How Love Emerges in Arranged Marriages

Two Cross-cultural Studies

Bibliographic Data

ID2986706
AuthorsRobert Epstein (0000-0002-7484-6282, University of the South Pacific, School of Social Sciences, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Fiji. American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, 1035 E. Vista Way, Suite 120, Vista, CA 92084-4606 USA.), Mayuri Pandit (University of the South Pacific, School of Social Sciences, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Fiji. American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, 1035 E. Vista Way, Suite 120, Vista, CA 92084-4606 USA.), Mayuri L Pandit (University of the South Pacific), Mansi Thakar (University of the South Pacific, School of Social Sciences, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Fiji. American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, 1035 E. Vista Way, Suite 120, Vista, CA 92084-4606 USA.)
Year2013
Volume44
Issue3
Pages341-360
Publication date2013-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Comparative Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2328 • E-ISSN: 1929-9850
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/jcfs.44.3.341
OpenAlexW2529160854
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited31

Two studies (N = 52) examined how love emerged in arranged marriages involving participants from 12 different countries of origin and 6 different religions. The first study (n = 30), mainly qualitative in design, found that selfreported love grew from a mean of 3.9 to 8.5 on a 10-point scale. A number of factors were identified that appeared to contribute to the growth of love, the most important of which was commitment. In the second study (n = 22), mainly quantitative in design, 36 factors that might contribute to the growth of love were assessed, with participants indicating on a 13-point scale (from -6 to +6) whether each factor made their love grow weaker or stronger. Love grew from a mean of 5.1 to 9.2, and sacrifice and commitment emerged as the most powerful factors in strengthening love. These and other factors appear to work because they make people feel vulnerable in each other's presence, a hypothesis that is consistent with a growing body of laboratory research. The fact that love can grow in some arranged marriages-and that this process can apparently be analyzed and understood scientifically-raises the possibility that practices that are used to strengthen love in arranged marriages could be introduced into autonomous marriages in Western cultures, where love normally weakens over time

Arranged Marriage · Geography · Scale (ratio) · Sociology · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Gender Studies · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology

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