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This research focuses on age differences in marriage. The purpose is to develop a partial test of whether over the past five decades age has become less relevant and age norms less constraining. A reduction in the strength of age norms should result in a decrease in coeval marriages. If age norms become less binding, then one should expect people to cast a wider age net when selecting their mate, leading to an increase in the number of marriages with unconventional age differences. Microdata samples of 111000 from 1940 through the 1980 Census of the United States Population were used to derive trends in the proportion of ageheterogamous and age-homogamous couples. The results show that between 1940 and 1980 there was no abatement of age homogamy. In fact a strong trend towards increasing homogamy was discovered. This movement toward increased homogamy, and the converse decrease in the age heterogamy, indicates that age has become more, not less, relevant in mate selection.

A partir de una amplia revisión bibliográfica y basándose en los datos de un estudio realizado sobre una muestra representativa de la provincia de Lérida (N=1.219) se analiza en este artículo la persistencia de la homogamia educativa en un contexto de expansión de la escolarización, en especial, de las cohortes femeninas españolas nacidas con posterioridad a 1955. Más allá de la controversia de la homogamia frente a la heterogamia los autores interpretan los resultados como ejemplo de los límites al cambio de modelo de enlace matrimonial. This study presents a thorough review of the existing literature on social change and educational homogamy. Using data from a study, based upon a representative sample from Lleida province (N=1.219), this paper analyses the persistence of educational homogamy within a context of increasing school enrolment, particularly among cohorts of Spanish female students born since 1955. Beyond the controversy between homogamy and heterogamy, the authors have interpreted the results as an example of the limits to change associated with the marriage model.

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.

A mechanism of mate selection in humans is proposed and elaborated. It is further proposed that this mechanism constitutes one of the important factors for stability and the necessary longevity of the procreational dyad and therefore the procreational success of humans as a species. The concepts and mechanisms of assortative mating (homogamy) and that of complementarity of temperaments of the mates (heterogamy) which guide such selections are described, the relationships between the two are explored, and finally their possible early developmental origins are proposed. Evidence from a small study of 20 married couples' responses in temperament tests is offered as well as some illustrative case histories all pointing to those mechanisms. The argument is based mainly on principles of evolutionary psychology.

People have a tendency to marry within their social group or to marry a person who is close to them in status. Although many characteristics play a role in the choice of a spouse, sociologists have most often examined endogamy and homogamy with respect to race/ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic status. I first give an overview of hypotheses on the causes of endogamy and homogamy. The various hypotheses that have been suggested in the literature can be distinguished as arguments about three more general factors: (a) the preferences of marriage candidates for certain characteristics in a spouse, (b) the interference of “third parties” in the selection process, and (c) the constraints of the marriage market in which candidates are searching for a spouse. Second, I summarize empirical research by answering four questions: (a) To what extent are groups endogamous and how do groups differ in this respect? (b) How has endogamy changed over time? (c) Which factors are related to endogamy? (d) How do various dimensions of partner choice coincide? Third, I discuss strengths and weaknesses of past research. Strengths include the mass of descriptive work that has been done and the development of a multifaceted theoretical perspective which gives sociological theorizing an edge over psychological and economic theories of partner choice. Weaknesses include the lack of standardization of methods in describing patterns and trends and the relatively weak integration of empirical and theoretical work.

This paper focuses on the effects of age at marriage and the sex-ratio on patterns of ethnic homogamy among Israeli women. We hypothesize that later marriages are more likely than early marriages to be heterogamous as the 'marriage market' shifts from school to the work-place. By the same token, when facing severe marriage squeezes women will be forced to out-marry. Employing data from the 1983 census, we model mate selection of women from Afro-Asian and Euro-American origin in various birth-cohorts. The results do not fully support our hypotheses: we find that in and of itself, age at marriage does not enhance ethnic heterogamy. Women of both ethnic groups who marry later are more likely to marry men of Euro-American origin than those who marry early but this seems to reflect educational rather than ethnic assortative mating. We also find that Afro-Asian women born to cohorts which face severe marriage squeezes are more likely to stay single and those who marry are more likely to out-marry.

