「恋愛」への意味づけの書き換え　―愛・性・結婚の結合と分離に注目して―

抄録

  The purpose of this research is to study the meaning of “romantic love” and its rewriting during changes in individual circumstances among young people in Japan with a high education and permanent work through an analysis of two types of research data related to romantic love, marriage, sex/reproduction and their relationships. Data was collected through five focus-group discussions and semi-structured interviews targeting unmarried men/women who were in their 20s (born between 1987 to 1990) when the research was conducted. Results show that both men and women redefine the meaning of “romantic love” by combining and separating the norms of “love, sex and marriage” based on conditions such as the increase in age, their relationship status and their partners. More specifically the research shows that once both men and women start to become conscious of marriage, including future childbirth, their definition of “romantic love” greatly changes, with the corresponding adjustment to combine and separate love, sex and marriage. Moreover, it was also suggested that this redefinition of “romantic love” is an adaptive strategy taken by individuals during the prolonged relationship period before marriage.