CULTURAL VARIATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

• THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ARRANGED MARRIAGES

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ARRANGED MARRIAGES

• This is the most common form of marriage in
  collectivist cultures
• 1993 1 in 4 marriages in Japan was arranged
• Batabyal 01 studied arranged marriages. They
  are based on the view that young people are
  unlikely to make the right choice when choosing a
  lifetime partner, and are likely to choose on the
  basis of attraction alone

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STAGE 1

• Identification of possible candidates. This is
  based on family and economics.
• These are presented to the person wishing to
  marry (the agent).
• In modern marriage, the agent has more choice and
  can refuse a potential partner

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STAGE 2

• The agent chooses or rejects.
• Well-wishers then seek other candidates of a
  higher quality to present to the agent

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INDIA

• Either arranged or love marriages are possible
• A study compared female students preferences for
  love vs arranged marriage
• Arranged the students were happy with this if it
  involved the consent of both partners
• Love comfortable with this if the parents
  approved
• So family approval is important in either type

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SUCCESS RATES

• Gupta and Singh compared love and liking in
  arranged and love marriages
• They studied 100 professional couples in Jaipur
  (50 of each)
• Couples were asked to answer the liking and love
  scales after 1,5, and 10 years of marriage, to
  indicate opinion of partner

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GUPTA AND SINGHS FINDINGS

• In love marriages, liking and love were high at
  the start but decreased during the marriage
• In arranged marriages, liking and love were low
  at the start, but after 10 years exceeded love
  marriages

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CHINESE STUDY

• Women in love marriages were much more satisfied
  than those in arranged marriages
• So results in India and China are contradictory
• This shows that it is not generalisable across
  cultures.
• Also there is variation within a culture
• Can you think of any methodological differences
  between the studies which may have generated
  these 2 extremes?

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ARRANGED MARRIAGE IN INDIVIDUALISTIC SOCIETY

• Second and third generation immigrants have
  parents who went through the process of
  acculturation
• This is the process of exposing people to a new
  culture which often produces changes in thinking
  and behaviour, especially among younger migrants
• Acculturation stress may occur if there is a
  clash between home culture and dominant culture

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ZAIDI AND SHURAYDI

• Studied attitudes towards arranged marriages in
  second generation Pakistani Muslim women raised
  in Canada
• They interviewed 20 single women, 16-30 years
  old.
• Most favoured western-style marriage
• But most had fathers who were resistant to change

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ACCULTURATION THEORY

• Immigrants are faced with a choice
• Integration
• Assimilation
• Separation
• Marginalisation
• Find out what these mean p.108-109

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RELATIONSHIPS AS ECONOMIC ALLIANCES

• In much of the world, marriage is used as part of
  an economic transaction
• The most common long-standing practice is the
  DOWRY
• This was common in the UK until the end of the
  19th century

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BIHAR, INDIA

• Here the practice of dowry giving is becoming
  more widespread despite modernisation
• 4.603 women were studied
• Two thirds disapproved of the dowry system
• Key points 6 people p.109
• Homework complete questions on p.109