with being the sole breadwinner, and more significantly, with gender norm deviance due to husbands being outearned by their wives. Interestingly, the relationship between wife's relative income and husband's psychological distress is not found among couples where wives outearned husbands at the beginning of their marriage pointing to importance of marital selection. Finally, patterns reported by wives are not as pronouncedly U-shaped as those reported by husbands.

Lifetime Childlessness, Depressive Mood and Quality of Life Among Older Europeans

Lifetime childlessness has increased in Europe. The relationship between childlessness and psychological wellbeing varies by the wellbeing measures employed, life stage and societal context. Health-related predictors of childlessness (health selection) may mediate the relationship between childlessness and wellbeing and/or influence wellbeing directly. This paper examines the relationship between lifetime childlessness, depressive mood and quality of life in early old age using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (N = 21,295). Region-specific Ordinary Least Squares Analysis is performed to investigate this relationship and the mediating roles of health selection and marital status are explored. No main effect of childlessness is observed in any of the regions net of socio-demographic, economic and health factors. The significant role of health selection in this relationship is only evident in Eastern Europe. The findings of this study support a more in-depth analysis of the role of marital status in mediating the relationship between childlessness and psychological wellbeing. Consistent relationships between marital status and both measures of wellbeing support further analysis of marital selection in this regard.

Polarisation of Employment Over Households Revisited: The Belgian Case

Over the last 30 years the share of individuals in the Belgian working-age population without employment (‘individual joblessness’) has fallen continuously, while the share of households with no working-age member in employment (‘household joblessness’) remained fairly stable. In this paper we examine why individual joblessness and household joblessness diverge. The growing gap between both measures of joblessness reflects changes in household composition and changes in the distribution of individual employment over households. We describe the latter phenomenon by constructing a measure of ‘polarisation of employment over households’, which is based on the difference between observed and ‘expected’ household joblessness. On the basis of changes in household formation and changes in individual joblessness one would have expected household joblessness in Belgium to decrease. However, increasing polarisation, i.e. an increasingly unequal distribution of jobs over households, has counteracted this ‘expected’ evolution. Singles constitute households that are most vulnerable to the polarisation we describe, but a shift towards such more vulnerable households offers only a small share of the explanation of the evolution over time. We observe rising levels of polarisation, both in single adult households and couples. Within these household groups, changes in polarisation are similar, but increasing polarisation among couples is the most important factor in the overall increase in polarisation. The personal characteristics associated with individual joblessness (gender, education, age, region, origin) explain a significant part of this polarisation on the level of households. In 2012, almost half of polarisation in single adult households can be explained through typical individual characteristics of singles. In couples almost one third of polarisation is related to individual characteristics and marital selection. However, this also means that a substantial part of household joblessness cannot be explained by these individual characteristics. A comparison of Belgium with three low-polarisation countries (Germany, France, the Netherlands) and two high-polarisation countries (Ireland and the United Kingdom) suggests that polarisation is high in Belgium, when compared to Germany, France and the Netherlands, for the following reason. First, more than in those countries, Belgian singles have a weak socio-economic profile in terms of age, skills and origin: compared with the total population, they are more often low-skilled, older, and born outside the European Union. Second, the difference in individual joblessness between individuals with strong profiles and individuals with weak profiles is larger in Belgium than in those countries (whether it concerns singles or not). The latter factor is reinforced by regional differences within Belgium. Third, educational homogamy in couples is larger in Belgium than in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

HIV Prevention, Infertility and Concordance in Partner Selection among Couples Living with HIV and AIDS in Rural and Peri-Urban Contexts in Botswana

This paper examines marital partner selection and the significance of fertility status among couples living with HIV using qualitative research methods. This study was conducted in the Maun and Gaborone areas in Botswana in southern Africa where patrilineal marriage traditions are normative and both civil as well as traditional marriage practices remain prevalent. Data were collected from 32 respondents using in-depth interviews after new civil marriages and where HIV status was positive for both partners. Results from the research demonstrate that HIV status is socially significant in the decisions that the couples living with HIV make in terms of selecting marriage partners. Yet once new marital relationships are established based on concordant HIV status, the cultural importance of fertility and childbearing remains paramount and rates of unprotected sex remain high. HIV positive and concordant couples engaged in unprotected sex in order to reinforce positive social status through reproductive success even when knowledge about mother to child transmission and increased viral loads in their own bodies was evident. This paper demonstrates the value of understanding cultural norms that surround fertility desires and fears of infertility in crafting efficacious HIV prevention programmes. HIV concordant couples still seek fertility success with partners in a context where HIV infection rates have remained high and this paper contributes to literature on both partner selection with respect to HIV status as well as the value of qualitative investigation to elucidate cultural challenges to HIV prevention. The paper concludes with further recommendations for understanding of the often overlooked cultural significance of infertility in areas with high HIV infection in order to better inform policies in the formulation of evidence based prevention strategies in Botswana with respect to people living with HIV and AIDS.

Escolha conjugal feminina: uma análise intergeracional segundo uma perspectiva crítica em psicologia

This study aims to identify and analyze the variables involved in the selection of the first spouse of women of two generations (grandmothers and granddaughters) in a city located in Goias state, Brazil, and how these variables affect their subjective choice. The theoretical reference adopted was based on works with emphasis on historical aspects of women and love relations, from a critical perspective in psychology. The sample comprised 10 grandmothers who married (including stable cohabitation) for the first time before 1961, and their granddaughters who were born after 1980 and married (including stable cohabitation) for the first time after the year 2000. The research instrument was a semi-structured individual interview. The analysis aimed to infer from each participant's responses their perceptions related to the importance of the variables and how these were determined. The results obtained show that the marital selection process has changed markedly in the time between the two generations (grandmothers and granddaughters), but more in the sense of incorporation of new values than the abandonment of the old ones.