In later years, sex selection has become of importance for prevention of X-linked diseases in families at risk. There is today a potential to perform sperm selection before fertilization by taking advantage of the chromosomal heterogamy of spermatozoa, and before implantation by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The methods of sex determination by separating spermatozoa are, in our opinion, still not safe enough for routine clinical use. Apart from the technical problems and possible associated risks, which first must be better evaluated, the most critical questions are ethical or legal. We support the use of sex selection by PGD in X-linked severe disease, but due to the potential risks of misuse, we are not prepared to support a more liberal attitude as long as the discriminated sex in nearly all parts of the world are women.

Evidence suggests that the presence of children has a positive impact on the stability of both marital and nonmarital relationships. It is therefore important to understand the determinants of childbearing decisions made by couples in both types of relationships....Using data from the 1990 [Canadian] Friends and Family Survey and employing an uncertainty reduction model this article attempts to shed light on the childbearing experiences of cohabiting women after their entry into a cohabitational relationship. We find that the hazard rate of a cohabiting woman bearing a child within the union is associated with her age at the start of cohabitation her educational status nativity number of siblings heterogamy in cohabiting unions the year of the start of cohabitation and geographic region. (EXCERPT)

Data drawn from the 1991 US National Survey of Women revealed significant differences between married women and cohabiting or dating women in their level of commitment to a partner. Sexual exclusivity was selected as the proxy for commitment and compared in 1235 dating cohabiting and married women 20-37 years old. 4% of married women 18% of dating women and 20% of cohabiting women reported a secondary sex partner. In the latter group each month of cohabitation increased the odds of a secondary sexual relationship by 2%. Characteristics of married women that significantly increased the odds of a secondary relationship included no religious affiliation 4 or more previous sexual partners husband more than 2 years older and higher educational level on the part of the female versus the male partner. Among dating and cohabiting women the significantly predictive factors of a secondary sexual relationship included college education no religious affiliation religious heterogamy with partner higher educational attainment on the part of the woman versus her partner minority race or ethnicity and having had previous sex partners. Both before and after marriage the risk of having a secondary sex partner was increased (1.7 and 3.3 times respectively) among married women who had cohabited prior to marriage compared to those who had not. These findings support previous research suggesting that cohabitation is selective of women less committed to a relationship. Finally the research revealed that cohabiting women are more likely when they marry than women with no history of cohabitation to select partners similar to themselves in terms of educational level--another indication that women in this category value independence and equality in a relationship.

National Longitudinal Surveys are used to investigate the patterns and determinants of marital dissolution for first marriages [in the United States]. The focus of this paper is to examine the associations between socioeconomic status differences and changes within marriage of marital partners and marital instability. Based on a discrete hazard model the results indicate the risk of marital instability is highest among couples who have heterogamous education and who do not follow the most traditional working arrangement where only the husband is employed full-time in the labor market. Those couples who do equalize their original education and conventionalize employment status enjoy higher marital stability. However marriages in which couples change to educational heterogamy and unconventional employment statuses are less likely to survive. (EXCERPT)

I assess whether intermarriage between Protestants and Catholics has increased over the course of the twentieth century and, if it has, whether the declining salience of religious boundaries has been accompanied by a rising importance of educational boundaries in spouse selection. By analyzing a set of national surveys that were conducted between 1955 and 1989 and using a research design that separates the effects of period and duration of marriage, I examine changes over a longer period of time than any previous study has done. Multivariate loglinear analyses show that intermarriage between Protestants and Catholics has increased dramatically since the 1920s, while intermarriage between different educational groups has decreased. Currently, the social boundaries that separate educational groups seem to be stronger than the boundaries that separate Protestants and Catholics. In addition, there is some evidence that interfaith marriages have become increasingly homogamous with respect to education, suggesting that education has replaced religion as afactor in spouse selection.

