The divorce rate in India is 1.1%, and people in arranged marriages report greater love for partners than people in love marriages.
Some suggest that it has something to do with previous findings that being given more choices makes you less satisfied about the choice that you ultimately make.
Well...it can’t be sunk costs. If the point of a marriage is to make you happy, and it is making you happy, then it isn’t a sunk cost.
It can’t be post-purchase rationalization. Arranged vs love marriages don’t differ significantly in terms of resources invested in the spouse. And I think those two biases—post purchase and sunk cost—essentially amount to the same thing.
It’s been shown that too many choices make people ultimately less satisfied in what they get. The rationalization is not post-purchase.… it’s that there are no other options, so you might as well not trouble yourself with what could have been. I don’t remember the name of this bias, but it exists in its own right.
It could also be something about the type of people who agree to enter arranged marriages (traditional, family oriented, etc) being more likely to self report happiness with a spouse (actual happiness, duty, family-pride, whatever)
Alternatively you know....we need to at least consider the idea that arranged marriages rely on the choices of older and wiser individuals who know more about social dynamics than youngsters and ultimately are better equipped at making choices. (I doubt it, but still...)
Alternatively you know....we need to at least consider the idea that arranged marriages rely on the choices of older and wiser individuals who know more about social dynamics than youngsters and ultimately are better equipped at making choices. (I doubt it, but still...)
I consider that to be pretty likely, though how much better the older folk are at spouse choice should strongly depend on how much their kid’s situation resembles theirs (and their peer’s); it would also depend on how well the parent knows the prospective spouses—so the advantages of arranged marriages would probably be greatest in small, rural communities.
(Another factor is probably the age of marriage; when people are expected to marry young they’ll probably make worse decisions if left to themselves)
The comparison was between Indian love marriages, Indian arranged marriages, and American love marriages. Indian and American love marriages appear to be more similar to each other than either are to Indian love marriages in this respect… so unless you consider the American marriage age too young to make this decision, I’m not sure age is a factor.
The divorce rate in India is 1.1%, and people in arranged marriages report greater love for partners than people in love marriages.
Some suggest that it has something to do with previous findings that being given more choices makes you less satisfied about the choice that you ultimately make.
Sunk costs? Post-Purchase rationalization?
Well...it can’t be sunk costs. If the point of a marriage is to make you happy, and it is making you happy, then it isn’t a sunk cost.
It can’t be post-purchase rationalization. Arranged vs love marriages don’t differ significantly in terms of resources invested in the spouse. And I think those two biases—post purchase and sunk cost—essentially amount to the same thing.
It’s been shown that too many choices make people ultimately less satisfied in what they get. The rationalization is not post-purchase.… it’s that there are no other options, so you might as well not trouble yourself with what could have been. I don’t remember the name of this bias, but it exists in its own right.
It could also be something about the type of people who agree to enter arranged marriages (traditional, family oriented, etc) being more likely to self report happiness with a spouse (actual happiness, duty, family-pride, whatever)
Alternatively you know....we need to at least consider the idea that arranged marriages rely on the choices of older and wiser individuals who know more about social dynamics than youngsters and ultimately are better equipped at making choices. (I doubt it, but still...)
I consider that to be pretty likely, though how much better the older folk are at spouse choice should strongly depend on how much their kid’s situation resembles theirs (and their peer’s); it would also depend on how well the parent knows the prospective spouses—so the advantages of arranged marriages would probably be greatest in small, rural communities.
(Another factor is probably the age of marriage; when people are expected to marry young they’ll probably make worse decisions if left to themselves)
The comparison was between Indian love marriages, Indian arranged marriages, and American love marriages. Indian and American love marriages appear to be more similar to each other than either are to Indian love marriages in this respect… so unless you consider the American marriage age too young to make this decision, I’m not sure age is a factor.
Mmh, my bet is on the second. I findi it a very powerful motivator even in non-arranged marriages.
Could you provide a source for that claim?
http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1988-35550-001
It’s been replicated a few times in other places. Here is another, in case you don’t have journal access
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=arranged-marriages-can-be-real-love-10-03-11