Romantic Love and the Spouse Selection Criteria of Male and Female Korean College Students

Abstract

Authors of previous studies have shown that men tend to be more romantic than women and that men and women differ in the qualities they value in potential marriage partners. That research has tended to focus on Americans. In this study the hypotheses that men are more romantic than women and that men and women differ in the qualities they value in potential marriage partners were tested with Korean college students as subjects. The results suggest that men are more romantic than women and that women and men differ in their mate selection criteria. A subset of that sample was used to determine the extent to which parental involvement in marriage decisions is considered legitimate. A secondary purpose of the study was to explore the impact of certain linguistic and cultural variables, particularly those involving major life decisions (such as marriage), on the interpretation of such results.