bims-chumac 2023-05-28 papers

Issue of 2023–05–28
four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

J Marriage Fam. 2023 Apr;85(2): 391-412

Stability and Relevance of Marriage Desires: Importance of Age Norms and Partnering Opportunities.

Objective: This study investigates shifts in marriage desires during singlehood and the potential consequences associated with these shifts in Japan, a country epitomizing later and less marriage without substantial increases in nonmarital childbearing.
Background: Despite researchers' long-standing interest in values potentially motivating demographic changes, few have systematically examined marriage desires among unmarried adults. Even fewer have considered how marriage desires may change during adulthood and how relevant such changes are to marriage and family behavior.
Method: The analysis uses 11 waves of the Japan Life Course Panel Survey, which tracks singles' marriage desires yearly. Fixed effects models are estimated to demonstrate factors associated with within-person changes and account for unobserved heterogeneity.
Results: Japanese singles' marriage desires decline with age but are stronger when they perceive greater opportunities to form romantic relationships or marriage. Singles experiencing an increase in the desire to marry are more likely to take actions to seek partners and to enter a romantic relationship or marriage subsequently. The associations between marriage desires and the various behavioral changes strengthen with age and feasibility of marriage. Increases in marriage desires also correspond to increases in single men's parenthood desires and ideal numbers of children, and the link between marriage desires and fertility preferences is stronger as they age.
Conclusion: Marriage desires are not always stable or equally relevant throughout singlehood. Our study suggests that age norms and partnering opportunities both contribute to the fluctuation of marriage desires and affect when such desires would have behavioral implications.

Keywords: Marriage; dating; family formation; international; longitudinal research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12891

J Interpers Violence. 2023 May 25. 8862605231175515

Why Might Women Justify Dating Violence? The Role of Men's Sexual Objectification of Their Romantic Partners Within Heterosexual Relationships.

Chiara Pecini, Daniela Ruzzante, Roberta Rosa Valtorta, Eleonora Crapolicchio, Veronica Margherita Cocco, Luca Andrighetto, Gian Antonio Di Bernardo.

Men's partner-sexual objectification has been linked to increased self-objectification and diminished well-being in women. Some recent findings have also demonstrated that men's partner-sexual objectification is related to increased violence in the relationship. However, mechanisms driving this association remain unexplored. In the present research, we collected data on women and men involved in heterosexual romantic relationships and investigated the associations between men's partner-sexual objectification, women's self-objectification, and both partners' attitudes toward dating violence. Study 1 (N = 171 heterosexual couples) provided first evidence for the link between men's partner-sexual objectification and their attitudes toward dating violence. Furthermore, men's attitudes toward dating violence mediated the relationship between sexual objectification of their partners and women's attitudes toward dating violence. These results were replicated in Study 2 (N = 235 heterosexual couples). Findings of this study also revealed that, along with men's attitudes toward dating violence, women's self-objectification acted as a mediating mechanism linking experiences of being sexually objectified by the romantic partner and attitudes toward dating violence in women. Implications of our findings for the issue of dating violence are discussed.

Keywords: dating violence; perceptions of domestic violence; predicting domestic violence

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231175515

J Res Adolesc. 2023 May 21.

Dating and friendships in adolescence: Variation across same-sex and other-sex romantic partners.

Rose Wesche, Derek A Kreager, Nayan G Ramirez, Shivangi Gupta.

This research examined associations between dating and number of friends for rural adolescents with same-sex and other-sex dating partners using longitudinal sociometric data (N = 2826; 55% female, 87% White, mean age = 14 at baseline). In multilevel models assessing within-person change, boys gained female friends when they were in same-sex romantic relationships, compared to when they were single. In contrast, girls in same-sex relationships lost female friends and gained male friends. Adolescents in other-sex romantic relationships gained same-sex friends compared to when they were single. Results advance understanding of adolescent social and sexual development, suggesting that sexual minority adolescents find allies when dating but may struggle to maintain same-sex friendships.

Keywords: dating; peer relationships; sexual minority youth

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12865

Ethics Inf Technol. 2023 ;25(2): 30

Selling visibility-boosts on dating apps: a problematic practice?

Bouke de Vries.

Love, sex, and physical intimacy are some of the most desired goods in life and they are increasingly being sought on dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, and Badoo. For those who want a leg up in the chase for other people's attention, almost all of these apps now offer the option of paying a fee to boost one's visibility for a certain amount of time, which may range from 30 min to a few hours. In this article, I argue that there are strong moral grounds and, in countries with laws against unconscionable contracts, legal ones for thinking that the sale of such visibility boosts should be regulated, if not banned altogether. To do so, I raise two objections against their unfettered sale, namely that it exploits the impaired autonomy of certain users and that it creates socio-economic injustices.

Keywords: Addiction; Autonomy; Dating apps; Gambling; Love; Romantic relationships; Socio-economic justice; Tinder; Visibility boosts

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-023-09704-y