Family Characteristics and Mate Selection: Evidence From Computer‐Assisted Dating in Japan
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Author | Ekaterina Hertog,Wei‐hsin Yu |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12473 |
W- Y University of Maryland
E H University of Oxford∗
Family Characteristics and Mate Selection:
Evidence From Computer-Assisted Dating in Japan
Research on mate selection rarely considers
singles’ preferences for their future partners’
family congurations and experiences. Using
online dating records from a matchmaking
agency in Japan, a society with a strong empha-
sis on family and kinship, we examine how
singles’ responses to date requests corre-
spond to potential mates’ family circumstances.
Results showed that singles’ preferences for
potential partners’ family characteristics stem
from a concern about future obligations toward
the partner’s family and stereotypes associated
with certain family traits. Singles are less likely
to accept requests from those from large fami-
lies, which are seen as traditional. Being from
a large family, however, hampers individuals’
dating chances more if they are rstborn and
have no brothers, two conditions that make
them the designated child to care for elderly
parents. We also nd that Japanese singles
seek partners with more of the universally val-
ued family traits rather than traits similar to
their own.
Department of Sociology and Maryland Population
Research Center, University of Maryland, 3129 ParrenJ.
Mitchell Art-Sociology Building, College Park, MD
20742-1315 (whyu1@umd.edu).
∗Department of Sociology and Nissan Institute of Japanese
Studies, University of Oxford, 27 Winchester road, Oxford,
OX2 6NA, United Kingdom.
Key Words: Asian/Pacic Islander,dating, elder care, family
structure, mate selection, siblings.
Research shows that with whom individuals
form families has important consequences for
their and their children’s long-term well-being
(Schwartz, 2013). The question of how indi-
viduals select mates is therefore critical to our
understanding of social inequality. Most studies
of mate selection patterns focus on singles’ pref-
erences related to race or ethnicity, religion, and
socioeconomic status (Blossfeld, 2009; Kalmijn,
1994, 1998; Rosenfeld, 2005). Individuals, how-
ever, also likely have other preferences when
selecting mates. In particular, because mar-
riage requires people to establish ties with and
develop obligations towardtheir partner’s family
members, they likely take the potential partner’s
family attributes into account in mate selec-
tion. Singles, for example, tend to nd those
with a child from a prior union less desirable
(Goldscheider & Kaufman, 2006; Goldscheider
& Sassler, 2006; South, 1991). Singles may
similarly have preferences for their mates’ natal
family compositions (Kojima, 1994; Yu, Su, &
Chiu, 2012). Because certain family traits, such
as having no siblings, signal a greater future
care obligation toward elderly parents, they may
make one less attractive to potential mates, espe-
cially in societies where married children are
strongly expected to support their aging parents.
Although understanding how singles’ family
characteristics create advantages or disadvan-
tages in mating can shed light on the process
through which people with different family
congurations and experiences diverge in their
Journal of Marriage and Family 80 (June 2018): 589–606 589
DOI:10.1111/jomf.12473
590 Journal of Marriage and Family
long-term well-being, very few studies directly
address preferences for the partner’sfamily char-
acteristics. The closest is research on how sib-
ship traits affect individuals’ paces of transitions
to marriage (Michael & Tuma, 1985; Yu et al.,
2012). Such research, however, cannot differ-
entiate consequences of these traits on singles’
eagerness to marry from their effects on attrac-
tiveness in the marriage market. Being the eldest
son in Japan, for example, is thought to decrease
a man’s appeal because of the cultural expec-
tation for this son to coreside with his parents
after marriage (Kojima, 1993, 1994; Yasuda,
Iwai, Yi, & Xie, 2011). Nevertheless, men with
this sibship position may also feel more parental
pressure to continue the family line and hence
put more effort into nding mates (Yu et al.,
2012). Separating these two processes is not
feasible in an analysis of marriage transitions.
The recent proliferation of computer-based
matchmaking services, fortunately, provides
new avenues to study singles’ mating pref-
erences (Curington, Lin, & Lundquist, 2015;
Hitsch, Hortaçsu, & Ariely, 2010a, 2010b; K.-H.
Lin & Lundquist, 2013; Skopek, Schulz, &
Blossfeld, 2011). Based on records of requests
for dates and responses to such requests,
researchers can isolate what makes a person
attractive. Compared to the small number
of studies using self-reported preferences to
investigate characteristics contributing to one’s
desirability to potential partners (e.g., Gold-
scheider & Kaufman, 2006; South, 1991),
studies examining dating records have the
advantage of analyzing real-world choices,
which are not confounded by respondents’ ten-
dency to offer socially desirable answers when
facing hypothetical scenarios (Hitsch et al.,
2010b). Although research using data from
Internet dating services is inevitably limited to
the behaviors and preferences of those who use
such services, understanding dating preferences
in cyberspace is argued to be important to our
knowledge of mate selection, as Internet dating
has become an increasingly popular channel
for singles to meet romantic partners across
industrialized countries (Hitsch et al., 2010b;
K.-H. Lin & Lundquist, 2013).
In this study, we take advantage of unique
records from a computer-based matchmak-
ing agency in Japan to examine the rates at
which individuals with different family sizes,
sibship attributes, marital and childbearing his-
tories, and other family circumstances receive
favorable responses to their online date requests.
Unlike most dating services in the West, the
agency that offered data for this study requires
its members to provide detailed information
on their family history and composition when
contacting others for dates. We can therefore
directly assess Japanese singles’ preferences
by analyzing their responses to people with
different family traits. Because prior research
indicates that individuals’ mating preferences
may depend on their own characteristics (Hitsch
et al., 2010b; Schwartz, 2013; Skopek et al.,
2011), we also investigate how singles’ own
family conditions are associated with their
preferences for their potential partner’s family
attributes. Specically, we ask whether indi-
viduals with family traits generally deemed
undesirable in the marriage market are less
likely to avoid dating those with similar traits.
This study focuses on Japan not only because
of its unusual data; understanding mating pref-
erences among users of Internet dating services
in Japan is important in its own right. Similar to
other industrial countries, using computer-based
matchmaking services to meet romantic part-
ners is increasingly popular in Japan (Farrer &
Gavin, 2009). During the 2000s, businesses pro-
viding dating or matchmaking services, most
of which involve users exchanging proles and
date requests through computers, more than
tripled (Castro-Vázquez, 2017). Japan is also
well known for its trend of later and less mar-
riage, with much research devoted to explain-
ing this trend (Raymo, Park, Xie, & Yeung,
2015). As recent research and popular discourse
both identify relationship formation (or the lack
thereof) as key to understanding marriage tran-
sitions in Japan (Yamada & Shirakawa, 2008;
Yu & Kuo, 2016), studying which attributes
enhance singles’ likelihood of forming relation-
ships helps enrich the literature on marriage for-
mation. Finally, Japan exemplies societies that
feature frequent intergenerational exchanges and
a deep-rooted cultural emphasis on family and
kinship (Raymo et al., 2015). Singles in such
contexts are highly likely to be concerned about
potential obligations toward their future spouse’s
family members, thus exhibiting preferences for
the potential mate’s family traits. An analysis of
the roles that family traits play in mate selection
in Japan therefore has implications for societies
with similar or stronger emphases on intergen-
erational exchanges and kinship, such as other
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