AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
GROUP IDENTITY AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN CREATING MIXED MARRIAGES
a
SILVIA LETAVAJOVÁ,
b
JANA HUČKOVÁ,
c
LINDA
ČUKANOVÁ
Constantin the Philosopher University in Nitra, Štefánikova 67,
949 74 Nitra, Slovakia
email:
a
sletavajova@ukf.sk,
b
jhuckova@ukf.sk,
c
linda.pospisilova@ukf.sk
Abstract: The aim of the presented study is to determine the importance of group
identity in creating mixed marriages. We will examine what is the attitude to
belonging to a group when choosing a spouse, which categories people consider
important when grouping partners and themselves into particular groups and which
groups they consider recommended or unacceptable in their marital preferences and
why. We will try to answer these questions on the basis of a questionnaire survey
realized among the inhabitants of Slovak town Prievidza. The research results
demonstrated the importance of group identity when choosing a partner, showing the
preference of a partner from the same or a similar group, also suggesting the existence
of specific groups which the respondents strongly oppose to in partner preferences.
Keywords: binary oppositions, identity, group, social category, mixed marriage,
choice of a partner.
1 Introduction
In the Anglo-Saxon, Francophone, and also in the domestic
Slovak scholarly literature, several terms are used to denote a
mixed marriage: "international", "intercultural", "bi-cultural",
"transcultural" marriage, or "marriage with a foreigner". A
mixed marriage is a marriage where partners come from
different ethnic, religious, racial, linguistic, social, cultural,
geographic or political/economic settings. A common
identifying feature of all of these cases is crossing of boundaries
between different groups. Mixed marriage is therefore to be seen
not only as a term of a commonly used language or legal
terminology, but above all as a social category reflecting
normative and moral aspects of individual's life within the group
as well as mutual relations between two or more groups.
The aim of the study is to identify the importance of group
identity (sense of belonging to a particular group or groups,
conformity with its values) when creating mixed marriages or
when thinking about them. In the empirical part, we will try to
find out what is the attitude to belonging to groups when
choosing a spouse, which categories (e.g. ethnicity, religiosity,
nationality) people consider important when grouping partners
and themselves into particular groups and which groups they
consider appropriate and recommended and, on the contrary,
unacceptable in their marital preferences and why. We will try to
answer these questions on the basis of qualitative and
quantitative questionnaire survey among the inhabitants of
Prievidza – a town situated in the west part of Slovakia.
2 Theoretical background
2.1 Research of mixed marriages
Mixed marriages are most often studied as a consequence of a
contact and spatial proximity to another group and its members.
They occur in cases of immediate proximity to different groups,
with the greatest intensity of their occurrence being usually
recorded in mixed environments or at the borders of groups – in,
so called, contact areas (e.g. near the state border). Migration
processes are another factors enhancing contacts and crossing
borders between groups of different types. On the American
continent, the concept of mixed marriages has traditionally been
based on the racial difference of partners. “The Interracial
Marriage: Expectations and Realities” published by I. R. Stuart
and L. E. Abta (1973) or “Black/white interracial marriage
trends, 1820-2000“ by A. Gullickson (2006) are examples of this
type of works. Interest in this phenomenon in the USA was also
focused on its connection to European immigration, i.e.
marriages between Americans and foreigners. On the European
continent, the cultural aspect is considered to be the main barrier
to mixed marriages. Interest in this issue was therefore
significant in countries with an ethnically and religiously
heterogeneous native population and states with a rich
immigration history, such as the United Kingdom, France,
Germany and the Netherlands. Mixed marriages were perceived
in this context as an assimilation index, an identifier of migrant
integration and social distance between groups. These topics are
discussed in the works of M. Song (2009) and co-authors D.
Furtado and T. Song (2015). The context of immigration and
mixed marriages in the post war period is addressed by L.
Lucassen and CH. Laarman (2009). The analysis of mixed
marriages with foreigners in European countries in the
perspective of current statistical data is found in the work of G.
Lanzieri (2012: 1-4). The question of mixed marriages of the
domestic population and migrant partners on the European
continent is examined in the publication “Sociology of
Mixedness. From amorous mixedness to social and cultural
mixedness” by G. Varro (2003). The study by N. Milewski and
H. Kulu (2014) and the authors T. Niedomysl, J. Osth and M.
Van Ham (2010) or S. Carol (2016) deal with this phenomenon
in the countries of Western Europe, particularly in France,
Germany or Sweden.
In Slovakia, which can be perceived as a traditionally emigrant
country with a low number of immigrants in its territory, the
interest in mixed marriages has traditionally been related to local
endogamy but also to ethnically and confessionally mixed
marriages in culturally diverse regions. It was mainly about
examining the relationship of majority to traditional national and
religious minorities, but also between minorities. Among these
works we can mention, for example, studies by L. Fónadová and
T. Katrňák (2016), J. Majo (2011), Ľ. Kráľová (1995), Z.
Beňušková (1997), A. Mann (1990), Letavajová (2015) and P.
Šoltés (2009).
2.2 Endogamous preferences when selecting a partner
It is obvious that marriage is more than a relationship between
two people, it is a relationship between two or more groups and
it is related to their mutual status and position. When choosing a
spouse the desired pattern of behaviour is introduced through
group identification. Relationship between groups is influenced
by natural fixation on its own group, its highlighting and
preference, and vice versa, the distance and rejection of a
different group. Each group ensures that its members create only
such relationships that do not harm it, in particular its internal
coherence and homogeneity. It is therefore logical that the
traditional and dominant model in marital preferences is to select
a partner from the same group, referred to as endogamy (or
homogamy). The term endogamy and its opposite exogamy
(preference for a partner outside his group) were introduced into
social sciences by Scottish ethnologist J. F. McLennan. In his
work “The Primitive marriage” (1865) he used these terms in
relation to kinship groups. Later on, this perception was
extended to belonging to other types of groups. An in-depth
study of mate selection was carried out by A. Girard (1964), M.
Bozon and F. Héran (2006), who pointed out that most people do
not choose their partner accidentally, but according to principles
based on similarity. By choosing a partner with the same
patterns of behaviour, worldview, values, habits or knowledge,
individuals develop not only the cultural capital of the group, but
they also maintain and improve their economic resources
(Gabura 2012, Kalmijn 1998).
Crossing of the boundaries of the group by creating a mixed
marriage was rare in the past. The most common reason why
mixed marriages were not preferred in most communities was
not only cultural differences but also different statuses between
groups. D. Bensimon and F. Lautman (1974: 17-40) perceive
mixed marriages in this context as an expression of group
hostility to the environment and as betrayal of individuals
towards their own group. Choosing a suitable partner that is in
line with group preferences is realized by the community
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