英语期末论文格式范例2

A Comparative Study of Mate Selection Between American Youth and Chinese Youth Thesis Statement Mate selection which is governed by some invisible rules and principles is a common practice throughout human history but it differs from nation to nation for the cultural differences and it won t be the same for the same reason Outline I Introduction A The significance of the discussion B Layout of the paper II Principles and rules that regulate the choice of a mate A Five fundamental theories on mate selection in sociology 1 The theory of historical precedent 2 The theory of psycho analysis 3 The theory of complementary need 4 The theory of value 5 The theory of filtering process B Two general rules 1 Endogamy 2 Exogamy III Important criteria in mate selection A Chinese youth s expectation for a mate 1 Male s list of an ideal wife and female s list of an ideal husband 2 Qualities desired in a mate B American s expectation for a mate 1 Qualities of an ideal mate 2 Other concerns IV The similarities between two nations A Age consideration B Equity seeking V The differences that are brought about by the cultural pattern A Arranged marriage B Views on sex C Religion D Love E Others VI Conclusion A Tentative predication on development of mate selection B Restatement of the thesis A Comparative Study of Mate Selection Between American and Chinese Youth Mate selection is a common practice throughout human history and contains profound economic and social meanings People have to go through several steps to achieve the goal As the exchange and communication among different cultures is not a rare phenomenon the study of mate selection can be a very interesting and rewarding topic Though following some common practices people in different cultures may vary in their choice of a mate This paper is intended to make a tentative study of mate selection between American and Chinese youth In the light of theories of historical precedent of psycho analysis of complementary need of value and that of filtering process as well as the rules of endogamy and exogamy similarities and differences of mate selection will be discussed In addition a tentative predication on development of mate selection is also touched upon The arrangement of major parts of this paper is as follows introduction principles and rules that regulate the choice of a mate important criteria in mate selection the similarities between two nations the differences that are brought about by the cultural pattern and conclusion Theoretically people almost have unlimited choices in fact the number is small and mate selection is far from a random event There are millions of people who could marry But why does the person choose this person instead of that one Why would these two persons go together The progress is usually from casual dating to a limited set of partners and to the choice of one and then to a marriage Why do people tend to marry the one who is within the similar class rank or profession It may look simple and casual Yet we may find some generally recognized principles and rules after study Some people may argue that nowadays the life style as well as the attitude towards mate selection of the Chinese has changed during the last decade Studies have shown us just the opposite Most people still select marriage partners who resemble themselves in many aspects The main trend both in China and the United States is Endogamy marrying the person who resembles him or her in many aspects Yet there are some other factors also contributing to choice of a marriage partner Who will marry whom Why does this person marry that one instead of others The choice is regulated by some invisible rules and principles which governed by social historical economic moral and cultural factors It is impossible for an individual to escape from those rules In sociology there are five theories on mate selection1 It is common in marriage pattern especially when parents choose a marriage partner for their adult children This type has a long predominance in civilized society If we use stability of marriage as a criterion arranged marriages are the best With arranged marriage political and economic considerations are far more important than love Freud an Austrian psychoanalyst proposes that human beings social animals and the physical needs are the most important factors that should be concerned in mate selection Thus sexual compatibility and emotional needs are considered so important that mate chosen is largely connected with physical attractiveness and a kind of complex feeling which we call romantic love The theory of complementary need emphasizes the fulfillment of personality in the process of selection For example a couple comprised of a nurturant person and a dependent person create interdependent relationship The nurturant can derive satisfaction and provide emotional supporting And the dependent can find who will provide sympathy and support There s a term Heterogamy which refers to the attraction or compatibility of people with different complementary personality characteristics The theory of value says that certain of values has been innerlized in personal characteristics by the force of society when people growing and the value is regarded as a criterion on the mate selecting process The tendency to select a mate that has the same sense of value is obvious Buss and Bareness named it assertive narcissism 2 According to the theory of filtering process people s characteristics are not sufficient to account for mate selection It s just a process in which when people first meet and attracted by each other then after dating they begin to know each other and finally meet the emotional needs of each respectively As personality needs are satisfied great rapport is developed which leads to deeper self revelation For example though people are quite free on mate selection they sort out people according to various characteristics and only date with some of them which