Trends in assortative mating were examined using the 1% Public Use Microdata samples (PUMS) of the 1940 1960 1970 and 1980 US Censuses and the Current Population Surveys (CPS) of 1985-87. 2 samples were drawn: 1) couples between the ages of 16-34 years and married for the 1st time 1 year prior to the census or CPS (newlyweds) and 2) couples between the ages of 21-39 years and married 5-6 years prior to the census/CPS. The methods of Hauser and Johnson are used to analyze trends that distinguish patterns of change in marginal distributions of husbands and wives traits from those which show an association between spouses traits. These "crossings" models indicate which educational differences between prospective spouses are serious barriers to intermarriage and reflect patterns of change between years. The implications are that marriages between persons who differ in educational attainment may be more common at some levels of the educational hierarchy than at others and that the effect of the time gap between school leaving and marriage is greater at higher levels of schooling than at lower levels. The proportion of marriages with spouses of the same educational attainment declined between 1900-50 and increased from 1950 to 1970 which was due to distributions of spouses schooling rather than from the association between spouses attainment. There is further discussion of the effects of changes in the timing of schooling and marriage and changing competitiveness of the marriage market. The results take into consideration log linear models that relate to the trends in schooling and educational assortative mating and that relate to the timing of marriage and educational assortative mating. The findings suggest that even after the relative timing of leaving school and entry into marriage are accounted for the trend remains for increased educational assortative mating particularly for college graduates and persons without college degrees. Although not empirically tested it is suggested that changes in rates of participation in the armed forces in rates of childbearing before marriage in the incidence of cohabitation in womens labor force participation and in the status of jobs held by women affect the timing of marriage and exposure to potential spouses of varying educational statuses. There may also be an influence on patterns of assortative mating. When barriers to marriage between educational strata increase between family inequalities increase and the effects on family inequality and educational mobility require further analysis. The findings suggest however that the structure of marriage and inequality within and between generations are affected by trends in age at marriage.

This study assesses the relationship between religious heterogamy and the marital happiness of Catholics, employing data from NORC General Social Surveys. A logistic regression analysis with interaction terms enables us to ascertain (a) whether any observed effect of heterogamy is attributable to correlated differences in religiosity; and (b) whether religiosity and heterogamy interact in affecting marital happiness. The findings show that heterogamy is not related to marital happiness for Catholics, either at the bivariate level or when religiosity and other variables are controlled. Religiosity, however, does have a positive effect on marital happiness, but only among homogamous Catholics.

“Functional” marriage textbooks usually state that differences between spouses in class background are, regardless of adult status, influences for marital maladjustment and instability; but a search of the literature revealed no empirical support for this generalization. Data from a sample of males in a high-status occupation reveal no marital instability which can be attributed to an interaction between the class backgrounds of the spouses.

In recent years, sociological research has been concerned increasingly with patterns of intergenerational and marital mobility of women, patterns of marital homogamy, and consequences of marital heterogamy. This research can make further substantial contributions only if it becomes integrated into a more adequate theoretical framework. In the first part of the paper, elements of such a framework are developed. Social stratification is conceived of as a process of differential association emerging as a complement to that of class formation in order to develop and preserve collective social identity within a world characterized by pervasive economic inequality. The outcome of this process is a long-term macrosocial reproduction of inequality when it penetrates two strategic forms of social relations, parent-child and husband-wife relationships. The second part of the paper applies this theoretical approach to the marital relationship by discussing traditional and alternative hypotheses about stratification ...

This paper focuses on the causes of marital instability. Section I develops a theoretical analysis of marital dissolution, incorporating uncertainty about outcomes of marital decisions into a framework of utility maximization and the marriage market. Section II explores implications of the theoretical analysis with cross-sectional data, primarily the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity and the Terman sample. The relevance of both the theoretical and empirical analyses in explaining the recent acceleration in divorce rates is also discussed.

Deviations from the age norms governing mate selection often provoke negative stereotypes regarding the participants. This article focuses on age heterogamous unions or so-called May–December marriages, involving an older person with a young spouse. The public often attributes pecuniary (gold digger) motives to the latter. Our research tests the widespread notion that the younger woman exchanges youth for status or money. Using data from the Panel on Income Dynamics, age homogamous and age heterogamous couples are compared in terms of each of the spouse's achieved and inherited status and the contribution these make to explained variance in family income. Analysis using hierarchical multiple regression revealed that, contrary to popular belief, the status of the older spouse does not make a more important contribution toward explained income. Indeed, in this study, the reverse was the case in that the wife's status contributed more toward explained income. The notion that age heterogamy in marriage represents a channel of upward mobility for young women married to older men needs systematic reexamination.

