Intra‐ethnic and inter‐ethnic marriage and divorce in Hawaii

Abstract

A comparison of intra‐ and inter‐ethnic divorce rates in Hawaii showed that inter‐ethnic marriages resulted in a higher proportion of divorces than did intra‐ethnic marriages when the marriage data used had to do with all marriages occurring in Hawaii. However, a sizeable portion of marriages in Hawaii are of nonresidents who, if they divorce, probably divorce elsewhere. Nonresident marriages are chiefly intra‐ethnic marriages of Caucasians. When examining the proportions of divorces to resident marriages, within‐group marriages are more at risk than inter‐ethnic marriages. As in prior research, persons who marry members of other racial/ethnic groups tend to marry persons from groups with income levels similar to their own. As in previous reports, some cross‐ethnic combinations appeared more at risk for divorce than did others. Group income appeared to be a predictor of risk. When considering only resident marriages as related to divorces, those marriages in which the bride was from a higher income group than the groom were at a significantly greater risk for divorce than marriage in which the bride came from an income group lower than that of the groom.     

Marriage and the maintenance of ethnic group boundaries: the case of Mauritius

Research on how cognitive and cultural biases shape marital decisions in Mauritius suggests that ethnic endogamy will remain the norm and maintain ethnic group boundaries. Results of a pile sorting exercise of Mauritian university students intimates that preferences for ethnic endogamy are paramount and override class-based considerations. Thus, despite socio-economic stratification within each ethnic group, inter-ethnic marriage is not common. Results from in-depth interviews suggest that individuals and their parents prefer to marry within their ethnic group to ensure that their spouse will abide by ethnically-specific norms and conventions, increasing the chances of coordinating reciprocal exchanges within a marriage. The presence of some inter-ethnic marriage does not weaken the boundaries between groups because children of inter-ethnic marriages tend to take on the ethnic identity and corresponding cultural norms of a single parent as a strategy to better negotiate social relations, and to marry someone of that same ethnicity.     

Group size and group income as influences on marriage patterns in Hawaii

This paper analyzes the association of ethnic group size and median ethnic group income with the percentages of cross-ethnic marriages and combinations of marriages of each of the 5 major racial/ethnic groups in Hawaii. The data cover marriages that took place from 1975-1977 in Hawaii's 5 major ethnic groups: 1) Caucasian, 2) Chinese, 3) Filipino, 4) Japanese, and 5) Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian. The number of Caucasians marrying in Hawaii are severely inflated by military and tourist marriages. Chinese (highest median income) and Hawaiians or part-Hawaiians (lowest median income) show the highest percentages of outmarriage. The number of persons making up given groups appears to play a role; larger groups have lower outmarriage rates. Since 19 of 20 potential marriage partners a Chinese person meets are of another racial group, as compared to 2 of 3 for Caucasians or Japanese, it is hardly surprising that the Chinese outmarry more often than other groups. Data show a tendency to an East-West split; Chinese-Japanese marriages are overrepresented, and marriages of Japanese men to Caucasian women are underrepresented. However, marriages of Caucasian males to Chinese women are also overrepresented. Also, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos tend to be more representative of the West than Caucasians are. The authors conclude that cultural attributes likely to lead to a given level of income, rather than income per se, influence the probability of persons marrying a member of a given racial/ethnic group other than their own.     

Pilot study: Population differences in the frequency of spina bifida occulta

Abstract

Iran has the second highest age differential between husband and wife out of 55 countries studied (Dixon, 1971) and one almost twice as large as that for all countries combined. This article provides a set of basic reliable data on husband‐wife age differentials in Shiraz, Iran, for marriages in 1956, 1966, 1973, and 1974, and for divorces in 1956, 1966, and 1973. The data provide support for the hypotheses: (1) the larger the difference between the ages of bride and groom, the higher the chance for family dissolution; and (2) the younger the brides, the greater the age differences between them and their grooms.     

