Search

Socio-demographic heterogamy is commonly believed to lead to lower relationship stability due to the presence of cultural differences between partners. This explanation lacks empirical support, as psychology studies have not confirmed the link between heterogamy and cultural differences, whereas sociological studies have been characterized by problems related to the choice and measurement of cultural differences. Progressing from previous research, this article examines the specific link between educational heterogamy and cultural differences in the domain of child-rearing. Results partly confirm the alternative hypotheses of child-rearing values and behaviors being subject to gender differences and processes of selection between partners. Nonetheless, they also indicate a positive link between educational heterogamy and differences in child-rearing values and behaviors between partners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A textbook hypothesis about divorce is that heterogamous marriages are more likely to end in divorce than homogamous marriages. We analyse vital statistics on the population of the Netherlands, which provide a unique and powerful opportunity to test this hypothesis. All marriages formed between 1974 and 1984 (nearly 1 million marriages) are traced in the divorce records and multivariate logistic regression models are used to analyse the effects on divorce of heterogamy in religion and national origin. Our analyses confirm the hypothesis for marriages that cross the Protestant-Catholic or the Jewish-Gentile boundary. Heterogamy effects are weaker for marriages involving Protestants or unaffiliated persons. Marriages between Dutch and other nationalities have a higher risk of divorce, the more so the greater the cultural differences between the two groups. Overall, the evidence supports the view that, in the Netherlands, new group boundaries are more difficult to cross than old group boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]