Hypergamy

Hypergamy

Hypergamy refers to a system of practice of selecting a spouse of higher socio-economic status than oneself. Specifically, it refers to a widespread tendency amongst human cultures for females to seek or be encouraged to pursue male suitors that are comparatively older, wealthier or otherwise more privileged than themselves.

History

In feudal societies, it was generally more accepted for males to marry below their station than females. Accordingly, a prince could marry a commoner with much greater ease than a princess could. Even amongst today's royal and aristocratic families the tendency holds true - Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, for example, was the first successor to the Chrysanthemum Throne to marry a commoner Michiko Shoda. Likewise, other contemporary marriages such as Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark to Mary Donaldson involve a male aristocrat and a female commoner. A reverse situation involving a male commoner would probably still be viewed with some distaste both within the family as well as by members of the public generally.

Society

Even in contemporary society, human females continue to exhibit strong mate-selective preferences for spouses that are at least equal to them in terms of job status, physical attractiveness, social standing, and capital accumulation. In comparison males place slightly higher emphasis on physical attractiveness alone.

In western societies, despite relative parity of numbers between genders in most cases, many lower-class males face difficulties in finding relationships, as lower-class females may still aspire to obtaining a mate with greater social standing.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • hypergamy — [hī pʉr′gə mē] n. [ HYPER + GAMY] marriage with a person of a higher social class or position hypergamous adj …   English World dictionary

  • hypergamy — noun (plural mies) Date: 1883 marriage into an equal or higher caste or social group …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • hypergamy — hypergamous, adj. /huy perr geuh mee/, n. the practice among Hindu women of marrying into a caste at least as high as their own. [1880 85; HYPER + GAMY] * * * …   Universalium

  • hypergamy — noun Act or practice of seeking a spouse of equal or higher socioeconomic status, or caste status than oneself …   Wiktionary

  • hypergamy — [hʌɪ pə:gəmi] noun marriage to a person of a superior class. Origin C19: from hyper + Gk gamos marriage …   English new terms dictionary

  • hypergamy — hy·per·ga·my …   English syllables

  • hypergamy — hy•per•ga•my [[t]haɪˈpɜr gə mi[/t]] n. ant raj marriage to a person of a social status higher than one s own; orig., esp. in India, the custom of allowing a woman to marry only into her own or a higher social group • Etymology: 1880–85… …   From formal English to slang

  • hypergamy —   n. marriage with person of same or higher caste only …   Dictionary of difficult words

  • hypergamy — n. marriage to a person of equal or superior caste or class. Etymology: HYPER + Gk gamos marriage …   Useful english dictionary

  • ГИПЕРГАМИЯ — (hypergamy) процесс внутри касты, в ходе которого женщине, состоящей в браке, может быть позволен переход в касту мужа (но не наоборот) …   Большой толковый социологический словарь

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