Divorce in Ethiopia: the impact of early marriage and childlessness

Forty-five per cent of first marriages in Ethiopia end in divorce within 30 years, and two-thirds of women who divorce do so within the first 5 years of marriage. This paper looks at two factors that may have an impact on the risk of divorce in Ethiopia: early age of first marriage, and childlessness within the first marriage. Data used were from the 1990 National Family and Fertility Survey conducted by the Government of Ethiopia. A total of 8757 women of reproductive age (15-49) were analysed. Life table analysis was used to determine the median age at first marriage, first birth and the median duration of marriage. Cox models were analysed to determine the differentials of divorce. The results of this analysis showed that both early age at marriage and childlessness have a significant impact on the risk of divorce. An inverse relationship was found between age at marriage and risk of divorce. Having a child within the first marriage also significantly reduced the risk of divorce. In addition, several cultural and socioeconomic variables were significant predictors of divorce.     

Same Sex Marriage and the Perceived Assault on Opposite Sex Marriage

Background

Marriage benefits both individuals and societies, and is a fundamental determinant of health. Until recently same sex couples have been excluded from legally recognized marriage in the United States. Recent debate around legalization of same sex marriage has highlighted for anti-same sex marriage advocates and policy makers a concern that allowing same sex couples to marry will lead to a decrease in opposite sex marriages. Our objective is to model state trends in opposite sex marriage rates by implementation of same sex marriages and other same sex unions.

Methods and Findings

Marriage data were obtained for all fifty states plus the District of Columbia from 1989 through 2009. As these marriage rates are non-stationary, a generalized error correction model was used to estimate long run and short run effects of same sex marriages and strong and weak same sex unions on rates of opposite sex marriage. We found that there were no significant long-run or short run effects of same sex marriages or of strong or weak same sex unions on rates of opposite sex marriage.

Conclusion

A deleterious effect on rates of opposite sex marriage has been argued to be a motivating factor for both the withholding and the elimination of existing rights of same sex couples to marry by policy makers–including presiding justices of current litigation over the rights of same sex couples to legally marry. Such claims do not appear credible in the face of the existing evidence, and we conclude that rates of opposite sex marriages are not affected by legalization of same sex civil unions or same sex marriages.     

Sexual Desire,Piety, and Law in a Javanese Pesantren: Interpreting Varieties of Secret Divorce and Polygamy

Very little anthropological research has explored the polygamous worlds of women in Indonesia's traditional Islamic boarding schools known as pesantren. These traditional schools are patriarchal institutions that teach women to be ideal Muslims according to male-defined notions of shari'ah-based piety that construct polygamy as normative. This article challenges dominant discourses on polygamy, which are mostly concerned with public protest and feminist agendas that seek to have the practice banned, and instead reveals an agentive side of women in polygamous marriages. It examines the experiences of a group of pesantren women whose actions transgress state and Islamic laws on marriage and divorce in their endorsement of polygamous union and nikah batin (Sufi spiritual marriage). It builds on feminist arguments that recognise female agency in polygamy by considering the legal ambiguity surrounding secret and informal divorce and polygamous practices initiated by women restricted from obtaining legal divorces for socio-cultural reasons. In doing so, it further considers some aspects of a notion of a woman-centric polygamy that includes polyandry, which women create based on their understanding that Islam acknowledges women's sexual rights in marriage.     

Divorce among the Yoruba

Divorce rates among the northern Yoruba are not only higher than one might expect in patrilineal societies, but little different from those of the southern Yoruba, with cognatic descent groups. This initial observation challenges the hypothesis that divorce rates are directly correlated with the line of descent. Data on over 300 divorces were collected in four Yoruba towns—two with agnatic and two with cognatic descent groups. The divorces were classed by the length of the terminated marriage and its fertility, and the distribution of the types of divorce were then compared in the four towns. The results suggest that the rate of divorce is primarily correlated with the degree to which a woman is alienated by marriage from her own descent group. But a number of secondary factors seem to be important, and these may cumulatively raise or reduce the divorce rate to a marked degree.     

