Understanding Marriage in the Twenty-First Century

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Family Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2025 | Viewed by 3119

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
Interests: family; gender

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In many countries, including virtually all OECD countries, marriage rates have declined over the past few decades. For example, in Portugal, the Netherlands, and Japan, the number of marriages per 1000 individuals fell from about 10 in 1970 to three, four, and five, respectively, in 2019.

Yet, marital decline is not the only story to tell about the current state of marriage. In fact, despite recent trends, millions of people continue to get married each year. And many others tell researchers that they want to get married someday. While marriage may never again be as popular as it was at its peak in the mid-twentieth century, the institution has not exactly become obsolete. Instead, marriage remains a way of life, albeit one of many, for people around the world.

This Special Issue seeks contributions from social scientists who are interested in understanding what marriage means today, how it operates, what difference being married makes in family and personal lives, and why the institution still appeals to people at a time when marriages are becoming less common and alternatives to marriage are proliferating. Contributors are encouraged to submit original research, reviews of the literature, and theoretical papers. We especially welcome work that challenges or complicates declinist narratives about the state of marriage in the twenty-first century.

Please submit your proposals and any questions to Prof. Dr. Chris Wienke. Final papers are due on 15 November 2024 for peer review.

Proposals should be one page in length and include a title, an abstract explaining its relevance to the Special Issue topic, a description of the population, and the methods used (if applicable). Also include author names and affiliations.

Dr. Chris Wienke
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • marriage
  • remarriage
  • same-sex marriage
  • marital relations
  • marital status
  • attitudes toward marriage
  • social institutions
  • deinstitutionalization
  • social norms
  • social change

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 348 KiB  
Article
The Biggest Decision of Your Life(Time)? Examining the Politics of Married at First Sight
by Samantha Majic and Zein Murib
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(11), 618; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13110618 - 13 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1052
Abstract
Lifetime’s “Married at First Sight” (MAFS) aired its seventeenth season in 2024, averaging 2.58 million viewers per weekly episode. In this paper, we ask, how does MAFS reflect and intervene in contemporary marriage politics, particularly regarding race, gender, class, and sexuality [...] Read more.
Lifetime’s “Married at First Sight” (MAFS) aired its seventeenth season in 2024, averaging 2.58 million viewers per weekly episode. In this paper, we ask, how does MAFS reflect and intervene in contemporary marriage politics, particularly regarding race, gender, class, and sexuality in the U.S.? To answer this question, we draw on scholarship about marriage as a political institution, and on reality TV as a window into contemporary socio-economic issues. Using interpretive, feminist methods of analysis, we find that MAFS reflects and intervenes in contemporary marriage politics by offering viewers a very traditional and exclusionary version of the institution at a time when it and everything else (reproductive rights and same-sex marriages, to name just two examples) is in flux. However, even as it attempts to offer a “balm” to all of this upheaval, in practice, the show’s “experimental results” offer something more complex, which both reflects the contemporary realities of marriage and attracts viewers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Marriage in the Twenty-First Century)
12 pages, 563 KiB  
Article
Exploring Marital Quality in Parents of Children with Autism: Identifying Barriers and Facilitators
by Ayelet Gur and Yifat Golan Bayazy
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(6), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13060287 - 27 May 2024
Viewed by 1545
Abstract
The current study aims to examine the factors that facilitate or act as barriers to the marital relationships of parents of children with ASD. In total, 150 parents of children with ASD participated in this study. An online qualitative survey tool was utilized [...] Read more.
The current study aims to examine the factors that facilitate or act as barriers to the marital relationships of parents of children with ASD. In total, 150 parents of children with ASD participated in this study. An online qualitative survey tool was utilized to collect data, which were subsequently subjected to thematic analysis. Through qualitative analysis, three major themes emerged: (1) Psychological and Emotional Experiences, (2) Sense of Partnership, and (3) The Rich get Richer, including sub-themes such as formal support systems, a strong marital relationship prior to ASD diagnosis, and limited family resources. The findings suggest that elements of the marital relationship can serve as valuable resources for parents of children with ASD in coping with the challenges of parenthood. Conversely, the study highlights certain factors that act as barriers to the marital relationship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Marriage in the Twenty-First Century)
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