Recent studies propose two theories explaining the particular mechanisms of mate choice. Theory of homogamy suggests that individuals prefer partners with personality traits similar to their own. In contrast, theory of complementarity states that people choose mates with opposite personality traits. The main aims of this study were i) to test homogamy and complementarity of dominance in long-term heterosexual and homosexual male couples and ii) to examine whether this similarity predicts higher relationship satisfaction. We also tested whether heterosexual couples differ from same-sex couples in the level of assessed homogamy. Dominance was measured in four different domains: dominance as a personal trait, dominance in social groups, partner dominance and sexual dominance. The research sample consisted of 76 male heterosexuals (mean age 24, SD = 4) and their long-term partners (mean age 22, SD = 3.34) and 36 male homosexuals (mean age 30, SD = 8.25) and their long- term partners (mean age 29, SD = 6.99). All participants completed anonymous set of questionnaires (International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), Rank Style With Peers Questionnaire (RSPQ), Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS), along with a questionnaire focused on sexual dominance, and Spanier's test of dyadic adjustment). Our findings...

The main aim of this study is to contribute to understanding of family influence on mate choice and satisfaction in long-term relationship. Studies suggest that family has significant influence on mate choice. According to the theory of sexual imprinting, individual create an image of the opposite sex parent during early childhood, which is in adulthood used as a template for partner choice (Bereczkei et al., 2002). However, in accordance with phenotype matching theory, the preference for similar traits like parents have, could be preferences for self-similarity, because they share with parents a half of genom. So it could means, that they prefer self-similar traits more than parent-similar traits (Rushton, 1989). Fourty nine couples participated in our research and also partner and parents of our respondents filled a set of standardized questionnaires. In the second study women evaluated male somatotypes and completed a questionnaire on the relationship with their father during childhood. The study showed many interesting results. Studyies aimed on sexual imprinting have focused only on the influence of the opposite sex parent (Wiszewska et al., 2007), however, we found that the parent of same sex influences partner choice of their offspring too. These findings support more the phenotypic matching...

Recent studies show that both physical and personality characteristics influence mate choice. Two theories explaining particular mechanisms of mate choice were proposed. Theory of homogamy suggests that individuals prefer partners with similar personality traits as they have. In contrast, theory of complementarity states that people choose mates with opposite personality traits. Main aim of the current study was to test homogamy and complementarity of personality traits in long-term same-sex male couples. The research sample consisted of 40 male homosexuals (mean age 24.2, SD = 4.6) and their long-term partners (mean age 27.4, SD = 5.2). All participants completed anonymous set of questionnaires (NEO-FFI, Spanier's test of dyadic adjustment, questionnaire focused on gender diagnosticy and revised sociosexuality orientation inventory) Each questionnaire was evaluated separately. The individual scores of participants and his partner was compared by correlational analyses. Then, we using a correlation and ANOVA analyses between couples similarity and results of Dyadic Adjustment Scale was tested. Findings showed that greater couple similarity in BMI and weight indicates higher satisfaction in the partnership. The results also showed that homosexual couples were similar in age, occupation, level of...

