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What College Women Want - Do for skeletal summary

WHAT COLLEGE WOMEN WANT IN A MARRIAGE PARTNER. By: O'reilly, Sarah, Knox, David, Zusman, Marty, College Student Journal, 01463934, Jun2009 Part B, Vol. 43, Issue 2

 

Database:  Academic Search Premier

WHAT COLLEGE WOMEN WANT IN A MARRIAGE PARTNER 

One-hundred-and-ninety seven undergraduates at a large southeastern university completed a confidential anonymous 22-item questionnaire designed to assess the qualities college women want in their prospective marital partners. The data revealed that women (when compared to what men want in a partner) were significantly more likely to prefer men who were "considerate," "dependable," and "intelligent." Women are moving away from viewing potential partners exclusively in instrumental terms of ability to provide money for them, as well as subsequent children, and toward viewing men in terms of more "expressive" qualities such as consideration, dependability, and intelligence. Implications and limitations of the data are suggested.

Oklahoma Crude is a vintage film featuring the late George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway. The story takes place on top of a hill where Faye Dunaway has hired George C. Scott to protect her and her oil rig from imposing villains (led by Jack Palance) who want her property. One scene includes a drunken unshaven Scott lumbering over to the cabin where Dunaway is staying. She says to him as he gets within six inches of her face, "I know what you want," to which he replies, "No you don't." She then says, "Yes I do…. I know what men want!"

The scene reflects cultural assumptions about men and women. This study is not about men but about what women want in a prospective marital partner. Previous researchers on what women want in a future partner have found that women place higher emphasis on financial and emotional stability, good parenting skills, and equal or higher education (Lewis and Oppenheimer, 2000; Ganong and Coleman, 1992). A team of researchers also noted that women seek an attractive partner (Lacey, Reifman, Scott, Harris, and Fitzpatrick, 2004).

Sample and Methods

The sample consisted of 197 undergraduates at a large southeastern university who responded to an anonymous 22-item questionnaire designed to assess the value men and women assign to various qualities. Seventy-one percent of the respondents were female; twenty-nine percent were male. The median age of the respondents was 19 (age range 17 to 48) with most (80%) reporting that they were white and 20% nonwhite. Most (95%) had never been married. In regard to current relationship, almost a quarter (24%) were not involved with anyone, 14% were dating different people, 41% were dating or emotionally involved with one person. Seventeen percent were engaged or living together and 4% were married.

In order to determine whether differences existed between men and women in their preferences, difference of means tests were run. We note that additional tests were made to assure that the ordinal categories (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) were capable of being treated as interval for the means tests and they were. In each case, the appropriate t-test and degrees of freedom have not been included for the sake of brevity. What is included are the means for each category of the independent variable and the appropriate significance level.

Significant Findings and Discussion

Analysis of the data revealed several significant differences.

1. Women want a marital partner who is "considerate." Women were significantly (p< .01) more likely to value "being considerate" as an essential trait in a future spouse. The closer the number to 1, the lower the value for "considerate" (1 = "this quality is not important at all"; the closer the number to 5, the higher the value for "considerate" ("this quality is essential") (the comparisons below will use these same numbers). The Means for men and women on this variable were 4.36 and 4.65 respectively.

That women place a higher value on their potential marital partner being considerate is not surprising. Men as considerate partners may be more likely to favor an egalitarian relationship. Geary, Vigil and Byrd-Craven (2004) reviewed Buss's research findings which showed that "women rated a prospective husband who was kind, understanding, and intelligent more highly than a prospective husband who was none of these but had the potential to become culturally successful" (p. 31). In "middle-class and upper-middle-class Western cultures," women want men that have the ability to develop "an intimate and emotionally satisfying relationship" (p.31).

2. Women want a marital partner who is "dependable." Women were significantly (p< .02) more likely to value "being dependable" as an essential trait in a future spouse. The Means for men and women on this variable were 4.45 and 4.81 respectively. Oppenheimer (1997) suggested that, "women's increasing market work has discouraged marriage foundation and encouraged marital instability" (p. 433). Now that women no longer need the man to provide for them economically, women can afford to be more selective of a mate and indeed, even choose to never take a spouse. If a woman does choose to marry, the man must meet higher standards of education, financial and emotional stability, and dependability.

Increasingly women are rearing children as single parents. Unhappy economically secure women no longer feel obligated to stay with their husbands because they can provide for themselves/children; they also feel that divorce is less stigmatized than previously. Women of today want dependable men as fathers for their children and husbands for themselves.

3. Women want a marital partner who is "intelligent." Women were significantly (p< .001) more likely to value "being intelligent" as an essential trait in a future spouse. The means for men and women on this variable were 3.89 and 4.31 respectively. Women's preference for an intelligent partner may be in reference to their own intellectual pursuits. The U.S. Census Educational Attainment of the Population Report (Stoops, 2004) revealed that women are quickly catching up to men in terms of degree achievement. 2003 data, 26% of women had earned a bachelor's degree (an increase of almost 7 percentage points), 29% of men had earned the same degree (and increase of approximately 4 percentage points), and statistically more women than men at age twenty-five had graduated from high school (85% compared to 84.1%. Intelligence may also translate into greater financial stability and dependability.

Implications and Limitations

These data emphasize that women are moving away from viewing potential partners exclusively in instrumental terms of ability to provide money for them/subsequent children and toward seeking men who have more "expressive" qualities such as consideration, dependability, and intelligence. Women are not immune to seeking partners with economic resources; but this focus may no longer dominate.

Men concerned about being selected by women as a potential mate might be aware that it is how they treat the woman in terms of their kindness, consideration, and dependability rather than how much money they make which is valued. That women also are seeking intellectual companions also alerts the male that women are seeking PARTNERS to enjoy, not bank accounts to access.

There are several limitations of this study. First, the data should be interpreted cautiously. The convenience sample of respondents is hardly representative of the 16 million college students throughout the United States (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007 Table 266) .These data are also quantitative with no qualitative interviews to provide insights on the raw statistics. Subsequent research might include interviews with college women to elicit revelations about their perceptions of men and what they want in a partner.

Finally, subsequent research should move beyond the exploratory analysis of these data to multi-variate analysis to develop a more complete and accurate understanding of the partner preference.