SynopsisHeterogamy — the marriage of partners with markedly different social characteristics — is considered as a potential source of pathology, such as marital breakdown or neurosis. This paper develops an argument that heterogamy per se is not the cause of problems. Rather, heterogamy may disrupt social networks surrounding the couple. Two possible results follow. Either the partners, being very different, form two independent and different sets of friends. This results in a ‘weak tie’ marriage likely to break. Or the partners remain close, have no friendship network and thus become isolated. Isolation may then lead to neurosis. Data from previous sources and from an Australian survey are used to test propositions derived from this argument, and receive support.

A study was made of the occurrence of apomixis and heterogamy in rose rootstocks belonging to the Caninae. Of several ‘Edelcanina’-selections progenies obtained from crossings with wild roses or from self- and open pollinations were analysed morphologically and cytologically. It was concluded that both apomixis and normal generative propagation occur. The presence of aneuploid plants is discussed, especially with reference to earlier investigations.

Data from a representative sample of 1,070 married Protestants and Catholics were used to examine the relationship between religious homogamy and marital happiness. Although couples may vary in the extent to which they share religious views (e.g., beliefs, values), previous research has treated religious homogamy as a dichotomy; a couple is either homogamous or it is not. A partial explanation for this is that few studies have gone beyond the broad divisions of Protestant, Catholic, and Jew. In the present study religious bodies were classified on the basis of doctrine and ritual, yielding six categories: Baptist, Calvinist, Catholic, fundamentalist, Lutheran, and Methodist. These categories were then used to develop a measure of estimated “religious distance” or degrees of heterogamy. This measure was used to test the hypothesis that the larger the religious distance or disparity, the greater the likelihood of unhappiness with the marriage. The hypothesis was supported by the data.

Hypotheses relating differences in husband-wife backgrounds, or sociocultural heterogamy, to marital disagreement over role expectations, marital values, and marital conflict are empirically tested...

We will here examine a few hypotheses or theories which have to do with mate-selection. With the assistance of parts of these we will, in addition, treat some aspects of marital adjustment. Among the old ways of thinking about mate-selection, we find the conceptions homogamy and heterogamy. The hypothesis of homogamy commonly says that the choice of a spouse will be (unconsciously or consciously) done so that the spouses are alike as much as possible. The assumption that one tends (unconsciously or consciously) to choose a spouse who is as different from oneself as possible is consequently called the hypothesis of heterogamy. Thus generally drawn up, the two hypotheses contradict each other. Much research has been undertaken to test the two hypotheses. There is no lack of support for the former one. It has been found that according to many social characteristics, e.g. religious confession, social class, education, and intelligence, the spouses tend to be equal. Moreover, with regard to what we prefer to call social psychological characteristics, interests, attitudes etc., the hypothesis of homogamy seems to be adequate. The hypothesis of heterogamy, on the other hand, has been confirmed at the investigation of the spouses' psychological characteristics, i.e. personality traits and some secondary needs. After some reformulations and specifications, the two hypotheses can be said to complement each other. Both are merely descriptive hypotheses. Since such hypotheses seldom are especially productive, it has been necessary to go further into them and transform them into explanatory hypotheses. A first step in that direction is the principle of propinquity in geographical and social space. It says that we tend to marry persons in spatial nearness to ourselves 1), i.e. persons who live in our neighbourhood, who are our work comrades, who were our schoolfellows etc. In our western culture we almost never marry a person that we have never met, and the probability of meeting persons who are neighbours, schoolfellows, work comrades, etc., is much greater than the prob

To the cytologist the most interesting phases of a plant's life history are fertilization and the reduction of chromosomes, processes which initiate the sporophyte and gametophyte generations and which are of the utmost importance in any cytological theories of heredity. We shall not attempt to define fertilization, but shall simply state that, in our opinion, the process is essentially uniform from its first appearance in the fusion of equal gametes in the lower a1gm, up to the heterogamy of the angiosperms and, in our opinion, this fusion of gametes, whether they be the equal gametes of the lower algae or the unequal gametes of the higher plants, always initiates a sporophytic phase in the life history, a phase which normally continues until the reduction of chromosomes brings it to a close and initiates the gametophytic phase. The gymnosperms have as yet only a single well-established case of apogamy and not even a single case of apospory, and, consequently, their only mode of reproduction, aside from occasional budding, is that resulting from fertilization. Since the significance of fertilization becomes more intelligible with increasing knowledge of the participating gametes, it is of prime importance to know the structure, evolution and behavior of the sperms and eggs. SPERMATOGENESIS The sperms of fossil gymnosperms are almost unknown, but it is safe to say that Cycadofilicales and

