Self-Arranged Marriages in India: Change Amidst Sociocultural Underpinnings and Hanging Norms

Abstract

In self-arranged marriages, individuals choose their partners themselves, whereas in arranged and jointly-arranged marriages the decision is taken by parents and kin or jointly with the couples. Although the majority of Indian marriages are arranged, among younger cohorts, self-arranged marriages are increasing. Using the IHDS 2011–2012 data, we adopt a multivariate multilevel approach to explore the association of self-­arranged marriage with various socioeconomic, cultural, and regional factors. We find that the likelihood of self-arranged marriages increases with higher educated parents, especially parents-in-law; among higher and lower castes exhibiting a U-shaped association with caste hierarchy; and by living in less conservative regions. Findings imply that although marriage norms are transforming in India, it is not uniform, and sociocultural barriers are prevalent, thus, slowing down the pace.

Keywords:

• caste
• education
• gender
• India
• parent
• marriage

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The earliest known documentation of the caste system was found in several Dharmashastras or religious texts of Hinduism, one of which is Manusmriti or Laws of Manu, an ancient legal text or constitution written by the sage Manu (Olivelle, 2005). In Manusmriti, the caste system was characterized by several notable features. First, hereditary specialization of occupations that were hierarchically superposed, mutually opposed, and resistant to change. Second, endogamy or marriage within the same caste. Third, restrictions on diet and food habits assigned to each caste. Fourth, limiting social interaction between castes. Any violation of these norms usually resulted in ex-communication from the family and kin as well as the community (Deshpande, 2010).

2 Like their Hindu counterparts, intercaste marriages in these religious groups is also uncommon. For example, Syrian Christians do not marry Dalit Christians in ­Kerala, and Muslim Ashrafs do not marry so-called low-caste Ajlafs and Arzals throughout north India (Thomas, 2020).

3 In the absence of attitudinal information in our dataset, we are unable to fully elaborate and validate the theory of relational self through our analytical approach.

4 For example, the central government (in Delhi in North India) provides an incentive of two-and-a-half lakh Indian rupees (approximately 3000 euros) to every inter-caste marriage where one partner should belong to an upper caste and one partner should belong to Scheduled Caste and the marriage must be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act (Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, 2020). This scheme is called the ‘Dr. Ambedkar scheme for social integration through inter-caste marriage’.

5 263 women did not know the education years of their fathers, 157 of their mothers, 242 of their mothers-in-law, and 246 of their fathers-in-law. Only 2 women reported not knowing their own education level, 2 women reported not knowing the year they were born, 14 women of their caste group, and 31 of their age at marriage.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Koyel Sarkar

Koyel Sarkar is currently working as a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University, Abu Dhabi. She was a former Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Researcher, at the Center for Demographic Research, Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Belgium, where she also received her Ph.D. degree in Demography. Her research interests are contemporary demographic dynamics in family, fertility, and health in India and South Asia.