Question

Describe the ways that major social factors (not personality traits or physical traits) affect the selection of a life partner in the United States? The Lauer & Lauer text goes into some detail on at least four of these traits. Your answer should include the terms homogamy, hypergamy, and assortative mating. If you are married or in a committed relationship, did these factors seem to have a role in your relationship? If not, why do you think that is the case?

Answer 1

The research findings by Lauer and Lauer reveal that love and money did not matter to the people looking to make marriage alliance rather being friends, keeping commitments and religion mattered when seeking intimacy and marriage in the United States.The tendency to marry people with similar characteristic (homogamy), the choice of marrying people in the higher class or caste (hypergamy) and assortative mating is seen as a common practice these days in societies across all cultures.It is also seen that in American society women tend to marry at a higher age and also consider a longer period of courtship that is the practice in the US social and cultural scenario. In this way, major social factors affect the selection of a life partner in the United States.