This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0363199009344708v1 34/4/387    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Dribe, M. Articles by Lundh, C. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Status Homogamy in the Preindustrial Marriage Market: Partner Selection According to Age, Social Origin, and Place of Birth in Nineteenth-century Rural Sweden

Lund University, Sweden, Martin.Dribe{at}ekh.lu.se

Christer Lundh

University of Gothenburg, Sweden

This article studies partner selection according to three dimensions: social origin, age, and place of birth. The authors use micro-level data from local population registers in five parishes in southern Sweden from 1815 to 1895.The results confirm that all three aspects were important but that socioeconomic status was the most important characteristic,structuring much of the selection process.The importance of social and age homogamy remained stable over the period, while geographic exogamy became more frequent, which could be interpreted in terms of an increasing openness of rural society.The authors also find some indications of exchange of characteristics in the partner selection process.

Key Words: partner selection • nineteenth century • social homogamy • age homogamy • geographic endogamy • marriage market

This version was published on October 1, 2009

Journal of Family History, Vol. 34, No. 4, 387-406 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0363199009344708


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?