Patterns of Marital Interaction Why We Marry or Not Marriage 90 of whites and 67 of African Americans are projected to eventually marry Why do people marry Literature suggest great change in marriage o Conformity everyone else is doing it o In Love o It is okay to have sex when married o Legitimizes any children you may have o Companionship o Shared life experiences o Communicating with each other about stressful events Changes in Marriage and Mate Selection Both the meaning of marriage and the way we get into marriage have changed Courtship publicly visible process with rules and restrictions met its demise over time after 1900 o People moved away from rural areas o Industrial capitalism changed the way men earned income o Mobility people could get around more easily o Adolescence became new stage of life cycle Replaced by dating Heyday 1945 1965 o Privacy things began to change o Teenagers had more power in this phase mobility o Closely connected to how people selected future spouses Decoupling of Dating Marriage 1960s and 1970s o Invention of birth control bill o Women s growing economic power o Decreased emphasis of marriage on status of family of origin o Increased emphasis on sexual preference Independent living what would you call the system that exists now Mate Selection Online Dating eHarmony as example 5 of all newlyweds in the world met through eHarmony Online profile matching system based on research Compatibility Matters Personality Values Interests Changes in Meaning or Purpose of Marriage Movement from o institutional marriage to companionship marriage to individualized Institutionalized not in love family based economy marriage Companionship love is addition Individualized does this person help me grow as an individual do I enjoy his her company a long with aspects of other marriage The Marriage Market Supply of suitable partners preference of individuals resources what do you bring to the table Specialization model somewhat fits the companion marriage o Looking for partners who will offer up resources traits Income pooling model somewhat fits individualized marriage o Both spouses will contribute to family income o People are marrying later reflects that women are working outside home Marriage and Mental Health more men stagnating wages Marrieds are better adjusted than non marrieds Is marriage better for men than women o Men married fare better than single o Women married fare better but differences are not as great for men
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