is the result of filtering process Except for the above five theories there two rules endogamy and exogamy which regulate the choice of a mate which help us to explain many phenomena and have a deep understanding on mate selection Endogamy simply means marrying a person within one s own nationality race religion community tribe social class or the same group Endogamous norms require or exert pressure towards marriage within a certain group People are expected to marry endogenously or with their own age group but there are no firm restrictions on the endogamous norm Among all the endogamous norms race is the only characteristic which has been written in laws in the United States Laws prevented interracial marriage until 1967 Although racial intermarriage is no longer legally prohibited black and white racial groups in the United States are still to be highly endogamous Less than 1 percent of persons in these racial groups marry from a different race 3 This rule is also true to religious endogamy which means that the majority of persons still marry with a similar religious background Exogamy means individuals are forced to marry someone who is outside their own group Perhaps the two clearest exogamous riles sex and kinship strong pressure and even legal restrictions require marriage to be within outside the family and of the opposite sex In mate selection the most important thing is to find out what people want in their ideal mate what kind of qualities mate should have and what kind of qualities people desire The criteria are not certain but can be concluded after some study Arranged marriage has a long history in China The societies with arranged marriage attach greater importance to political and economic factors Although things are quite different now we have to admit that this influence has left much on young people In most Chinese families the traditional role of male is a breadwinner providing food and protection for the whole family While woman s chief function is that of a homemaker nursing the children and keeping the house The main quality that males want for their future wife is gentleness or tameness According to survey conducted by China Youth Post in 1998 almost 73 men in the marriage advertisement wish to find one who is gentle and considerate diligent and smart what a good wife Among all the traits gentleness is the key requirement In the past married couples had to live with their parents for certain reasons so the parents had great control over the marriage partner Nowadays the young couples tend to make a new home apart from their parents but they still want their future wife to have a pleasant personality and can get on well with his parents Physical attractiveness is also considered important in mate selection we can find its source in ancient Chinese poem The Book of Songs Lovely is the good lady Fit bride for our lord Physical attractiveness also includes age height appearance and figure Such measures are believed to enhance the qualities of next generation Traditionally women have a sociological stereotype in their mind that their future husband should be more excellent than themselves especially in the aspects of intelligence and career They thought their husbands should be the pillar of the whole family so when they chose their marriage partners they were concerned with the partner s job social status and economic conditions By contrast women pay less attention to appearance than men usually do In a survey of 300 young people in Tianjin city researchers had them list several characteristics according to their favorite Here are the five most essential qualities4 a Have a good nature and disposition b Have a fellow feeling c Be respectful towards parents d Be career oriented and ambitious e Easy to communicate and enjoy exchanging ideas Clearly Chinese youth are very prudent and serious when choosing a mate they emphasize on partner s emotional compatibility loyalty characteristics and interest The preceding information was published in 1986 which shows that some of the ideas have changed To be independent is becoming a new trend Because of the increasing brittleness of marriage perhaps such phenomena shake the building of marriage people now have gradually recognized the importance of self independence or self reliance Too much obedience is not regarded as a virtue any more among young people What most Americans look for in a mate has been revealed in both popular and professional sources Almost fifty thousand women responded to a poll conducted by a family circle magazines5 One of the questions asked was what things most pleased and displeased them about their husbands The answer was that the two qualities that pleased them were expressing love and to be a good provider while the qualities that most displeased them were sulking when hurt or angry easy loss of temper and lack of communication 1n a survey of 400 undergraduates students ranked fifteen characteristics according to their importance in a heterosexual relationship6 The five most important qualities were intelligence sensitivity physical attractiveness a sense of humor and ambition This list is consistent with the family circle survey to some degree that sensitive people more like1y to express their love and to be more communicative while intelligent and ambitious people eligible to be a good provider Suppose there were equal number of men and women would everyone be equally desirable The answer is obviously no The fact is we are selective about selecting a mate There is a principle homogamy7 which refers to marriage between two people who similar in social and demographic characteristics such as age ethnic background race religion and various other factors that we will discuss later Some social scientists also called this assertative mating On the other hand we also have heterogamy8 which means marriage between two people who are dissimilar in many social and demographic characteristics Since people have a trend to marry those who are like themselves in many aspects the discussion here will be around homogamy As what has been stated before mate selection is a process of filtering in which we sort out people according to different characteristics Here are some common characteristics for the Americans in their mate selection Age was once the most important factor in mate selection Traditionally it is considered normal that a man s age is about two years older than that of women However while some Chinese women still hold that marrying someone four years older is the best in America there has been a decline in the number of older women who marry younger men and an increase in the number of younger women who marry older men Researchers have suggested that age has become a less important determinant factor of our attitudes 9 Regarding ethic background more and more Americans now intermarry people in other groups The couples are not people who immigrated from other countries but those who had been Americans for at least one or two generations 10 Although the rate of marriage within the same ethnic group is very high the rate of intermarriage is 25 in the United States 11 Race imposes more pressure than any other characteristics on American marital choices The white black line is seldom crossed Though the black white marriage increased since 1970 it is still far less than 1 of all marriages More than 98 of Americans get married within their own racial group 12 Among all the factors religion was considered to be the strongest homogamous factor Nearly 90 Americans married within their own Over three fourths get married with their denomination 13 Men are more likely to many women who either at their own educational level or below them in education Educational endogamy is quite strong though not as strong as religion race or age There are still about two thirds of American marriages that partners are at the same educational level Less than 1 of marriage shows a large gap with one being a college student and the other partner having failed to complete high school14 Some scholars have suggested that marriage is some kind of complement of personality In many cases those who have similar personalities seem more likely to have a satisfying relationships than those who have dissimilar personalities The rules and principles displayed above true to all marriages in the world including China and the United States Marriage is a kind of special relationship between an adult male and an adult female It links not only two people but also the kin groups of the married couple After study we also find that mate selection in all nations is a process of exchange in which people seek equity In marriage relationship people weigh what they receive and what they give They seek to maximize their rewards and minimize their costs for most people believe that the equity is the most comfortable relationship in marriage For example when a man proposes a traditional marriage to a woman he offers to be a breadwinner and give her economic support and at the same time he expects her to take care of the home and children They will also provide each other with emotional support and sexual relationship These two people might both regard this as an equitable arrangement in the exchange Consider how you will feel when you see the following pairings A female high school teacher age 27 begins dating and marries one of her 17 year old students A beautiful young woman from a wealthy family in the United States falls in love with and wants to marry a peasant who lives in Yunnan Province of China You may think those things are very strange odd or even wrong People both in China and the United States probably regard those things as barriers that they are trying to keep from Mate selection is a critical step to marriage which is the central building block of family organization and family is the basis of society Thus mate selection is a part of culture Some factors regarded as important ones in one country are not in the other For example we Chinese people think the most important criteria are age height marital status etc while people in America think differently They give top priority to the factors as religion ethnic background and romantic love That s the difference brought out by the cultural pattern Here are some distinctive factors in mate selection Arranged marriage is not only in China but also in most Eastern countries In the societies with arranged marriage political and economic considerations are far more important than love or any other factors Once arranged marriage is regarded as a distorted marriage type and opposed by many people However behavior and opinions do not always go together Most people are still following the old customs Moreover it does not necessarily mean that the arranged marriage is totally wrong we have to admit its stability More than 49 of the interviewees go to the arranged marriages 15 It is not unusual that we Chinese still think that the economic condition and social status have significant influence in our daily life and have direct influence on future family life The similarities in family background educational background and lifestyle compose the precondition of a happy family Here an arranged marriage simply does not mean marry up but emphasizes the similarity and harmony in family life We seldom hear about arranged marriage in America This does not show there is no arranged marriage at all because young people both in China and in the United States are quite free to choose a mate now We have to admit that sex is one of the characteristics of marital culture Unlike Americans we Chinese do not attach great importance to sex To meet sexual needs is not our criterion in mate selection though it may exist A direct result of marriage is to give birth to another generation and carry on human race That s why we say mate selection has profound social meaning The views on sex reflect the differences in the way of