Le constat d’une persistance de l’homogamie sociale est régulièrement réitéré ; la tendance à former des couples dans lesquels la femme occupe une position inférieure à son conjoint – hypergamie féminine – est elle aussi bien documentée : l’amour est loin d’être aveugle aux distinctions sociales. Pourtant, on a un peu rapidement conclu de ce résultat majeur que ces phénomènes étaient restés stables dans le temps. Cette thèse montre, à l’aide de données de grandes enquêtes, que l’homogamie s’est nettement affaiblie du point de vue du diplôme, de la classe et de l’origine sociales au cours des quarante dernières années en France. Cette évolution va au-delà de ce que l’évolution de la structure de la population implique (homogamie relative) : la composition des couples s’est rapprochée d’une situation de choix au hasard. L’hypergamie s’est elle aussi fortement réduite, et s’est même inversée en termes de diplôme, les femmes étant désormais plus diplômées que leurs conjoints depuis l’an 2000. En conséquence, le surcroît de célibat des femmes au statut social le plus élevé, et notamment des diplômées, qui tenait à leur position défavorable sur le marché conjugal, s’est résorbé. Les variations de ces deux dimensions du choix du conjoint parmi 64 régions d’Europe dans les années 2000 sont notables. L’homogamie d’éducation est plus élevée que l’homogamie socioéconomique ; l’hypergamie est majoritaire, mais n’est pas absolument généralisée. Le degré de libéralisme culturel et d’ouverture sociale apparaît comme le principal déterminant de ces deux phénomènes. Ils sont négativement corrélés au taux d’activité féminine, mais leur lien avec les inégalités économiques est ambigu. / The persistance of social homogamy is regularly observed; the tendency to form couples in which the woman occupies a lower position than her partner – female hypergamy – is also well documented: love is far from blind to social distinctions. Yet, it was concluded somewhat too fast from this major result that these phenomena have remained stable over time. This thesis shows, based on large-scale survey data, that education, social class and social class of origin homogamy has significantly weakened over the last forty years in France. This trend goes beyond what changes in the population structure would have implied (relative homogamy): the composition of couples has become closer to a random mating situation. Hypergamy has also clearly diminished, and has even reversed regarding education; females hold higher qualifications than their partners since the year 2000. As a consequence, the higher celibacy rate of women with a high social status, in particular that of the higher educated, which stemmed from their unfavorable position on the conjugal market, has converged to that of other groups. The variations of these two dimensions of partner choice over 64 regions of Europe in the 2000s are also sizable. Educational homogamy is higher than socioeconomic homogamy; hypergamy is the most frequent situation, but it is not an absolutely general pattern. The degree of cultural liberalism and of social openness appears as the strongest determinant of these two phenomena. They are negatively correlated with female labor force participation, but their relationship with economic inequalities is ambiguous.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Buscou-se, nesse estudo, quantificar e avaliar a homogamia, a heterogamia e as barreiras de cruzamento ao matrimônio via escolaridade (anos de estudo) e origem social (categorias ocupacionais dos pais). As tendências temporais desses padrões também foram examinadas. Analisou-se, ainda, a associação entre escolaridade dos maridos, escolaridade das esposas (status realizado), origem social dos maridos e origem social das esposas (status atribuído). Esse trabalho teve o intuito também de discutir o viés de seletividade marital segundo os diferenciais sociais (anos de estudo e origem social). Para isso, foram analisados parâmetros que mostram como se configuram os padrões de nupcialidade (idade média ao casar e celibato definitivo), bem como foram examinados os determinantes da união sob a perspectiva de três níveis de fatores condicionantes (nível das características individuais, nível do status atribuído e nível do status realizado). Verificou-se que as mulheres com alta escolaridade, no Brasil, permanecem num período maior na condição de solteiras (alta idade média ao casar e alto celibato definitivo). Os homens com alta escolaridade também apresentaram uma alta idade média ao casar, entretanto, o casamento demonstrou ser praticamente universal para esse segmento. Os resultados também mostraram que o aumento de um ano na idade dos indivíduos elevam a chance de união em aproximadamente 5%. Ter uma baixa escolaridade também aumenta a chance dos indivíduos se casarem. A variável origem social apresentou um comportamento dúbio ao ser incorporada no modelo com a variável anos de estudo. Constatou-se que há uma alta proporção de uniões homogâmicas por escolaridade. Para efetuar uma análise adequada das tendências temporais na seletividade marital foi proposto modelos log-lineares em que a dimensão do tempo foi incorporada. O ajustamento dos modelos indicou que a interpretação mais plausível para as tendências temporais na seletividade marital por escolaridade é a da estabilidade dos parâmetros indicativos das propensões homogâmicas. Em relação a análise da seletividade marital e origem social os resultados mostraram que a maior proporção de homogamia pôde ser verificada