Effects of consanguineous marriages on fertility among three endogamous groups of Andhra Pradesh

To assess interrelationships between consanguineous marriage and fertility, 3 caste groups in Andhra Pradesh--the Desuri Kapu, an affluent agricultural caste; the Devanga, an artisan caste in the middle range of the hierarchy; and the Mala, a scheduled caste at the bottom--were selected for field study. Consanguineous marriages are an essential part of the social structure in this area of southern India. A total of 2524 marriages were analyzed, of which 46% were consanguineous. 19% of consanguineous marriages were between uncle and niece, 22% were between 1st cousins, and 5% were between more distant cousins. The Devanga had the highest rate of related marriages (48%), followed by the Desuri Kapu (47%) and the Mala (41%). Higher caste individuals, and wealthier persons within each caste, are more likely to marry relatives so they can avoid splitting their properties through dowry of bride price. The consanguineous unions as a whole were significantly more fertile than nonconsanguineous unions. The mean number of pregnancies, live births, and surviving offspring was 4.85, 4.44, and 2.99, respectively, among consanguineous couples compared with 3.41, 3.32, and 2.87, respectively, among nonconsanguineous couples. Although the number of pregnancies and live births was significantly higher among consanguineous couples in all 3 castes compared with nonconsanguineous couples, the difference in the number of surviving children between consanguineous and nonconsanguineous unions was not significant among the wealthier castes. This suggests that child mortality is higher among the offspring of consanguineous unions, despite their greater wealth.     

High income men have high value as long-term mates in the U.S.: personal income and the probability of marriage,divorce, and childbearing in the U.S.

Using data from the first Census data set that includes complete measures of male biological fertility for a large-scale probability sample of the U.S. population (the 2014 wave of the Study of Income and Program Participation-N = 55,281), this study shows that high income men are more likely to marry, are less likely to divorce, if divorced are more likely to remarry, and are less likely to be childless than low income men. Men who remarry marry relatively younger women than other men, on average, although this does not vary by personal income. For men who divorce who have children, high income is not associated with an increased probability of having children with new partners. Income is not associated with the probability of marriage for women and is positively associated with the probability of divorce. High income women are less likely to remarry after divorce and more likely to be childless than low income women. For women who divorce who have children, high income is associated with a lower chance of having children with new partners, although the relationship is curvilinear. These results are behavioral evidence that women are more likely than men to prioritize earning capabilities in a long-term mate and suggest that high income men have high value as long-term mates in the U.S.     

Did births decline in the United States after the enactment of no-fault divorce law?

Previous research has demonstrated that U.S. no-fault divorce laws implemented between 1953 and 1987 resulted in more divorces in some states than would have occurred otherwise. In other states, divorce patterns appeared to follow prevailing trends even after implementation of no-fault divorce legislation. A more distal question is whether implementation of no-fault divorce laws had an effect on birth rates. We analyzed state-level birth data from all 50 states to assess the birth response to the enactment of no-fault divorce law in each state. Results suggested that birth rates decreased significantly two to four years following the enactment of no-fault divorce law for the group of 34 states whose divorce rates responded to no-fault divorce legislation. As predicted, among the 16 states whose divorce rates did not respond to no-fault divorce legislation, the enactment of no-fault divorce law had a small and nonsignificant positive influence on birth rates. Generally, the group of 34 states had lower post no-fault birth rates than the group of 16 states.     

Marital instability among British Pakistanis: transnationality,conjugalities and Islam

This article offers insights into the dynamics underlying an increase in marital instability in British Pakistani families, thus challenging stereotypes of British South Asian populations as representing ‘old-fashioned’ families, with their lower rates of divorce in contrast with the wider British population. In addition to problems of compatibility, domestic violence and infidelity, we explore dynamics that may be more specific to the British Pakistani population, namely the transnational nature of many marriages, attitudes to parental involvement in arranging marriages, and the place of Islam. We suggest that, while arranged marriages were conventionally seen as safer than love marriages, both young people and their parents may now be viewing arranged marriages as riskier. In an arranged marriage that brings family approval but not personal fulfilment, young people are increasingly supported to divorce and remarry, with a greater degree of personal say in spouse selection.     

