Matrimonial Advertisements Research Articles

What defines a legitimate issue for Skinnerian psychology: Philosophy or technology?

The finding that women are attracted to men older than themselves whereas men are attracted to relatively younger women has been explained by social psychologists in terms of economic exchange rooted in traditional sex-role norms. An alternative evolutionary model suggests that males and females follow different reproductive strategies, and predicts a more complex relationship between gender and age preferences. In particular, males' preferences for relatively younger females should be minimal during early mating years, but should become more pronounced as the male gets older. Young females are expected to prefer somewhat older males during their early years and to change less as they age. We briefly review relevant theory and present results of six studies testing this prediction. Study 1 finds support for this gender-differentiated prediction in age preferences expressed in personal advertisements. Study 2 supports the prediction with marriage statistics from two U.S. cities. Study 3 examines the cross-generational robustness of the phenomenon, and finds the same pattern in marriage statistics from 1923. Study 4 replicates Study 1 using matrimonial advertisements from two European countries, and from India. Study 5 finds a consistent pattern in marriages recorded from 1913 through 1939 on a small island in the Philippines. Study 6 reveals the same pattern in singles advertisements placed by financially successful American women and melt. We consider the limitations of previous normative and evolutionary explanations of age preferences and discuss the advantages of expanding previous models to include the life history perspective.

Age preferences in mates reflect sex differences in human reproductive strategies

AbstractThe finding that women are attracted to men older than themselves whereas men are attracted to relatively younger women has been explained by social psychologists in terms of economic exchange rooted in traditional sex-role norms. An alternative evolutionary model suggests that males and females follow different reproductive strategies, and predicts a more complex relationship between gender and age preferences. In particular, males' preferences for relatively younger females should be minimal during early mating years, but should become more pronounced as the male gets older. Young females are expected to prefer somewhat older males during their early years and to change less as they age. We briefly review relevant theory and present results of six studies testing this prediction. Study 1 finds support for this gender-differentiated prediction in age preferences expressed in personal advertisements. Study 2 supports the prediction with marriage statistics from two U.S. cities. Study 3 examines the cross-generational robustness of the phenomenon, and finds the same pattern in marriage statistics from 1923. Study 4 replicates Study 1 using matrimonial advertisements from two European countries, and from India. Study 5 finds a consistent pattern in marriages recorded from 1913 through 1939 on a small island in the Philippines. Study 6 reveals the same pattern in singles advertisements placed by financially successful American women and men. We consider the limitations of previous normative and evolutionary explanations of age preferences and discuss the advantages of expanding previous models to include the life history perspective.

Belle Gunness: The Lady Bluebeard

The Guinness Book of World Records has in twelve editions listed Belle Gunness under the category Most Prolific Murderers. She earned the epithet the Lady Bluebeard because she is believed to have killed as many as twenty spouses. She settled on a farm on the outskirts of LaPorte, Indiana, in 1901. Over the next seven years it is believed that she killed a husband, children, and an indeterminate number of would-be suitors who answered her matrimonial advertisements. Through symbolic analysis of the folk art about the murderess--anecdotes, personal-experience stories, legends, ballads, and plays and skits--Langlois discovers an integrated symbol system through which the community comes to various and contradictory conclusions about the deviant woman, deviancy in general, and social changes.

Self-Presentation During Courtship: A Content Analysis of Classified Advertisements in Israel

Classified matrimonial advertisements (c. m. a.) are one of several ways used by courting individuals to present themselves to prospective mates. By accumulating and analysing 1800 such c.m.a., which appeared in a leading Israeli daily newspaper, over 35 years, we aspired to learn something about the changing ideals and perception of husbands and wives in Israel. Our main findings were: the discrepancy between the attributes of desirable brides and grooms diminished considerably since 1948. Women are significantly more selective (or choosey) in courting. While in the past marriage was viewed primarily in terms of “partnership” it has gradually shifted toward more emphasis on companionship, based more on personal attraction and mutual satisfaction than on complementarity of material interests.

A Comparative Study of Mate Selection Criteria among Indians in India and the United States

This study investigated the effects of the modernization process upon the mate selection criteria used by a sample of Indian immigrants in the U.S.A. and a sample of their counterparts in India. The research was based upon a content analysis of matrimonial advertisements in India Abroad, an English weekly newspaper published in New York City, and in four major daily English newspapers published in India, each representing a major region of that country. The major findings were that occupation was not an important criterion in mate selection in either of the two samples and that personal income, religion and caste were more significant in mate selection in India than in the U.S.A.

Belle Gunness, the Lady Bluebeard: Symbolic Inversion in Verbal Art and American Culture

Previous articleNext article No AccessBelle Gunness, the Lady Bluebeard: Symbolic Inversion in Verbal Art and American CultureJanet L. LangloisJanet L. Langlois Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 8, Number 4Summer, 1983 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/493999 Views: 10Total views on this site Copyright 1983 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The relevance of matrimonial advertisements for the study of mate selection in India

The relevance of matrimonial advertisements for the study of mate selection in India

A Hindu Marriage in Bengal

Negotiations for marriages in a Bengali Hindu family start either directly or indirectly. In the former case a party of friends and relatives acting in behalf of a boy and one in behalf of a girl approach each other, usually through common friends and relatives; in the latter case, marriagebrokers or matchmakers-men and women -are engaged. The former are called ghataks and the latter ghatkis in Bengali. Both ghataks and ghatkis are usually illiterate and belong to the lower strata of society. There are, however, a few respectable and literate ghataks. These matchmakers supply information about a few boys to the guardian of a girl and about a few girls to the guardian of a boy; and, in most cases, they bring together both the parties. A few offices or organizations are also in existence for the negotiations of marriages; and, like the marriage-brokers, they put the guardians of the boys and girls in touch with each other. In all these cases, out-of-pocket expenses are to be paid; and, in the event of a successful negotiation, a certain fee or honorarium must also be paid. Matrimonial advertisements have been of late very much in vogue; and they are very interesting to read.