Last year, researchers at Durham University published a paper revealing that “Daddy’s girls” choose husbands that look like their fathers, whilst those who had difficult relationships with their fathers tended to go for men with very different looks.
Now, according to a new study from the University of Iowa, it seems that if a man’s mother is highly educated, the chances are that the woman he marries will also have equivalent qualifications.
Researchers found that nearly 80% of high-achieving men, whose mothers held a bachelor’s degree, married women with a similar education. And 62% of men, whose mothers had a master’s degree or doctorate, tied the knot with an equivalent degree holder.
Sociologist, Dr Christine Whelan and her colleague, Christie Boxer studied data from 3,700 people who took part in a survey about men and the educational level of the women close to them. All the men surveyed were considered to be high achievers, in their 20s and 30s, who earned salaries in the top 10 percent for their age group.
The researchers discovered that more than 70% of the men had mothers who worked while they were growing up, and that the same group was twice as likely to marry a woman who made $50,000 or more per year.
Of course, the results might be explained by social class, but the U.S. based researchers believe they help explain the old adage that ‘men tend to marry their mothers’.
Dr Whelan (who obtained her degree from Oxford University) said:
These young men look up to their mothers as role models. They grew up in a family where their mothers were educated women
When they make their own choices about someone who they think will be a good wife in the future, or a good mother, they go back to their role models.
They are increasing excited about the idea that they won’t have to be the only bread winner in the family, so these men are attracted to women who have a job and express a continuing interest to work
Although the research focused on high-earners, the phenomenon is expected to apply more generally, with men of all incomes being influenced by their mother’s attitude towards work and education.
Possibly, modelling their choice of wife on a parents’ successful marriage may help a child increase their own chances of a happy partnership.
Posted by Jonathan in Anthropology, Sociology