The Positive Effects of Arranged Marriage

I.  Introduction

Background of the Study

                A lot of people, especially from the Western part of the world, consider that arranged marriage is something that the parents decide it waywardly, without thinking the consent of their son or daughter. So, it’s like love is just a silly thing to be the root of a commitment that last long (Zufoletti, 2007).

                In an arranged marriage, the parents should select a good partner for their child and as they think of their child’s welfare in the future, they try to check the aspects of the selected individual if he or she is compatible with their child. They continually practice arranged marriage because they don’t want their children to marry someone with another culture, status in life and the beliefs they’ve learned. In this generation, arranged marriages are not mandatory however the permission from the parents is considered necessary because parents have their opinions about the future husband or wife of their child (Theo, 1993).

                Arranged marriage is one of the important traditions practiced in some countries some countries of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other countries in the world that you may not have noticed or heard about it. It is a celebration and also a culture that is not accepted to others yet, no matter how you twist or turn this kind of tradition, it has advantages to the people who still practice it and contributes disadvantages too (http://clvb.hubpages.com/hub/Arranged-Marriage--Why-or-Why-not, 2008).

                The practice of arranging a marriage is continually emerging throughout the world although other people eventually try to shift their conception about the idea of this kind of marriage. Alteration happens in some nations due to the rising generation but some are caused by the government. Pakistan for instance, it still holds the tradition of having this kind of marriage and it constitutes nearly 90 percent of marriages. Japan also practices it and presently, it comprises more or less 29 percent arranged marriage of all marriages in the place (http://atlas.kennesaw.edu/~akapilev/essay4.html).

                Even if majority of the public says this issue is true about an arranged marriage is true, we still could not generally conclude that they do it just to profit themselves while hurting others (Zufoletti, 2007).

                In every case, there is bad and good. An arranged marriage is no exemption to this. It has its good, positive, and advantageous effects. The advantages are as follows:

a. Social Compatibility

The feeling of sympathy towards others with regards to their social being and living with them in a harmonious way is what we call social compatibility.

Theo (1993) stated that problems or conflicts in a marriage are mostly caused by unmatched religious views, socioeconomic status and cultural upbringing. However, with a fixed marriage, these differences are completely prevented because the unions are decided with these parameters in mind. Owning these parallel views, the husband-to-be and wife-to-be will have continual peace and understand each other avoiding many arguments.

b. Personality

                As explained by Theo, “Parents may be good judges of their children's personalities. In an arranged marriage, parents choose a spouse compatible in personality, using logic rather than the illusive emotion of love. In normal western marriages where people choose their own mate, love and lust are often considered before compatibility. In some arranged marriages, the families make sure the potential partners have compatible horoscopes as well as personalities. An additional benefit of arranging a marriage comes into play with a shy person or someone who does not have the opportunity to meet a potential spouse on his own. Arranging a marriage may be the only way some people will be able to make a union.”

c. Extended Family

                Furthermore, in an arranged marriage, the first party doesn’t engage in an arrangement with an unknown second party. So basically, the two parties should have known each other for years before arranging a marriage. Consequently, they would know that both parties have desirable family background and both show the same beliefs and rules about right and wrong. When the potential spouses already marry, they create a relationship with the extended family. Future sons and daughters of the couple, the parents of both spouses will have influence them. Living with in-laws that are mistrustful or create mistreatment, it can lead to misunderstanding toward the husband and the wife. So when the parents are going to arrange a marriage, they have to really find what kind of family they would get involve their son or daughter to prevent a conflict between two families. Choosing a good family for their child makes everyone happy and understanding because family is a very important group that you could ever have and it is also important to marriage (Theo, 1993).

d. Lower Divorce Rate

                Theo further elaborated, “Arranged marriages experience lower divorce rates than western love-based marriages. India, one of the countries where arranged marriages are still very popular, has the lowest divorce rate in the world at 1.1 percent. Many factors effect whether or not a marriage will last such as money attitudes, compatibility, extended family, respect, religious beliefs, and moral upbringing. An arranged marriage eliminates many incompatibility problems to ensure a mutual respect between partners. Love grows from respect.”

Objectives of the Study

                The main goal of this study is to achieve the following objectives:

1.       What are the positive effects of arranged marriage?

2.       What countries in the world that still practice arranged marriage?

3.       What country has the lowest divorce rate of arranged marriage?

4.       What country has the highest divorce rate of arranged marriage?

Significance of the Study

                At present time, divorced marriage is rampant in the society thus, there are cases unsolved and still in the process of settling it in the court. Most people who experienced divorced marriage are those people married through a love-based marriage. The researcher then would like to persuade and encourage those who will be arranged in such marriages or are already in a fixed marriage to preserve the tradition and lessen divorce rate.