Arranged Versus Free Choice Marriage "Research Lab"

Arranged versus free-choice Marriages

Introduction:
This research project is on whether or not arranged or free-choice marriages lower your divorce rates. An arranged marriage is a marriage that is established before involving oneself in a lengthy courtship, and often involves the arrangement of someone other than the persons getting married. These marriages are relatively rare, but still numerous in the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia. While a free choice marriage is when the unity of 2 people is strictly your choice and no one can force you to marry against your will. This is the most common way for marriage which was developed mostly in the western countries such as the US and Canada.

Question:
Do arranged or free-choice marriages lower your divorce rates?

Hypothesis:
Arranged marriages should have a lower divorce rate because in the eastern countries where it is used they do not believe in divorce.

Secondary Research: * “Arranged marriages or love marriages?” by Melody Landeros PHd * “Arranged Marriages” by Anita Jaine PHd * “Arranged Marriages vs Love Marriages in Islam” by Lola Meriome PHd

Analysis

Arranged Marriages

Pros: In arranged marriages, the decision whether to get married with a particular individual is taken with the involvement of many people. The biggest benefit is that there is a conscious attempt to match the two families as well as the bride and groom on the parameters of social status, financial strength, background, educational opportunities and similar lifestyle. This is a cool-headed decision that is thought to tremendously increase the likelihood of the marriage succeeding.

Cons: In an ideal scenario, the partners have a major say in arranged marriage. They give the final nod as to the choice of their spouse. However, things do not always go like this. In many arranged marriages, the parents and relatives are often overbearing and try to force their child into a relationship he or she doesn’t agree with. This can be a very difficult situation that may condemn the partners to living lifelong in a marriage that they are not happy with.

Love Marriages

Pros: The biggest benefit of love marriages is that they are based on the principle of individual freedom. There is no coercion or pressure involved. These relationships are a result of blood chemistry between two individuals. They meet each other, sparks fly and after a brief period of courtship, they get married. Such marriages have a good chance of success because they arise from mutual attraction. They are not an artificially created union as in an arranged marriage.

Cons: Love marriages are successful only if a person has chosen wisely. This is not often the case because many such marriages are not a result of any careful deliberation or insight but raging hormones. As a result, after some years when the novelty wears off, the partners begin to lose interest in each other and try to broaden their horizons with new love interests. Often, there is a mismatch between social status, educational qualifications, financial resources and life’s goals and aspirations of the two individuals, which after some time becomes a cause of friction and eventually leads to divorce.

Arranged Marriages and Divorce Rate
There is a widely held view that arranged marriages lead to a much lower divorce rate compared to love marriages. This is because historically, the divorce rate has been extremely low in societies where arranged marriages have been the norm. In contrast, western societies where love marriages prevail are now witnessing a divorce rate that is as high as 50 percent.

However, this statistic only reflects the attitude prevailing toward divorce in eastern countries. There, divorce is considered nothing less than a social disgrace and divorced people find it difficult to remarry. This is actually the main reason for the low divorce rate as the unhappy marriage partners prefer to suffer quietly than to part ways due to the fear of being socially unacceptable.

* Under 4% of arranged marriages end in divorce. * Over 50% of love marriages end in divorce.

In conclusion

The hypothesis was does arranged or free-choice marriages lower your divorce rates. After the research was conducted if was found that this hypothesis was correct. A lot of information and results were gathered from this marriage research project. Including fewer than 4% of arranged marriages end in divorce while 50% of love marriages end in divorce. This could be due to the fact arranged marriages have the conscious thought “divorce” does not existed. Arranged marriages are mostly done in eastern countries therefore divorce is unacceptable. While in the western countries divorce is seen as “ok“ and so couples divorce rather than work it out. Overall arranged marriages in an eastern country lower divorce rates.

Bibliography

* Harold & Bette Gillogly (2011). Marriages. Retrieved from http://marriages.net/ * James White (2011). Arranged Marriages. Retrieved from http://www.bhavakuta.com/india/indian-arranged-marriages/index.html * Melody Landeros (2011). Arranged. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/debates/187099-arranged-marriages-or-love-marriages-which-last-longer/side_by_side

Bibliography: * Harold & Bette Gillogly (2011). Marriages. Retrieved from http://marriages.net/ * James White (2011). Arranged Marriages. Retrieved from http://www.bhavakuta.com/india/indian-arranged-marriages/index.html * Melody Landeros (2011). Arranged. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/debates/187099-arranged-marriages-or-love-marriages-which-last-longer/side_by_side