Family- and couple-initiated marriages in Turkey

The characteristics of Turkish family- and couple-initiated marriages are examined. Four hundred sixty-nine couples who were obtaining marriage licenses for their first marriage were interviewed about their background characteristics; importance ratings of several reasons for marriage; reports of feelings and cognitions related to spouse, parents, and the two families; and reports of frequencies of interacting with spouse in different social contexts. Results revealed that individuals in the two types of marriage differed with respect to education background. Further analyses, controlling for effects of education background, revealed that participants in the two types of marriage varied with respect to endorsement of different reasons for marriage, feelings and cognitions concerning spouse and the families, and frequency of interaction in different social contexts. Differences between the sexes with respect to rated importance of different reasons for marriage and feelings for family were also found