Love Match and Arranged Marriage in a Modernizing Nation: Mate Selection in Ankara, Turkey

This paper examines three questions relative to mate selection in contemporary Turkey: Among which population segments are love match versus traditional arranged marriages found? What impact does self-selection of mate have on conjugal homogamy? and, What impact does the type of marriage arrangement have on marriage behavior? Sample survey data from Ankara, Turkey, were utilized in the analysis. Results suggest that the adoption of innovation in marriage patterns is greatest among the more modern segments of the population, that homogamy is as great among self-selected as among kin-selected spouses, and that the type of marriage arrangement has a small but independent impact on marriage behavior. A sequential model of the development of modernism in marital behavior was suggested.