Marriage: an evolutionary perspective

Marriage is universal, and pair bonding is found in other species too with highly dependent young. So marriage functions as a reproductive social arrangement that traditionally involved the extended family. The sexes are not identical in their biological contributions to children's survival, so they seek somewhat different attributes in a mate. Men seek a young, attractive, sexually faithful bride. Women seek a man who is older, taller, and (as in many other species) socially dominant. Both sexes prefer a kind, healthy, attractive, similar mate who is emotionally attached to them. A spouse who fails to maintain sufficiently high mate value is vulnerable to divorce. Infertility and sexual dissatisfaction predict divorce, as does death of a child, but the more children, the stabler the marriage. Cross-cultural data suggest that cruel or subdominant men (e.g., poor providers) and unfaithful women are prone to divorce. Marriages in which the wife dominates the husband in economic contributions, nonverbal behavior, and decision making tend to be less satisfying. In societies in which wives are economically independent of husbands, divorce rates are high. As women's economic power has risen with industrialization, divorce rates have climbed. Economic and fitness considerations also help explain cultural differences in polygyny, age at marriage, arranged marriage, concern with the bride's sexual chastity, and marriage ceremonies. Other factors also affect marital dynamics, such as state subsidies to families, the sex ratio, and influence of the couple's parents.     

FBD Marriage: Further Support for the Westermarck Hypothesis of the Incest Taboo?

In the past decade, several reports, including data from Taiwan on the sim-pua form of marriage, have provided evidence for the Westermarck Hypothesis, a heretofore unpopular explanation of the incest taboo. This theory states that intimate childhood association breeds sexual disinterest. A preliminary study of FBD marriage in Lebanon reveals similar support for Westermarck's theory. The Lebanese patrilateral parallel cousin marriages examined produced significantly fewer children and more divorces than nonpaternal first cousin unions. Given the quite disparate cultures from which this evidence comes, serious reconsideration of Westermarck's Hypothesis is suggested. [incest taboo, FBD marriage, Lebanon, Middle Eastern sexuality]     

Researching ethnic conflicts in Nigeria: the missing link

The renewed upsurge in ethnic and communal conflicts in Nigeria has generated increased interests in ethnic conflicts studies. A dominant approach in the literature is the concentration on the study of inter-ethnic conflicts at the expense of intra-ethnic conflicts. However, experiences have shown that intra-ethnic conflicts are as equally preponderant and bloody as inter-ethnic conflicts, suggesting that considerable research attention be directed at them. This paper sheds light on the perseverance of sub-ethnic identities and conflicts in Nigeria. It traces the evolution of ethnic conflict research in Nigeria, explores the existing literature on ethnic conflicts and points to the neglect of intra-ethnic conflicts. The consequence, the paper concludes, is that knowledge of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria is likely to be insufficient and undeveloped.     

Differentials of fertility between polygynous and monogamous marriages in rural Bangladesh

This paper discusses polygynous marriages in rural Bangladesh, using marital status and birth registration data from the Demographic Surveillance System (DSS) of the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, for the period 1975-79. Of all the marriages recorded during this period about 5% were polygynous. To identify the women polygynously married, 1974 census data of the DSS area were used. The difference in age at marriage between the polygynous groom and his subsequent wife was 15 years on average. The socioeconomic indicators studied were education, occupation and area of dwelling space. In general, these indicators between women in monogamous marriages were significantly higher than between the women in polygynous unions. During the period 1976-79, 863 polygynous marriages were recorded (4.9% of all marriages in the study area). Polygynous marriages were found to be less frequent among men with 2ndary and higher levels of education. The highest proportion of polygynous marriages occurred among husbands with no schooling or Koranic education. The general fertility rate of women in monogamous marriages was significantly higher than for women in polygynous marriages, overall and in all age groups except 20-24. During the period 1975-79, the mean number of liveborn children for monogamous women was higher than that of polygynous women.     

