Question 1
Examine the major examples of heterogamy.
Response 1
Heterogamous marriage is the union between two individuals who are culturally different or some significant social characteristics. In America, marriages have crossed to its traditional barriers race, age, religion, education, or social class. The major examples of heterogamy are interfaith marriages, interclass marriages, and interracial or interethnic marriages. The trend in heterogamy are practiced in different countries considering some factors, the perspective of people are more integrated in races and ethnicity. However, homogamous marriage is more stable than a heterogamous marriage because couples share the same attitudes and values if both come from the same backgrounds.
As per result of a study conducted, interfaith marriage tends to be less stable and more stressful than homogamous marriage. However, the study shows that although couples in interdenominational has less satisfaction in terms of religion-based values; differences disappear when both couples generally have similar religious orientations, good communication skills, and similar beliefs in raising their children. The interclass marriage consists of two opposing concepts, the hypergamy, and hypogamy. Hypergamy is a marriage to improve his or her social or economic status by marrying up, while hypogamy involves marrying down. A study conducted in urban Chicago shows that in interclass marriage or unions the couples experience more stress. The spouse who married down is more stress than the spouse who married up. However, the relationship between marrying down and its stress existed when strive of status is important to the person and it perceives negatively, less reciprocal, less affectionate, less emotionally supportive, and less value consensus. Young adults who experience increased independence from the influence of the families result to an increase in interracial or interethnic marriages or unions. Interracial marriage or interethnic marriage includes unions between couples of the black, white, Asians, and Native American races or ethnic group. The reasons for interracial or interethnic marriages are the following: relatively small in number and status exchange hypothesis. The first demonstrates that people have smaller groups of eligible in their ethnicity and larger ethnic groups to interact with different ethnicity. The latter demonstrates that a person trade his or her superior ethnic status for the educationally or economically superior ethnic status of a spouse in a less-privilege ethnic group.
Marriage is a diverse aspect that influenced different races or ethnicity; it could be homogamous or heterogamous unions. In addition, it is reflected with different cultural heritages blended as one. The major types of heterogamy marriages have its own reasons and effects in every marriage of different races or ethnics, negatively or positively. Every person has his or her freedom whom to choose to marry or to love and be happy despite some odds in the world of marriage.
Question 2
Explain the relationship between heterogamy and marital stability.
Response 2
Men and women enter in marriage based on being in love as the most significant reason to marry someone . In addition, they prefer to marry someone they are most compatible with in many ways. In marriage, stability is very important. Its stability depends on the mutual happiness of the couples both shared for years or how long the couples have been together as a union. Every person, its either male or female would search for his or her lifetime partner in different preferences. Focusing on a heterogamous marriage, this type of marriage has many effects when it comes to marital stability. However, there is still happiness in a heterogamous marriage despite some the couples’ difference in religion, social class, and ethnicity.
The success in marriage can be measured through its stability and happiness of the couples. As an in depth elaboration, a marital stability does not mean a marital happiness. In some instances, marriage lasts even couples are not happy, and others who are less unhappy decide to end their marriage. As per result of a study and suggested that a homogamous union is more stable and happy than a heterogamous union. The differences in values and interest of the couples create lack mutual understandings that lead to gaps and conflicts emotionally. It creates conflicts between the couples and the family or relatives, even friends. In addition, there is a higher rate of divorce, all because of its less conventional values and behavior.
Marital stability affects the couples with differences in values and interests. Heterogamous union creates pressure psychologically and marital distress most likely to happen. It shows that some people favor or value homogamy while others are favor in heterogamy and able to cross boundaries, shared values with varied and exciting unions.
Works Cited
Lamanna, Mary Ann, Agnes Riedmann and Susan Stewart. Marriages, Families, and
Relationships. 12th Edition. Cengage Learning, 2014.
Shepard, Jon M. Cengage Advantage Books: Sociology. 10th Edition. Michigan: Cengage
Learning, 2009.
Reference
