The Sociological Theory Of Arranged Marriage

An arranged marriage is a marriage that is set up before the lengthy relationship compared to a love marriage where marriage is the last step in solidifying a relationship. The more common type of arranged marriage, a traditional marriage is not-forced upon. This is when the parents choose their son/daughter’s future spouse, taking only a minimal of the soon to be newly-weds’ opinions into consideration (Traditional). Also, the refusal from a son or daughter regarding their soon to be spouse is also respected and parents will look for another person. The happiness of the son/daughter is the main motivational factor in traditional marriages, but the belief is that “Parents know best.” Arranged marriage is a topic that can be positively and effectively …show more content…
There are significantly lower divorce rates for arranged marriages compared to the divorce rates for choice marriages. Arranged marriage has a five to seven percent divorce rate. Non-arranged marriages have a 50 percent divorce rate in the United States of America and 33 percent divorce in Canada (Haskings-Winner). One factor that contributes to the lower divorce rate is that couples that enter an arranged marriage are usually more ‘traditional.’ This means they are less likely to forfeit a marriage compared to a non-arranged marriage where there is a high risk of domestic violence and dispute (Psychology Wiki). Another factor is that it is believed that to follow one’s head is often wiser than to follow one’s heart. This is why people agree to allow elders to choose their prospective bride/groom because often an individual can easily be influenced by the effects of love to make an illogical choice. Due to the parents and other relatives being involved in the marriage arrangements, they have an emotional investment in the success of the marriage. This allows them to act as a valuable support group to the couple should a considerable dispute ever arise in the marriage (Karthik). Moving on, functional analysis can also affect the divorce rate amongst arranged marriages. Due to the married couple having more compatibility through the matching of the marriage factors, it keeps the function of the family intact and this reduces the already low chances of divorce. When family loses function, divorce is somewhat inevitable, but this is not the case with arranged marriage due to high compatibility (Karthik). Moreover, the familiarity effect can also be applied to arranged marriages. “When there are no pre-existing judgements about a person, being exposed to that person and in close proximity to