In their article published in the 6th issue of “Sociological Studies” in 2023, the authors, Zhou Yang, Yu Jia, and Xie Yu, adopted choice experiment to measure people’s mate preferences across six dimensions: education, income, property ownership, family background, age, and appearance.
The study found significant gender differences in mate preferences. Among the six dimensions, men place greater importance on the appearance of their spouses, while women value education and income that reflect social-economic status more. Class heterogeneity analysis revealed significant differences in mate preferences among male groups with different levels of education and urban/rural household registration status. However, there were no differences in mate preferences among female groups with different urban/rural household registration status, and low-educated women did not show a preference for “marrying up” in terms of education. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the current marriage matching patterns in China and their impact on social stratification and mobility.