Migration as a determinant of marriage pattern: preliminary report on consanguinity among Afghans

Two sample populations, one refugee and one resident, were studied. The frequencies of consanguineous marriages came out to be 49.8%and 55.4%, respectively, for the refugees and the residents. Caste endogamy was dominant both in the residents and the refugees. The mean coefficient of inbreeding was calculated to be 0.0303 for the refugee population and 0.0332 for the resident population samples. First cousin marriage was the dominant type of marriage in both samples; father's brother's daughter (FBD) marriage was more frequent among the refugees while mother's brother's daughter(MBD) marriage was more frequent among the residents. Education has no decreasing effect on the incidence of consanguineous marriages. A significant difference in the pattern of marriages in the refugees is observed after the Saur Revolution of 1979.     

The effect of divorce on infant mortality in a remote area of Bangladesh

The process of divorce is usually lengthy and hazardous, and can start quarrels that can lead to the abuse of women and their children. This study examines the effects of divorce on neonatal and postneonatal mortality of babies born before and after divorce in Teknaf, a remote area of Bangladesh. The longitudinal demographic surveillance system (DSS) followed 1,762 Muslim marriages in 1982-83 for 5 years to record divorce, deaths of spouse, emigration and births. It recorded 2,696 live births during the follow-up period, and their survival status during infancy. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of divorce on neonatal and postneonatal mortality, controlling for maternal age at birth, parity, sex of the child and household economic status. The odds of neonatal and postneonatal deaths among babies born after divorce or less than 12 months before mothers were divorced were more than double the odds of those born to mothers of intact marriages. The odds of postneonatal deaths were two times higher among babies born more than 12 months before divorce happens than their peers. The high mortality of infants born before and after mothers were divorced may reflect how abusive marriage and divorce increase the vulnerability of women and children in rural Bangladesh. Divorce and abuse of women are difficult and intractable social and health problems that must be addressed.     

Preferential Marriage among the Rukuba of Benue-Plateau State, Nigeria

The overall system of Rukuba marriage is formally a straight exchange of women between the component units of two exogamous moieties, component units which in turn abduct each other's wives in secondary marriage. The youths and girls of each of these component units pair off in formalized premarital relationships until girls marry out in the other moiety. The exchange pattern between the moieties works in such a way that the eldest girl of a set of uterine sisters must marry her mother's last lover's son, and her junior sisters are preferentially married in their mother's natal component unit, thus introducing a delayed exchange between the component units of opposite moieties working concurrently with the straight exchange system between the moieties. This is made possible by the various combinations of primary and/or preferential marriage and subsequent secondary marriages. [Rukuba, moieties, Nigeria, preferential marriage]     

Marriage as a reproductive contract: Patterns of marriage,divorce, and remarriage

Patterns of marriage, divorce, remarriage, and redivorce were examined in several representative Western cultures through survey questions and archival data to test the hypothesis that marriage and divorce can be understood as expressions of underlying gender-specific, fitness maximization strategies. Differences between males and females were found for the relationship between age and patterns of both marriage and divorce, with females being far more likely at almost all ages to initiate divorce proceedings than males. Once divorced, however, formerly married females were less likely to remarry than formerly married males. The presence of children from a prior marriage had the effect of further decreasing the likelihood of remarriage for females, but not for males. Formerly married males without children tended to remarry females who had never been married, whereas just the opposite was true for divorced males with children. Consistent with our view of marriage as a reproductive contract, the absence of children was not only conducive to divorce and remarriage, but appeared to increase the likelihood of redivorce as well.