COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MARRIAGE SETTINGS OF STUDENT YOUTH

ABSTRACT

This article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the sociological study “Marital Attitudes of Student Youth”. The case study was attended by representatives of Russian students, as well as participants of the Summer School in Prague. Respondents expressed their views on marriage, age at marriage, and motivation.

Keywords: marriage, family, divorce, cohabitation, motives, students, youth.

Family and marriage are the most important institutions of society that contribute to the adaptation and socialization of man. The preservation and strengthening of the institutions of family and marriage is one of the priority tasks of the state, its social and demographic policy. Currently, there are changes in the functioning of the institution of marriage, as evidenced by a decrease in the marriage rate.

Some researchers believe that the type of marriage of Russian youth is transforming from traditional to European, which is inherent in: a later age for marriage, a possible rejection of marriage, the popularity of cohabitation as a form of union, a positive attitude towards divorce.

We decided to test these hypotheses, so we conducted a sociological study “Matrimonial Attitudes of Student Youth”. During the study, students of the Institute of Social Sciences and Mass Communications of the National Research University "BelSU" and students of the Summer School of Charles University were interviewed. We propose to consider a comparative analysis of the main components of mating behavior.

Most of the respondents among Russian students are women, and the distribution among foreign students is approximately equal. Among the students of IONiMK BelSU there were 70% of the female respondents, 30% of the male, respectively. Of the students at Charles University, 53% are female and 47% male.

The most important issue in the study is the desire of young people to marry. A comparative analysis revealed that both Russian students (70% answered positively) and foreign students have a desire to marry (90% answered positively). However, it should be noted that in this issue, the desire to marry in general, and not at a particular moment, is assessed. At the same time, part of Russian students (12%) are already married.

As for the motivation for marriage, it is the same for both Russian and foreign students: the most popular answer is mutual feelings and love (100% choice for each survey), the same views and interests, expectation of a child.

Speaking of the ideal age for marriage for men, according to students. It can be noted that according to the majority of Russian students, the ideal age for men is in the region of 26-30 years (65%), and for foreign students the ideal age for marriage was divided between 26-30 years (47%) and 31-35 years (53%). In addition, respondents were asked to indicate the age at which they would like to marry. For most Russian male students, the most preferred age is 25 years, and for foreign 30 years.

Speaking of the ideal age for marriage for women. According to Russian students, the ideal marriage age for women is 21-25 years (75%), for foreign students 26-30 years (72%). The survey also revealed that most of the Russian girls would prefer to marry at 22-25 years old, and foreign girls chose about 28-29 years old.

From this, we can notice that the age for marriage among foreign students has grown and has approached 30 years. Moreover, for foreign students, the age range for marriage for men and women is the same.

Considering the attitude towards cohabitation, it can be noted that on the part of foreign students, the attitude to this phenomenon is more loyal than that of Russian students, but in general the majority of respondents (both Russian and foreign) have a positive attitude towards cohabitation.

Table 1.

Distribution of answers to the question “What is your attitude towards cohabitation”

The reasons for living without official marriage registration are the same for Russian and foreign students. These include: the desire to better know your partner and the unwillingness to enter into an officially registered marriage.

As for divorce, no one among the Russian and foreign respondents has differences. Among Russian students there are still respondents who have a negative attitude to divorce.

Table 2.

Distribution of answers to the question “Your attitude to divorce”

After analyzing the reasons for the dissolution of the marriage, we can conclude that they will differ slightly among students of the Belgorod State University and foreign students. According to most Russian students, the main reason for divorce may be the manifestation of physical violence by one of the spouses (100%). The second most popular is the reason: betrayal by one of the spouses (65%). In addition, significant reasons for divorce will also be: spouse's deviant behavior, psychological abuse, loss of feelings between spouses. While foreign students in the first place put the loss of feelings between spouses (80%), loss of confidence and different outlooks on life (65%), the manifestation of domestic violence, among foreign students, is only in 4th place.

Thus, the analysis revealed that among the marriage attitudes of Russian and European students there are both similarities and differences. In our opinion, students of the National Research University “BelSU” are more inherent in the traditional type of nuptiality, although in some issues it approaches European.

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