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Marriage Views of College Students in Different Cultures

Findings Report

Moyan Jia
English 202A
Dr. Pirrone
November 6, 2015

Introduction
In sociologists eyes, Marriage is a sophisticated issue rather than a single
relationship of spouses. According to the previously reviewed literature, several
factors affecting marriage views of modern people are history, economy, gender
equality, and human rights. All these factors attribute to cultures. To analyze how
different cultures influence marriage views of young people at the marrying age, I
conducted a survey to investigate Chinese and American college students opinions on
marriage, which included the questions on the aspects mentioned above.
Literature review enlarged my horizon on marriage views. It is commonly
known that marriage is not just a commitment of relationship in the domestic scale but
an epitome of modern society. With the progress of the times, marriage is not
mandatory for reproduction or self-approval. Marriage is more free than before.
People are free to choose their spouses based on gender, family, economic status, and
religions. Furthermore, love is not the only reason of getting married. Single people
regard assets and status as important standards of choosing spouses. Contemporary
marriage is labeled materialism. Although marriage is open, it is still restrained with
cultures.
The purpose of this research is to investigate how different cultures affect
young peoples views on marriage. Extended inquiries in interest are What are the
marriage views among cultures? and How independent can a marriage be as people

advocate? etc. Two cultures with different histories, Chinese and American, were
analyzed. I expected to find conservative answers from Chinese participants and open
responses from American participants. In general, hypothetically, American people at
the advanced stage of pursuing gender equality and human rights are supposed to
show more confidence on marriage; on the contrary, Chinese people are not optimistic
on the marriage built on pure love.
Implementation
Survey was used in this research (Appendix A). To study culture differences,
the sample size was 200, in which 100 surveys were spread in China, and the other
100 were spread in U.S. The survey included several questions on age, gender,
marriage views, and opinions on societies. All surveys were anonymous and sent via
academic email to college students. In order to eliminate bias, at least 3 colleges in
each country were investigated. SurveyMonkey was used to facilitate editing the
survey. It is an online survey software whose design is humanized. The survey could
be generated into an URL and spread out. SurveyMonkey has the limitations of 10
questions on each survey, so the original version was revised, and some questions
were combined.
The survey asked for participants race, age, gender, and opinions on
marriage freedom. All opinions questions were to ask how much do participants agree
on statements. The choices were in scale; i.e. strongly disagree 1 2 3

strongly agree. Some important words were capitalized to attract attention.

The survey was sent to Penn State University (U.S.), University of Syracuse

(U.S.), Ohio State University (U.S.), Beijing International Studies University (China),
Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (China), and Huazhong
University of Sciences and Technology (China). I asked some middle school
classmates who attend in these universities to help me spread the survey. Initially,
only a few people responded. I noticed a motivation is necessary, so I sent emails
indicating people who filled the survey would have chances to win a gift card of
Amazon or Sephora. Then the number of participants surged.
Results
After the responses were collected, the differences between Chinese and
American were analyzed. The number of people who finished the survey was 196 in
total. Within this population, 98 people described themselves Asian, and 87 people
were white or African American. The target samples are college students around 20
years old. Refer to the results, most participants are below 28, which was defined as
the appropriate age range of getting married. Since the questions for age and for
gender were merged, a large number of participants did not notice the gender choices
at the bottom. Gender was not discussed in the research. In both cultures,
approximately 70% people strongly agree whether choosing to be married or single all
life long is human right. When talking about marriage freedom, people tend to be
think ideally. In the public view marriage status is a personal choice which can be
decided independently; however, scruples always exist in reality.
At the aspect of arranged marriage, U.S. college students hold stronger
objection than Chinese college students. About 50% U.S. participants do not accept

arranged marriage at all; on the contrary, Chinese participants do not show the as
many extreme response as U.S. Majority (above 50%) people in both cultures agree
that marriage freedom includes the freedom of choosing spouses at the aspects of
gender, class, age, and economic status etc. Most people agree that gender equality
affects marriage freedom. The progress of gender equality in China is graded 3/5
complete by 42% Chinese participants (figure 1). 41% U.S. participants think this
progress is 4/5 complete (figure 2). As homosexual marriage is not legalized in China
yet, one common opinion is that homosexual marriage should be accepted, but
mentioning someone as homosexual still has a derogatory sense.

