Courtship Patterns Associated With Freedom of Choice of Spouse.

In a large-sample cross-cultural study, correlates of freedom of choice in mate selection were investigated. Freedom of choice of spouse is associated with greater male-female contact in general, including more frequent marriage into the local community and greater importance and frequency of dances. Freedom of choice is also associated with greater romantic love as a basis of marriage, with impractical grounds of choice, and with greater male-female antagonism in courtship. The results support speculations stemming from structural-functional theory, cognitive dissonance theory, emotion- labeling theory, and other social theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]