ONE of the fundamental assumptions of the laws of Mendelism is the theory of the fr6e combination of all gametes of opposite sex. It forms the basis for the chance distribution of all the possible gene combinations. We have recently become acquainted with cases, however, where the attraction between two gametes of opposite sex does not depend upon this sex differentiation alone but is affected also by other Mendelian factors. Such cases are now found in very different groups throughout the plant kingdom, in Basidiomycetes, in Dicotyledons and in Monocotyledons. It can hardly be doubted that such a selection of viable gametes in some combinations is a rather general phenomenon causing deviations from expected ratios. As in cases of linkage and of elimination of gametes or zygotes having a certain constitution, it causes an excess of some combinations and a deficiency of others in the offspring. A peculiarity which it has in common with heterogamy is in causing a difference between reciprocal crosses in higher plants. There is a selection between the male gametes only. The first carefully analyzed case was published by Correns (1917, 1918, 1921). He investigated the sex inheritance in the dioecious Lychnis dioica L. (Melandrium rubrum Garcke) and L. alba Mill. (Melandrium album Garcke). The male plants are interpreted as heterozygous (Ff) and produce two types of pollen grains; male determining (f) and female determining (F). The female plants are homozygous (FF) and form only one

There is probably no other single subject within the discipline of biology that has engendered as much misunderstanding and mistrust as has the subject of evolution. The mere mention of a serious discussion of this subject usually raises the tenor of interest in a roomful of beginning college biology students. Some are quite ready to hear more about a concept concerning which they have mixed emotions; some are resolute passive resisters; while others are immediately en garde and ready to take on all comers. Some see it as an overt attack on their religious beliefs, while others view it as a sort of mystical all-controlling demigod in itself. Since this subject is so central to the understanding of biology as a dynamic discipline, I offer these comments for consideration and criticism. First, it is an illogical reaction of college faculty to place the blame for a muddled view of evolution on instructors in the secondary and primary school system. While there may be some measure of merit in this reaction, the main difficulties, I believe, lie elsewhere. I would expect, for example, to find very few people on the street who would be able or willing to spend time in a debate on the relative merit of isogamy vs. heterogamy. The much more intricate topic of organic evolution, however, is readily discussed not only by the man on the street, but also by wellmeaning non-biology teachers, religionists of every kind, and of course, poorly prepared students. It is not my intention here to discuss the compatibility of the concept of evolution with theology, political theory, or religion. I would, however, re-emphasize to the reader that if he is a teacher of biology at any level, he has no monopoly, singly or collectively, in shaping the students' understanding of evolu

Prior to undertaking an investigation of Franco-Iranian marriages, the author attempts to delineate the perspective from which the research will proceed by focusing on the social-cultural context in which the couples must live as well as on the 'cultural distance' which separates the spouses. Given the evolution of family and choice of spouse in Iran — as presented by Iranian sociologists — the Franco-Iranian marriage, though an exception, still exhibits many of the characteristics of the modern Iranian marriage. It is in this light that the integration of this 'mixed' marriage in Iranian society will be observed. Cultural factors in mixed marriages result in a greater degree of cultural heterogamy between the spouses ; but these same factors might also contribute to increasing homogamy in other spheres which have yet to be examined. The author questions the tendency to consider cultural distance only as a generator of conflicts and suggests that it might be the sensitivity to this distance which causes conflict. The study of Franco-Iranian marriages, in the context of the author's research, is also aimed at shedding some light on the adaptation of French women to a feminine condition different from that for which they have been prepared and at a better understanding of their position as cultural vectors in a foreign setting, as well as the poten¬ tial of this role. As a Franco-Iranian marriage is first and foremost a marriage, its study should also further the understanding of the couple., Parmentier Elisabeth. Les mariages franco-américains en France [French-American marriages in France]. In: Ethnies, volume 4, 1974. Les mariages mixtes. pp. 75-90.

