The Family — Sociological Perspectives

Family is more than just a personal relationship, family is a part of a social institution. This means that you are socially constructed and guided to choose by outside forces who you want to be part of your life more than you realize. Your social class you come from has a strong influence of who you date and choose to marry. The reason why people date in American society is closely linked to why people get married. For example, some families prefer endogamy, which is when people get married from the same “social category.” Endogamous marriages also supports racial and ethnic inequality therefore limiting options for marriage partners. People from different social categories who get married are exogamous. Exogamous marriages value the spread of culture over maintaining the traditional social hierarchy like endogamous marriages do. Similar to endogamy, our American society encourages homogamy which is a marriage between two people with the same social characteristics. Family socialization is a strong influence of who is likely to date or get married. Certain laws and rules influence the type of marriage someone has. The law in the United States only allows monogamy which is a marriage of only two people. Marrying more than one person is called polygamy. Most people still choose to remain monogamous because polygamy is otherwise expensive. The incest taboo also regulates who gets married and how people behave by prohibiting marriage and sex between family members.

Romantic love in our society also increases the options of who we date, marry, and…