* Dating- meeting of people as a romantic engagement * Most often found in societies that allow individuals to choose their own marriage partners * In.

*Teenagers and Dating

*What is Dating?

*Dating- meeting of people as a romantic engagement

*Most often found in societies that allow individuals to choose their own marriage partners

*In some societies, marriages are arranged and some do not even see each other until the wedding day

*Idea of dating has only been around in the U.S. since just after WWI

*Courtship and Dating

*Dating’s main purpose is entertainment and amusement

*Dating Continuum:

*Casual dating

*Steady dating

*Engagement

*Marriage

*Very flexible relationship system

*Courtship and Dating

*Courtship-social interaction

similar to dating but with

the sole purpose of eventual

marriage

*Not flexible or casual

*The man first had to meet

the parents and ask

permission

*The man’s intentions had to be marriage-minded

*Done under close supervision or at social events

*Factors that Led to the Emergence of Dating

*Industrial Revolution- people moved from the farms to the cities where young adults could gain more economic freedom and establish their own homes.

*Parental control over young adults and courtship decreased

*Before this time, time of

marriage was determined

by age at which a man

acquired the home and

resources to support a family

*Factors that Led to the Emergence of Dating

*Public Education-

by the 1900s, most

secondary school

students attended

co-ed public

schools which

increased

interaction

between boys and

girls

*Factors that Led to the Emergence of Dating

*Automobiles & Telephones- young adults

had more freedom of movement without

their parents and could more easily talk

to members of the opposite sex

*Equality of Women- more women entered

the workforce and took on active

community roles, which increased the

interaction between single adult men

and women

*Willard Waller’s study on American dating patterns

*Late 1920s-early 1930s

*Found that college students dated based on fraternity/sorority status, looks, money, clothes, cars, dancing, and popularity

*Later studies showed that while status attainment and entertainment are major factors of attraction, character and personality factors are also important.

*Many similarities between qualities of a

casual date and marriage partner

*Homogamy- tendency of individuals to

marry people who have social

characteristics similar to their own

*Functions that Dating Fulfills

*Serves as a form of entertainment

*Means of socialization that teaches people about the opposite sex and social situations

*Helps teach role behaviors and define self-concepts

*Fills psychological needs such as conversation, companionship, and understanding

*Helps attain status, as people are judged in part by whom they date

*Aids in spouse selection in later stages of dating

*Traditional Dating Patterns

*Most characteristic of dating patterns of the 1940s and 1950s.

*Men arranged and paid for dates

*Had an established weekly timetable

*Tied to social status

*Stages of dating:

*Early stage: dates that involved attending an event (movie, game, etc.)

*Steady dating:

*Women received class ring, identification bracelet, or letterman’s jacket.

*This stage acted as a form of anticipatory socialization for marriage (this did not always mean they got married though).

*Contemporary Dating Patterns

*No set stages of dating—informal

*Men and Women more equal in roles

*Relationships focused more on friendship and the group than on the couple

*Amish dating practices:

*Begin dating around 16

*Amish men receive their own courting buggy (horse-drawn)

*Teens spend time together at formal events (weddings, cornhusks, picnics, barn raisings, etc.)

* Best time: Sunday evening “singings”

*Very discreet about relationships until they

decide to marry

*Dating with marriage in mind—do not

recognize divorce