Educational Homogamy and Gender-Specific Earnings: Sweden, 1990–2009

Several studies have shown strong educational homogamy in most Western societies, although the trends over time differ across countries. In this article, we study the connection between educational assortative mating and gender-specific earnings in a sample containing the entire Swedish population born 1960-1974; we follow this sample from 1990 to 2009. Our empirical strategy exploits a longitudinal design, using distributed fixed-effects models capturing the impact of partner education on postmarital earnings, relating it to the income development before union formation. We find that being partnered with someone with more education (hypergamy) is associated with higher earnings, while partnering someone with less education (hypogamy) is associated with lower earnings. However, most of these differences in earnings emerge prior to the time of marriage, implying that the effect is explained by marital selection processes rather than by partner education affecting earnings. The exception is hypogamy among the highly educated, for which there are strong indications that in comparison with homogamy and hypergamy, earnings grow slower after union formation.

Sleep as a Mechanism through which Social Relationships Affect Health

Sleep as a Mechanism through which Social Relationships Affect Health

Remarriage, Delayed Marriage, and Black/White Intermarriage, 1968–1995

How have changes in marriage order and marriage timing affected 1968–1995 trends in United States Black/White intermarriage? Researchers usually follow a one-sex perspective on the effects of timing and marriage order on marital selection, arguing that delayed marriages and remarriages will be more heterogamous than early or first marriages. This paper shows that a one-sex perspective is oversimplified and that assortative marriage with respect to race depends on the interaction of both husband’s and wife’s characteristics. Marriages that match with respect to age or marriage order tend to also match with respect to race. First marriages and remarriages for both partners are more likely to be same-race marriages. Marriages that are intermarriages with respect to marriage order are more likely to also be intermarriages with respect to race. Marriages that are usual age combinations (husband and wife similar in age or husband slightly older) are also usual race combinations (husband and wife same race). Marriages that are unusual age combinations are more likely to be racial intermarriages. This paper also shows that trends in remarriage patterns do not account for the increasing trend in racial intermarriage and that trends in marriage timing have actually slowed increases in racial intermarriage.

Network migration, marriage patterns, and adaptation in rural Portugal and among Portuguese immigrants in Argentina, 1870–1980

This article examines marriage patterns among immigrants and their children as a way to analyze the interplay of primary social networks and local conditions in the social adaptation of two communities of Portuguese immigrants in Argentina. Its main focus is on the factors involved in marriages within the same ethnic group and their evolution over time from a comparative perspective. The analysis considers aspects of marital selection in the main places of origin of the immigrants in the Algarve, southern Portugal, and their influence in the places of settlement; the factors that influenced the selection of spouses in both communities by gender and over time; and the changes from the first to the second generation. Factors, such as gender, the nature and rhythm of immigration, and the occupation of the immigrants and their families, proved very important in marital selection. Environmental factors were also significant. Oil production dominated Comodoro Rivadavia, while intensive family farming in a suburban setting characterized Villa Elisa. Through the comparative analysis of these two contrasting, receiving societies, the article examines the interplay between primary social networks based on national and ethnic origin and socioeconomic local conditions.

JORDANIAN MEN'S ATTITUDES AND VIEWS OF BIRTH-SPACING AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE (A QUALITATIVE APPROACH)

This qualitative study was carried out to understand the meaning that Jordanian men attach to birth-spacing/family planning and to identify their attitudes and practices regarding contraceptives. Six focus group discussions were conducted over a 3-month period starting April 1996, with each group containing 6-10 men. The sample consisted of Jordanian men residing in Amman. Education, social class, and marital status stratified men's selection. The discussions were moderated by a social psychologist of the same sex. With respondents' consent, data gathered in the discussion groups were tape-recorded, transcribed, and critically analyzed using the content analysis method. The researchers found that there was a consensus among all men about the link between the concept of birth-spacing/family planning and the concept of better health for the mother and the child. Yet, the practice of contraception was influenced by some religious and cultural beliefs including that of "RIZK" (or fortune) which comes when the child is born. Moreover, some knowledge deficits concerning modern methods of contraception, and their side effects in particular, were noted. Some unfavorable attitudes of men for themselves using male contraceptives were also noted. Most men in the study indicated that spousal communication takes place on issues related to family planning, but the final decision is, in most cases, left to the husband alone (the head of the house). The demand for an increasing number of male children and the resistance of males to use condoms were among the most prevalent unexpected phenomena noticed in this study. The study concludes by recommending that special attention be directed to males when delivering family planning services.

Marital Protection and Marital Selection: Evidence from a Historical-Prospective Sample of American Men

Marital Protection and Marital Selection: Evidence from a Historical-Prospective Sample of American Men

Marital status and mortality in British women: a longitudinal study.

Most previous studies on marital status and mortality did not adjust for the effect of 'marital selection'. Little research has been done about the relation between marital status and mortality in British women, with the exception of research on bereavement. Subjects consisted of women aged > or = 35 in a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample. Marital status and covariates were enumerated at a baseline interview in 1984/85 and a follow-up interview in 1991/92. Death data up to May 1997 were obtained from the National Health Service Central Register. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the single, divorced and widowed states in relation to the married state. Having adjusted for age and martial selection factors, being single (HR = 1.45) was significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality. Being divorced and being widowed showed no excess mortality risk (each HR = 1.09). Being single was associated with higher mortality. A causal interpretation is plausible. Being divorced and being widowed were not associated with higher mortality.