Figure 1. The response of gender equality question from Chinese college students

Figure 2. The response of gender equality question from U.S. college students

A large number of participants in U.S. and China believe that history plays an
important role in the current marriage views. Chinese culture is relatively
conservative, and the public marriage views are not open as U.S. In China, marriage is
more like an issue between two families rather than two persons. Around 60% people
in both cultures admit the importance of economy in marriage. Ones economic
strength is always a standard of choosing a spouse. On the opposite way, marriage
also encourages economy growth. More U.S. participants (63%) than Chinese
participants (55%) deem that domestic consumption contributes a lot in national
economy. U.S. has a stable economic system and strong economic power, and
domestic factors after marriage play an important role in development. As many as
46% U.S. college students strongly agree that marriage should be built on love only;
however, only 16% Chinese college students have the same opinion. To some extent,
Chinese people treat marriage under the influence of utilitarianism. Several decades
ago, Chinese young people only admitted arranged marriage. They got married
because they had to marry and reproduce. Love was not necessarily related to
marriage. In U.S., it was a different story.
In general, U.S. college students have more advanced marriage opinions.
They are confident with their culture. Chinese college students are more conservative
and realistic, but they are optimistic on the marriage freedom.
Conclusion
Overall, the U.S. college students and Chinese college students have different
marriage views. The differences are composed with the dissimilarities of history, gender

equality, and economy. U.S. is a developed country, so college students hold open
marriage views. Chinese college students hold relatively conservative views. Both
cultures are optimistic on marriage freedom, but U.S. is more practical by legalizing
homosexual marriage. This sample size is not large enough to make statistic regression
and correlation. Future research is willing to expand the amount of culture elements
and sample size. The hypothesis of cultures affect marriage views are waiting to be
verified.

Appendix A
Survey *
1. How would you describe yourself?
Asian

White

African American

Other_______

28-35

>43

2. What is your age? **

< 20

20-27

36-43

3. What is your gender? **

Male

Female

Other

Do you agree the following statements?

4. Choosing to be married or single all life long is human right.
Strongly Disagree 1

5 Strongly Agree

5 Strongly Agree

5. Arranged marriage is acceptable.

Strongly Disagree 1

6. Marriage freedom includes the freedom of choosing spouses based on the aspects of
gender, class, age, and economic status etc.
Strongly Disagree 1

5 Strongly Agree

7. In your society/community, the level of gender equality can be graded as

Minimal 1

5 Complete

8. The history of your society /community plays an important role in the current
marriage views.
Strongly Disagree 1

5 Strongly Agree

9. The economy of your society /community plays an important role in the current
marriage views.
Strongly Disagree 1

5 Strongly Agree

10. Marriage plays an important role in economy in your society/community.

Strongly Disagree 1

5 Strongly Agree

11. Marriage SHOULD be built on love ONLY.

Strongly Disagree 1

5 Strongly Agree

* SurveyMonkey has a limitation of maximum 100 responses on each survey, so the

survey was spread twice.
** SurveyMonkey has a limitation of maximum 10 questions on each survey, so Q2 &
Q3 were merged.
What is your age and gender? (can choose more than one answer)
< 20

20-27

28-35

36-43

>43

Male

Female

Appendix B
Survey Results
The survey responses collected in China
1. How would you describe yourself?
Answer Choices
Asian

Responses
91.00% (91)

White

1.00% (1)

African American

1.00% (1)

Other (please specify)

7.00% (7)

Total

100

Other

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2. What is your age and gender?

