Research has shown that an ability to provide financially is still a more prized asset in men than in women, although the trend is shifting. The economic pressures on men are stronger. "Money and status is secondary.This reframing of the issue may explain why fewer men than women find partners, even though men are more likely to be looking for one. While hypergamy may be a factor in many long-term relationships, "really, people today are looking for love," Fisher says. According to Fisher, who also conducts the “Singles in America” study, “Ninety-five percent of people in the study say that they want someone who respects them, somebody who they can trust and confide in, and makes them laugh, and has time for them.” While hypergamy may be a factor in many long-term relationships, But wealth and status obviously aren't the only things people look for in a spouse. For example, in the United States, women are paid roughly 82 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same job, and the disparity is even greater for women of color, according to the American Association of University Women. While many Western societies have progressed to promote gender equality in the past century-attempting to creating equal career, educational, and financial opportunities for women-there's still a large gender pay gap. Because of this, women have been forced to rely financially on men. Think of it like this: Historically, women haven't had the same access to education and career opportunities-still, there's a glass ceiling in many male-dominated professions like engineering, tech, and others. It also has to do with the way that society is specifically structured to keep women from achieving financial equality. Of course, hypergamy isn't just some harmless byproduct of evolutionary biology. “Attractiveness, in this context, means that these women show signs of health, youth, and fertility.” That’s why many men will marry down in social class for someone with superior looks. "Men want a woman who they find attractive, and there’s an evolutionary underpinning (in part) to what men deem attractive,” says Fisher. She says men marry up, too, although researchers tend to observe it in different ways. Having social clout can be enough to provide these resources too, which is why hypergamy includes class and status. Money, however, isn’t the only way to achieve these things. Even though women are now as educated as men, especially younger generations, researcher Yue Qian noted "the tendency for women to marry men with higher incomes than themselves persisted.” Even women who married a man of a lower education level still married a man who made a higher income.įisher says women may gravitate toward men with money so they can provide better food, healthcare, protection, and education for their children. A widely-cited 2016 paper explored the income difference between couples in 19. $15 at Shop Men's Health Credit: Men's HealthĪnthropological research indicates hypergamy still happens today-even if watering holes are largely out of the equation. A man with resources is better suited to help you raise your children,” Fisher explains. At the dawn of human history, it was clear why women engaged in hypergamy: “Hundreds of thousands of years ago, you wanted a man who had more resources, land, or his own watering hole. Marrying someone just because they're rich might seem shallow or unethical, but Fisher says it's evolutionarily adaptive to engage in hypergamy, because it increases the likelihood that you’ll have children who live long enough to reproduce. Helen Fisher, chief science advisor at Match. Today, the term is used in anthropological discourse and pertains to all societies and cultures, says Dr. That’s also why when you look at the definition of hypergamy on, it defines the word as “the practice among Hindu women of marrying into a caste at least as high as their own.” marrying down)-was coined in the 19th century when translating classical Hindu law books from Sanskrit to English. The term along, with its inverse, hypogamy-which means marrying someone of a lower social class or status (a.k.a. The word, which in essence means “marrying up,” actually stems from Hindu tradition, according to The Structure of Indian Society: Then and Now. This practice is known as hypergamy, and we're here to tell you what it means. But some folks actively seek out partners of a higher socioeconomic or social class (i.e., partners who are rich and powerful). Most of us want someone who’s smart, funny, and attractive, just to name a few. We all have a list of qualities that we look for in a potential partner.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |