8.2: Introduction

Marriage is often understood as a deeply personal and romantic commitment, yet sociologists also view it as a socially constructed institution shaped by cultural, legal, economic, and historical forces. This chapter examines how marriage has changed over time, including the shift in many societies from arrangements centered largely on economics, kinship, and family alliances toward greater emphasis on individual choice, companionship, and romantic love. It also explores the social forces that shape who people marry and how marriages are formed, including patterns of endogamy and exogamy, the marriage gradient, and practices such as arranged and love marriages.

The chapter also examines contemporary patterns of marriage and household formation in the United States, including later marriage, cohabitation, and changing household structures. It considers the regulation of marriage through the histories of interracial and same-sex marriage, as well as ongoing debates about the benefits of marriage and inequalities in how those benefits are experienced. The chapter concludes by examining weddings as social rituals that communicate cultural values, social status, gender expectations, and ideas about love, family, and belonging.

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