entre os casais que tinham como origem social a categoria de pequenos proprietários rurais. A conclusão mais plausível ao se analisar os modelos que consideraram as tendências temporais é que a variação temporal dos parâmetros indicativos da seletividade marital por origem social é a característica mais forte dos dados analisados. Ao analisar as chances relativas oriundas desse modelo observou-se que as barreiras de origem social de curta distância (entre segmentos de origem social próximos) são as mais fáceis de serem transpostas. Ao passo que as barreiras mais difíceis de serem ultrapassadas estão concentradas nos dois extremos. Verificou-se, ainda, que as associações entre as interações escolaridade do marido e escolaridade da esposa e origem social do marido e origem social da esposa não são independentes. Assim, pode-se presumir que a origem social (status atribuído) continua influenciando a escolha conjugal mesmo quando se leva em consideração o status realizado (escolaridade dos cônjuges) / This study attempted to quantify and evaluate homogamy, heterogamy and the crossing barriers to marriage regarding schooling (years of study) and social background (parental occupational category). Time tendencies present in these patterns were also considered as well as the association between husbands schooling, wives schooling (status held), husbands social origin and wives social origin (status assigned). This thesis also aimed to discuss the marital selectivity bias according to social differentials (years of study and social origin). For this, parameters that show how marriage patterns are configured (mean age to marry and permanent celibacy) were analyzed. It was also considered the marriage determinant factors under three conditions (individual characteristics, level of assigned status and level of status held). It was found that women with high educational level, in Brazil, remain unmarried for a longer period, since they usually get married on their late middle ages and show a high permanent celibacy). Men with high educational levels also showed a high mean age to marry, however, marriage proved to be virtually universal for this segment. The results also showed that the increase of one year in the age of individuals raises the chance of marriage in approximately 5%. Having a low educational level also increases the chance of people to get married. The social origin variable demonstrated a dubious behavior when incorporated into the model with the years of study variable. A high proportion of homogamic unions for schooling was found. To perform an adequate analysis of time tendencies in marital selectivity log-linear models were proposed and time dimension was incorporated. The models adjustment indicated that the most plausible interpretation for time tendencies in marital selectivity for schooling is the indicative parameters of stability regarding homogamic tendencies. Considering the analysis of marital and social origin selectivity results showed that the highest proportion of homogamy could be observed between couples who came from rural smallholders family. The most plausible conclusion when analyzing the time tendencies models is that the temporal variation of indicative parameters of marital selectivity by social origin is the strongest feature throughout the analyzed data. When analyzing the relative chances from this model it was observed that the short distance social origin barriers (between close social origin segments) are the easiest ones to be transposed. While the hardest barriers to overcome are concentrated in the two extremes. It was also found that the associations between the interactions husband and wife schooling and husband and wifes social origin and social background are not independent. In this way, it can be supposed that the social background (status assigned) continues influencing the choice of marriage even when it takes into account the status held (schooling of spouses)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Buscou-se, nesse estudo, quantificar e avaliar a homogamia, a heterogamia e as barreiras de cruzamento ao matrimônio via escolaridade (anos de estudo) e origem social (categorias ocupacionais dos pais). As tendências temporais desses padrões também foram examinadas. Analisou-se, ainda, a associação entre escolaridade dos maridos, escolaridade das esposas (status realizado), origem social dos maridos e origem social das esposas (status atribuído). Esse trabalho teve o intuito também de discutir o viés de seletividade marital segundo os diferenciais sociais (anos de estudo e origem social). Para isso, foram analisados parâmetros que mostram como se configuram os padrões de nupcialidade (idade média ao casar e celibato definitivo), bem como foram examinados os determinantes da união sob a perspectiva de três níveis de fatores condicionantes (nível das características individuais, nível do status atribuído e nível do status realizado). Verificou-se que as mulheres com alta escolaridade, no Brasil, permanecem num período maior na condição de solteiras (alta idade média ao casar e alto celibato definitivo). Os homens com alta escolaridade também apresentaram uma alta idade média ao casar, entretanto, o casamento demonstrou ser praticamente universal para esse segmento. Os resultados também mostraram que o aumento de um ano na idade dos indivíduos elevam a chance de união em aproximadamente 5%. Ter uma baixa escolaridade também aumenta a chance dos indivíduos se casarem. A variável origem social apresentou um