Are there any criteria which allow marriages to be definitively classified as mixed ? Simply counting every possible variable would be interminable and fallacious and would lead to the definition of all marriages as mixed, confounding heterogamy and mixedness. It is not the existence of a difference — whatever that difference may be — that defines mixedness but the existence of an endogamous social group which operates according to a social definition of 'difference' and accepts the notion of interdict. Mixed marriage is then the union between two people who should not have married. Their marriage infringes upon principles considered as important for the survival and cohesion of the group. The authors consider problems arising in the study of mixed couples in the light of the following : — Under what conditions may mixed marriage be considered pathological ; — to what extent are the effects of the social definition of difference subject to varia¬ tions according to feelings of membership ; — at what level does the notion of social status come in ; — what are the problems which cultural duality entails for the socialization of the couples and their children., Bensimon Doris, Lautman Françoise. Quelques aspects théoriques des recherches concernant les mariages mixtes [Some theorical aspects of research about mixed marriages]. In: Ethnies, volume 4, 1974. Les mariages mixtes. pp. 17-39.

This article discusses the question of homogamy and/or heterogamy in human mate selection with particular emphasis on Winch's principles of type I and type II complementarity. The experiment was performed on 82 married couples, at least one spouse of which was a graduate student at the University of Illinois. All were given the 16PF, the Motivational Analysis Test (MAT), and the Marriage Role Questionnaire. The authors found that except for fear and pugnacity all husband-wife trait correlations were positive, in contrast to Winch's principle of type I complementarity. They also found that their data did not support Winch's principle of type II complementarity.

In his pioneering hybridization experiments with two species of tobacco (Nicotiana paniculata and N. rustica) Koelreuter (1763, Fortsetzung, p. 24) concluded that it was a matter of indifference which of these species was taken as the mother and which as the father. In both cases, the same result was obtained; the Fl-generation of N. paniculata ♀ × N. rustica ♂ was not distinguishable from that of the reverse or reciprocal cross N. rustica ♀ × N. paniculata ♂. Although he found deviations from this rule of the similarity of reciprocal crosses in some other hybridization experiments, however, these were not sufficient to prove the rule invalid. His successors could only corroborate his findings, that in general no difference worth mentioning occurred between reciprocal crosses. Hence Focke, in his meritorious ‘Pflanzenmischlinge’ (1881, p. 479) comes to the conclusion ‘that in general, in true species of the vegetable kingdom, the shape-determining ability of the male and the female element are absolutely equal at fertilization’. Nevertheless this rule does not have so firm a foundation as the previous one. There are many exceptions to Focke’s rule which later turned out to have a fundamental significance (Pellew, 1929). We find important examples in which both of the reciprocal hybridization products are dissimilar. Quoting again from rich Oenothera-investigations we find (besides the strong linkage of genes in groups and dissimilarity with in Fl-generations) another striking phenomenon in many of the species of Oenothera investigated. This is the phenomenon of heterogamy (De Vries, 1911, p. 99). In 1903 for instance De Vries had already concluded (1903, p. 471) that the hybrids Oenothera biennis ♀ × O. muricata ♂ showed many more ‘muricata’ characteristics than the reciprocal cross O. muricata ♀ × O. biennis ♂ which tends to resemble the biennis-plants (figure 64).

(1) Potential ethological isolating mechanisms were observed between breeds and strains of domestic fowl. (2) Brown and White Leghorn females exhibited homogamy, but females of a Broiler strain showed a preference for Breeding Line Brown Leghorn males, which bear a close phenotypic resemblance to the Red Jungle fowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus). (3) Observations indicated that females discriminated between males on physical characteristics rather than quantitative differences in male courtship. (4) In a ''choice-situation'', males which had been reared with own-breed females courted caged own-breed hens significantly more than others. Males reared with their own and other breeds showed only weak own-breed preferences, and in two cases, heterogamy was observed. (5) Males apparently discriminated between females on visual cues, particularly female plumage colour. (6) Assortative mating within a single line was also observed, females preferring some males to others. Quantitative differences in male courtship were not important in this respect. (7) In tests of short duration, males did not exert preferences for individual hens of a single line. (8) A sequential analysis of the courtship of the Brown Leghorn cock revealed that two displays were important in evoking female solicitation, namely the waltz and the rear approach. Three other displays were interpreted as increasing sexual arousal in the female. (9) The evolutionary significance of some of the results is briefly discussed.