Answer Choices
<20
20-27
28-35
36-43
>43
Male
Female
Other
Total Respondent

Responses
19.00% (19)
79.00% (79)
1.00% (1)
0.00% (0)
0.00% (0)
9.00% (9)
9.00% (9)
1.00% (1)
100

3. Choosing to be married or single all life long is human right.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
4.00% (4)
3.00% (3)
6.00% (6)
19.00% (19)
68.00% (68)
100

4. Arranged marriage is acceptable.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
28.28% (28)
30.30% (30)
27.27% (27)
7.07% (7)
7.07% (7)
99

5. Marriage freedom includes the freedom of choosing spouses based on the aspects of
gender, class, age, and economic status etc.
Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
7.00% (7)
8.00% (8)
11.00% (11)
22.00% (22)
52.00% (52)
100

11

6. In your society/community, the level of gender equality can be graded as

Answer Choices
1 (Minimal)
2
3
4
5 (Completed)
Total

Responses
0.00% (0)
19.00% (19)
42.00% (42)
34.00% (34)
5.00% (5)
100

7. The history of your society /community plays an important role in the current
marriage views.
Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
2.00% (2)
7.00% (7)
18.00% (18)
40.00% (40)
33.00% (33)
100

8. The economy of your society /community plays an important role in the current
marriage views.
Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
3.00% (3)
10.00% (10)
23.00% (23)
38.00% (38)
26.00% (26)
100

9. Marriage plays an important role in economy in your society/community.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
5.00% (5)
9.00% (9)
31.00% (31)
32.00% (32)
23.00% (23)
100

12

10. Marriage SHOULD be built on love ONLY.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
21.21% (21)
12.12% (12)
26.26% (26)
24.24% (24)
16.16% (16)
99

The survey responses collected in U.S.

1. How would you describe yourself?
Answer Choices
Asian

Responses
7.37% (7)

White

84.21% (80)

African American

5.26% (5)

Other (please specify)

3.16% (3)

Total

95

2. What is your age and gender?

Answer Choices
<20
20-27
28-35
36-43
>43
Male
Female
Other
Total Respondent

Responses
14.74% (14)
80.00% (76)
3.16.00% (3)
0.00% (0)
0.00% (0)
9.00% (9)
24.21% (23)
26.32% (25)
95

3. Choosing to be married or single all life long is human right.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
3.16% (3)
0.00% (0)
4.21% (4)
15.79% (15)
76.84% (73)
95

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4. Arranged marriage is acceptable.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
49.47% (47)
18.95% (18)
10.53% (10)
10.53% (10)
10.53% (10)
95

5. Marriage freedom includes the freedom of choosing spouses based on the aspects of
gender, class, age, and economic status etc.
Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
0.00% (0)
2.11% (2)
11.58% (11)
17.89% (17)
68.42% (65)
95

6. In your society/community, the level of gender equality can be graded as

Answer Choices
1 (Minimal)
2
3
4
5 (Completed)
Total

Responses
0.00% (1)
7.37% (7)
22.11% (21)
41.05% (39)
28.42% (27)
95

7. The history of your society /community plays an important role in the current
marriage views.
Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
1.05% (1)
12.63% (12)
16.84% (16)
30.53% (29)
38.95% (37)
95

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8. The economy of your society /community plays an important role in the current
marriage views.
Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
1.05% (1)
16.84% (16)
14.74% (14)
33.68% (32)
33.68% (32)
95

9. Marriage plays an important role in economy in your society/community.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
9.47% (9)
9.47% (9)
17.89% (17)
24.21% (23)
38.95% (37)
95

10. Marriage SHOULD be built on love ONLY.

Answer Choices
1 (Strongly Disagree)
2
3
4
5 (Strongly Agree)
Total

Responses
3.16% (3)
5.26% (5)
20.00% (19)
25.26% (24)
46.32% (44)
95