Rural youth's view of marriage and its influencing factors

The criteria for choosing a spouse are the conditions and basis for choosing a spouse. On the issue of mate selection standard, different historical development stages show different characteristics of the times. According to Shang Huipeng: Marriage in traditional village society is characterized by practicality, rationality and prudence. This kind of marriage is closer to commodity exchange, i.e., before formally entering into a marriage relationship, all details of the conditions of the two parties are always carefully weighed as if they were buying something (Shang Huipeng, 1997). Wu Luping agrees with Shang Huipeng's view and believes that the concept of mate selection criteria in a period is subject to the level of socio-economic development of that period and the dominant view of marriage based on it. What kind of concept of marriage, what kind of concept of choosing a spouse. In traditional Chinese society, the dominant view of marriage is that the purpose of marriage is regarded as "passing on the family name" and "no filial piety, no posterity". Marriage was seen as a matter between two clans or families, so in this cultural model of marriage, the concept of choosing a spouse could not be emotionally oriented in the sense of modern society. After the liberation, especially after the reform and opening up, due to the changes in the rural economic structure, i.e., the economic structure of more and more rural areas shifted from a single agricultural economy with small production to a diversified economic structure with agriculture, industry, commerce, and trade, etc., and the productive function of the rural family tended to atrophy, the foundation of the traditional marriage culture model that emphasizes the interests of the family or households was shaken, and it gradually shifted to a modern marriage culture model that emphasizes the interests of the people involved themselves. The foundation of the traditional marriage culture model that emphasizes the interests of the family or household has been shaken, and it has gradually shifted to the modern marriage culture model that emphasizes the interests of the parties themselves. Against this social backdrop, rural youth's views on choosing a spouse have undergone fundamental changes. The following discussion is based on data from a nationwide rural survey conducted by the China Youth Research Center (CYRC) and the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) on the situation of rural youth in contemporary China. The survey data are shown in the following table: (1) Educational level 37.9% (2) Occupation 13.3% (3) Intelligent and capable 49.2% (4) Appearance and stature 19.7% (5) Housing 4.7% (6) Personality and temperament 49.8% (7) Honest and reliable 28.6% (8) Gentleness and considerate 32.9% (9) Living habits 6.4% (10) Income 7.3% (11) Health 28.0% (12) Healthy 28.0% (12) Origin and composition 1.2%

Firstly, the concept of choosing a spouse among rural youths has shifted from emphasizing "family background" to emphasizing "personal conditions", i.e., the concept of choosing a spouse among rural youths has shifted from "family-oriented" to "personal-oriented". That is to say, rural youths' concept of choosing a spouse has shifted from the "family-oriented" to the "personal-oriented". The conclusion of a marriage between young people in traditional society is regarded as a matter between two young families. Therefore, the choice of a marriage partner was necessarily based on the family conditions of the other party, and whether or not the family was a good match was an important factor to be considered when choosing a spouse. However, as marriage has become more and more seen as a matter for the people involved, the concept of choosing a spouse has changed to one that emphasizes a spouse's own qualifications. Of the 12 factors listed in the "Questionnaire on the Situation of Rural Youth in China", birth and composition ranked the lowest, with the proportion of those choosing this item being only 1.2% and 1.9% among local youths working in the countryside and those working in other places, respectively.

Secondly, there is a shift from the idea that "lovers are always in love" to the idea that "only lovers are in love". The survey results show that the emotional factor, which was neglected by the traditional concept of choosing a spouse, has been highly valued by rural youth in contemporary Chinese rural society. When asked, "What factors do you value most in choosing a spouse? When asked "What factors do you attach the most importance to in choosing a spouse?", the most frequent choice for both local youths and migrant youths is the item labeled "compatible personality and temperament", which is the most important emotional factor; the proportion of local youths is 49.8%, and the proportion of migrant youths is even higher, at 61.1%. This suggests that the contemporary rural youth have put the emotional factor, which is the least important factor in the traditional concept of choosing a spouse, on the top of their list. In-depth analysis reveals that female youths (55.5 %) attach more importance to the emotional factor than male youths (48.8 %); younger youths attach more importance to the emotional factor than older youths (51.1 %, 51.0 % and 47.2 % for youths in the age groups of 14-19, 20-24, and 25-29 years old, respectively); and youths with high education level attach more importance to the emotional factor than those with low education level in general. In general, youths with high literacy levels emphasize emotional factors more than those with low literacy levels (46.2% for youths with less than elementary school education and 53.6% for youths with high school education).

Thirdly, there is a shift from valuing "honesty and reliability" to favoring "intelligence and competence". Traditional Chinese rural society is an ethical society with slow social changes and a strong emphasis on "rules". In such a society, a person's moral character is very important. Therefore, when choosing a spouse, people put a lot of emphasis on whether the other person is "honest and reliable", and this is especially true for young women when choosing a male spouse. After the founding of the People's Republic of China and before the reform and opening up, the process of industrialization and modernization in rural China was difficult, and because of the unitary economic structure of the countryside, the degree of social differentiation in the countryside was very low. The existence of such socio-economic conditions determined the continuation and development of the traditional phenomenon of choosing a spouse on the basis of "character" rather than "ability" in Chinese society. After the reform and opening up of China, due to the accelerated industrialization and modernization of rural areas and the breaking down of the dual structure of urban and rural areas, the stratification of rural society has accelerated rapidly. In this process, the level of personal ability has become an important factor in determining people's socio-economic status. As a result, the emphasis on "conduct" in the traditional rural society (ethical society) has gradually given way to the emphasis on "ability" in the market-oriented and industrialized rural society. According to the results of this survey, both local young people and young people who work in other places place, when they choose a spouse, the importance of the other party's "smart and capable" is the second most important.