STERN1, analysing the evidence concerning the mode of inheritance of 16 traits which were suspected to be completely Y-linked in man, emphasized that in organisms with heterogamy of the male sex, complete Y -linkage of genes with full penetrance is characterized by: (a) occurrence of the trait in males only; (b) its re-occurrence in all sons of affected males; (c) the daughters of affected men being not only phenotypically normal but also, in addition, not having affected offspring. One of the traits discussed was hypertrichosis of the ears (hypertrichosis pinnae auris2), and Stern criticized the original pedigree published by Tommasi3,4 on grounds of its having been based on unreliable hearsay evidence. He concluded that judgment on the mode of inheritance of this trait should be postponed until better evidence became available.

A literature search by Glenn et al. (1974) revealed highly inconsistent findings regarding the hypothesis that social class heterogamy, or marrying someone of a higher or lower social class background, leads to marital incompatibility and divorce. Their report is noteworthy because this hypothesis was shown to be a "textbook generalization" in functional marriage textbooks. Pearlin (1975) attempted to explain the inconsistency by showing that one type of social class heterogamy-marrying downleads to perceptions of stress, incompatibility, and lack of reciprocity in marriage only for spouses who value status advancement (status strivers). The present investigation attempted to replicate Pearlin's findings regarding this contingency relationship by employing marital conflict as the dependent variable. The contingency hypothesis was supported when reported frequency of marital conflict was the dependent variable, but not when reported conflict intensity was the dependent variable. However, the relationship held only for the wives in the sample. The findings are discussed and a revised contingency hypothesis is presented which incorporates the new findings.

Combined data from six U.S. national surveys conducted from 1973 to 1978 were used to study patterns of interreligious marriage in the mid-1970s and to indicate changes since the Current Population Survey gathered data on interreligious marriage in 1957. Data on current religious preference showed an important degree of increase in religiously mixed couples from 1957 to 1973-1978. Data on the religions in which individuals had been raised indicated no extremely strong barriers to religious outmarriage except among Jews--the fairly high degree of homogamy in current religious preference apparently being achieved to a large extent by religious switching after marriage or in anticipation of marriage. The impact of interreligious marriage on marital happiness is also studied. (EXCERPT)

This paper examines "May-September" and "May-December" marriages--that is marriages in which spouses are separated by unconventional age differences. These marriages are not interesting for their numbers; only about 8% of marriages are age-heterogamous. What makes them interesting is their potential for theorizing about homogamy and its social consequences. Using data from the US Panel of Income Dynamics and a major epidemiological study in Florida this paper compares age-heterogamous and age-homogamous couples in terms of socioeconomic status and marital quality to examine the truth of the popular hypotheses that age-heterogamous couples are mostly from the upper middle class and that these marriages are burdened by problems that make them very unstable. The 4 groups studied include: 1) wives who are at least 4 years older than their husbands 2) husbands and wives who are separated by no more than 3 years in either direction 3) husbands who are between 4 and 10 years older than their wives and 4) husbands who are 11 or more years older than their wives. For all races marriages with husbands who are at least 11 years older than their wives diminished steadily from 13.45% of those making $4999 or less to 6.21% of those making $30000 or more. Couples with wives 4 or more years older than their husbands are also roughly twice as frequent in families with incomes of $4999 or less than those with incomes of $30000 or more. The data also show that age difference is a nonpredictor of marital satisfaction when socioeconomic status race duration of marriage sex and age are controlled. Measures of marital quality also did not discriminate between groups. These findings dramatically contradict popular wisdom and cast doubt on theories on the nature and effects or marital homogamy and heterogamy.