comportamento dúbio ao ser incorporada no modelo com a variável anos de estudo. Constatou-se que há uma alta proporção de uniões homogâmicas por escolaridade. Para efetuar uma análise adequada das tendências temporais na seletividade marital foi proposto modelos log-lineares em que a dimensão do tempo foi incorporada. O ajustamento dos modelos indicou que a interpretação mais plausível para as tendências temporais na seletividade marital por escolaridade é a da estabilidade dos parâmetros indicativos das propensões homogâmicas. Em relação a análise da seletividade marital e origem social os resultados mostraram que a maior proporção de homogamia pôde ser verificada entre os casais que tinham como origem social a categoria de pequenos proprietários rurais. A conclusão mais plausível ao se analisar os modelos que consideraram as tendências temporais é que a variação temporal dos parâmetros indicativos da seletividade marital por origem social é a característica mais forte dos dados analisados. Ao analisar as chances relativas oriundas desse modelo observou-se que as barreiras de origem social de curta distância (entre segmentos de origem social próximos) são as mais fáceis de serem transpostas. Ao passo que as barreiras mais difíceis de serem ultrapassadas estão concentradas nos dois extremos. Verificou-se, ainda, que as associações entre as interações escolaridade do marido e escolaridade da esposa e origem social do marido e origem social da esposa não são independentes. Assim, pode-se presumir que a origem social (status atribuído) continua influenciando a escolha conjugal mesmo quando se leva em consideração o status realizado (escolaridade dos cônjuges) / This study attempted to quantify and evaluate homogamy, heterogamy and the crossing barriers to marriage regarding schooling (years of study) and social background (parental occupational category). Time tendencies present in these patterns were also considered as well as the association between husbands schooling, wives schooling (status held), husbands social origin and wives social origin (status assigned). This thesis also aimed to discuss the marital selectivity bias according to social differentials (years of study and social origin). For this, parameters that show how marriage patterns are configured (mean age to marry and permanent celibacy) were analyzed. It was also considered the marriage determinant factors under three conditions (individual characteristics, level of assigned status and level of status held). It was found that women with high educational level, in Brazil, remain unmarried for a longer period, since they usually get married on their late middle ages and show a high permanent celibacy). Men with high educational levels also showed a high mean age to marry, however, marriage proved to be virtually universal for this segment. The results also showed that the increase of one year in the age of individuals raises the chance of marriage in approximately 5%. Having a low educational level also increases the chance of people to get married. The social origin variable demonstrated a dubious behavior when incorporated into the model with the years of study variable. A high proportion of homogamic unions for schooling was found. To perform an adequate analysis of time tendencies in marital selectivity log-linear models were proposed and time dimension was incorporated. The models adjustment indicated that the most plausible interpretation for time tendencies in marital selectivity for schooling is the indicative parameters of stability regarding homogamic tendencies. Considering the analysis of marital and social origin selectivity results showed that the highest proportion of homogamy could be observed between couples who came from rural smallholders family. The most plausible conclusion when analyzing the time tendencies models is that the temporal variation of indicative parameters of marital selectivity by social origin is the strongest feature throughout the analyzed data. When analyzing the relative chances from this model it was observed that the short distance social origin barriers (between close social origin segments) are the easiest ones to be transposed. While the hardest barriers to overcome are concentrated in the two extremes. It was also found that the associations between the interactions husband and wife schooling and husband and wifes social origin and social background are not independent. In this way, it can be supposed that the social background (status assigned) continues influencing the choice of marriage even when it takes into account the status held (schooling of spouses)

This thesis examines the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, levels of personal religiosity, and reported marital satisfaction. Current research suggests links among these dimensions of interpersonal life, and building upon existing literature, I examine the effects of one's religious homogamy and the salience of religious homogamy in relation to one's reported marital satisfaction. Data used are parts of Wave II of the Baylor Religious Survey, a religiously-focused data set that compiles information of social and religious attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors on a national scale. Multiple hypotheses on possible links between variables are tested, and the relationships between marital satisfaction and many religious and sociodemographic variables are upheld; however, the relation between the salience of religious homogamy and marital satisfaction is most prevalent.

