Has the Rise of Individualism Driven the Spread of Love Matches?:

An Approach from the Evolution of Preferences

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose a new theoretical explanation for the transition away from arranged marriages in favor of love matches. Using a formal approach, we examine the hypothesis that a rise in individualism has driven the spread of love matches.

Prior research on the subject assumes that individuals who value the social status of their family choose arranged marriages whereas those who pursue their own interests choose love matches. However, some researchers criticize this assumption on the premise that people with a preference for individualistic pursuits do not necessarily choose love matches.

In this paper, we formalize the hypothesis by using “the evolution of preferences” framework to analyze the complex relationship between individualism and love matches. Our model takes into account the process of the spread of individualism in order to capture the time variation and measure the proportion of shared variance between individualism and love matches.

We present two conclusions. First, we find a new pattern of choice, which we call “careful individualism.” Careful individualism differs from the term individualism as it has been used in preceding studies in that it considers the social status of one's family to some extent while individualism does not. Second, we show that careful individualism plays an important role in the spread of love matches; careful individualism cultivates the preference for love matches in a society where the majority choose arranged marriages.