The relationship between religious homogamy and marital satisfaction is examined utilizing log-linear models. Inclusion of the separate effects of husband's and wife's religion on marital satisfaction allows us to control for the potentially spurious relationship between religious affiliation and marital satisfaction. Results indicate that homogamous marriages are more satisfying. In order to test the hypothesis that dissatisfaction in heterogeneous marriages arises over conflict regarding socialization of children, the presence of children is included. The hypothesis is discounted, since the homogamy effect remains significant. When frequency of religious attendance is included, however, the homogamy effect becomes nonsignificant, suggesting that patterns of religious involvement underlie higher satisfaction within homogamous marriages. In this report the relationship between religious homogamy and marital satisfaction is examined, and possible explanations for that relationship are explored. In one of the most recent analyses of interreligious marriage, Glenn (1982) finds evidence that religiously homogamous marriages are characterized by greater marital happiness than are heterogamous marriages. Males, in particular, reported greater marital satisfaction in homogamous marriages, and the difference in the percentage reporting a high level of marital status between homogamous and heterogamous marriages was statistically significant at the .10 level, even after controlling other factors. The difference for females, however, was not significant. Glenn suggested that the homogamy effect is more salient among men because children generally adopt religious values of their mothers, so that heterogamous marriages are more apt to create conflict between fathers and children than between mothers and children. Implicit in this explanation is the notion that the religious identification of children is a major source of strain in heterogamous marriages.

This research examines the relationship between religious and age heterogamy on the one hand and the choice of voluntary contraceptive sterilization and the decision for a male or female procedure on the other. 2 perspectives are set forth that provide bases for expecting heterogamy effects. One is a "selectivity" perspective which predicts that heterogamous couples would be more likely than others to obtain a sterilization procedure and to choose a male procedure. The other is a "strain" perspective which under certain conditions predicts that heterogamous couples would be less likely than homogamous couples to elect sterilization and to elect male sterilization. In the case of selecting sterilization over other contraceptive methods the results support the former perspective with couples of disparate ages and mixed-faith marriages exhibiting a greater tendency to elect sterilization than other couples. No relationship emerges however between the measures of heterogamy and the tendency to choose male over female sterilization. The results also reveal regional differences in sterilization patterns. The implications of the findings for the theoretical perspectives are discussed. (authors)

and marital satisfaction. In many studies concerned with mate selection, the major hypotheses come down to two, namely, homrogamy and heterogamy. In general, socioeconomic or demographic variables seem to uphold the homogamy hypothesis. On the other hand, for at least one investigator and the sources he cites, psychological variables support a heterogamy hypothesis.1 Employing the same frame of reference, it is a logical step from studies of mate selection to studies of differences in marital satisfaction be

Using national data on white ever-married women under forty-five, differentials in marital instability are examined for several of the wife's characteristics at first marriage and for the couple's combined age, education and religion. Dummy variable multiple regression is used to adjust for the effects of differing durations since first marriage and to obtain effects for each variable net of other variables. With other variables controlled, an inverse age at marriage-instability relationship persists; and differences in marital stability by education appear largely attributable to differences in age at marriage by education. Other characteristics we considered are the wife's religion while growing up, whether she grew up on a farm, whether she lived with both parents at age fourteen, whether she was pregnant before her first marriage and whether her first husband had been married before. When we included the husband's variables, we found husbands age at marriage and education to have a negative relationship with marital instability. Higher instability for intermarriage is found among couples divergent in age or religion; only extreme differences in education are associated with higher instability.

Research on homogamy and heterogamy in mate selection has usually studied couples already engaged or married without comparing these selections with others which might have been made from the field of eligibles or controlling for influence of the couple's subsequent interaction. This study finds that 20 couples were homogamous within their field of eligibles on self, social, and total adjustment as well as I.Q. score prior to their selections of each other.

The literature on social stratification refers on occasion to inter-class marriage as the "acid test" of class mobility. This paper examines that proposition using Italian national-sample survey data on four socio-political perspectives: the respondent's perception of 1) the different distribution of rewards in society, 2) the degree to which class boundaries restrict social intercourse, 3) the character of inter-class relations, and 4) the interest representations of political parties. Evidence supports the proposition. In addition, rates of heterogamy are reported, and the relationship of heterogamy to career entries is examined.