Gendered Conduct Norms Concerning the Payment on a Date:

Focusing on Gender Differences and Intra-Female Differentiation in the Marriage Hunting Market

Abstract

“Men should pay on a date”? The aim of this paper is to clarify which segment of the population supports this gendered conduct norm and to question the remaining gender order in contemporary Japanese society. The data used in the analysis are from a questionnaire survey conducted by our research group in 2016 on members of a marriage counseling service provided by a major corporation. The three main findings are as follows: Firstly, men in the marriage hunting market universally support the norm. Secondly, women’s support to the norm varies based on their traits. Women with low income, aspiring to be full-time housewives, and/or interested in fashion, typically with low education, tend to support the norm. In contrast, women with high income, not interested in being full-time housewives, enjoy videogames, and/or priding themselves on having respectable occupations, typically with high education, do not tend to support it. Thirdly, the gendered norm reduces the probability of marriage success only among women with low BMI, though it does not affect marriage success in men and in women with BMI above normal.