This thesis investigates the pattern of parental educational homogamy and its implications for parenting practices and children’s early development in contemporary Britain. At the heart of the thesis lies an interest in the mechanisms behind the intergenerational transmission of educational success and, more specifically, the consequences for children of new patterns of parental resemblance in education. The thesis is composed of three empirical chapters, each of which is concerned with a different outcome: 1) trends in educational attainment and educational assortative mating amongst parental couples; 2) parents’ childrearing values and stimulation-oriented interactions with children; and 3) children’s early cognitive and behavioural skills. The first chapter combines data from four birth cohort studies from 1958, 1970, 1990 and 2000-01 while the second and third chapters rely exclusively on the latter study. The empirical analyses use Log-linear and Diagonal Reference models. With regard to trends in educational assortative mating, the thesis finds that the strength of homogamy increased between 1958 and 1970 to decrease thereafter and remain stable, at its lowest level, throughout the 1990s. Moreover, amongst recent cohorts of parental couples the percentage of unions where mothers are more educated than their male partners equalled that of unions exhibiting the opposite pattern. The findings concerning the dynamics of parenting in heterogamous couples suggest a pattern of female dominance in the attitudinal domain as fathers align with the views that can be expected on the basis of the mother’s level of education rather than their own; however, no significant adjustments between partners are observed in parenting behaviours. Lastly, the thesis finds a positive gradient in the association between parental education and children’s early cognitive and socio-emotional development but little or no support for the hypotheses of differential effects for sons and daughters or gender biases in parental preferences for children. That is, no significant interactions are observed between the gender of children and the impact of parents’ absolute and relative levels of education. Taken together, the findings of the thesis qualify concerns about the increase of educational assortative mating in industrialised societies and its potential consequences for the intergenerational reproduction of inequalities in education.

No description available.

The subject of this dissertation is trends in family formation among highly educated men and women in Sweden. The highly educated have typically differed from other educational groups in their patterns of childbearing. This has particularly been the case for highly educated women, who used to be in the minority among the highly educated and who were much more likely to be childless than other women. The goal of this dissertation is to understand how the expansion of higher education has transformed  the formation of childbearing unions among the highly educated group. The context for the dissertation is the dramatic expansion of higher education which has occurred in Sweden over the last half century. As the share of cohorts graduating from post-secondary education has grown, diversity among the highly educated has also increased. This dissertation draws upon rich Swedish administrative register data to answer questions about changes in the behavior of the highly educated group, as well as emerging stratification within the group. This dissertation consists of five studies and an introductory chapter. In Study 1, we examine changes in geographical distances between young couples and their parents. We find that among younger cohorts, generations live further apart. The expansion of higher education contributes to these distances, though the introduction of regional colleges has mediated the impact of educational expansion to some extent. In Study 2, we consider how effective colleges are as partner markets. We follow one birth cohort (1970), and examine the likelihood that they form a childbearing union with someone who attended the same university at the same time. We find that colleges are an important potential meeting place for childbearing partners, and examine how the likelihood of partnering with a fellow student is related to the college composition. In Study 3, I assess changes in partner choice among the highly educated, by comparing the likelihood that highly educated men and women born in 1940-2, 1950-2, 1960-2, and 1970-2 form a childbearing union, and whether they do so with a highly or a lower educated partner. I find that female graduates are much more likely to enter unions, and to “partner down”. Men’s likelihood of forming a childbearing union hasn’t changed across cohorts, but men from later cohorts are much more likely to find a highly educated partner than men from earlier cohorts. I show that partnership outcomes for graduates are related to social class background, university experience (degree length and institution type), and post-graduation income. In Study 4, we study unions with at least one highly educated partner, including men and women born in 1950-2, 1960-2, 1970-2, and 1980-2. We examine the extent to which educational (in)equality is mirrored in other measures of status such as social class background, income, and occupational prestige. We conclude that although the number of women “partnering down” in terms of education has increased dramatically, these unions are not necessarily characterized by female status-dominance more generally. In Study 5, I focus on highly educated men who do not form any childbearing union, studying men born in the years 1945-1974. I find that the consistent levels of childlessness among highly educated men may best be explained by changes in the composition of graduates in terms of field of study and post-graduation income. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>