marriage

marriage, a legally and socially sanctioned union that is regulated by laws, rules, customs, beliefs, and attitudes that prescribe the rights and duties of the partners and accords status to their offspring (if any). The universality of marriage within different societies and cultures is attributed to the many basic social and personal functions for which it provides structure, such as sexual gratification and regulation, division of labor between the sexes, economic production and consumption, and satisfaction of personal needs for affection, status, and companionship. Perhaps its strongest function concerns procreation, the care of children and their education and socialization, and regulation of lines of descent. Through the ages, marriages have taken a great number of forms.

Marriage patterns

Historically and cross-culturally, most marriages have occurred between men and women, although increasing acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships led to the legalization of same-sex marriages in a number of countries in the 21st century. The Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001. In the ensuing years, numerous other countries—including Canada (2005), France (2013), the United States (2015), Germany (2017), Taiwan (2019), Cuba (2022), and Thailand (2025)—followed suit. In addition, some countries extended benefits and obligations to same-sex couples by means of a registered partnership or civil union, both of which terms meant different things in different contexts. (See also marriage law.) Still, much of the terminology used by anthropologists to describe different marriage patterns assume a heterosexual pairing.

Societies vary on the number of partners an individual is allowed to have in marriage. In monogamous societies a person may only have one spouse at a time. The religious or social strictures against remarriage after divorce or the death of a spouse in some cultures may further limit the number of marriage partners over the course of an individual’s lifetime. Other societies allow for plural marriage, or polygamy. The most common form of polygamy is polygyny, in which a man is married to multiple women at the same time. Polyandry, where a woman is married to multiple men simultaneously, is comparatively uncommon. Neither of these marriage patterns should be confused with group marriage, an extremely rare social practice in which several men are married to several women.

A number of cultures have a preference for particular relationships between spouses. Ideal matches have included those between cross-cousins, between parallel cousins, to a group of sisters (in polygyny) or brothers (in polyandry), or between different age sets. In exchange marriages a sister and a brother from one family marry a brother and a sister from another. A variety of symbolic marriage forms, such as tree marriage, can also be found in different cultures.

Marital customs and laws

Some form of marriage has been found to exist in all human societies, past and present. Its importance can be seen in the elaborate and complex laws and rituals surrounding it. Although these laws and rituals are as varied and numerous as human social and cultural organizations, some universals do apply.

The main legal function of marriage is to ensure the rights of the partners with respect to each other and to ensure the rights and define the relationships of children within a community (see also family law). Marriage has historically conferred a legitimate status on the offspring, which entitled him or her to the various privileges set down by the traditions of that community, including the right of inheritance. In most societies marriage also established the permissible social relations allowed to the offspring, including the acceptable selection of future spouses.

Endogamy, the practice of marrying someone from within one’s own tribe or group, is the oldest known social regulation of marriage. When the forms of communication with outside groups are limited, endogamous marriage is a natural consequence. Cultural pressures to marry within one’s social, economic, and ethnic group are still very strongly enforced in some societies.

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Exogamy, the practice of marrying outside the group, is found in societies in which kinship relations are the most complex, thus barring from marriage large groups who may trace their lineage to a common ancestor.

In societies in which the large, or extended, family remains the basic unit, marriages are usually arranged by the family. The assumption is that love between the partners comes after marriage, and much thought is given to the socioeconomic advantages accruing to the larger family from the match. By contrast, in societies in which the small, or nuclear, family predominates, young adults usually choose their own mates. It is assumed that love precedes (and determines) marriage, and less thought is normally given to the socioeconomic aspects of the match.

In societies with arranged marriages, the almost universal custom is that someone acts as an intermediary, or matchmaker. This person’s chief responsibility is to arrange a marriage that will be satisfactory to the two families represented. Some form of dowry or bridewealth is almost always exchanged in societies that favor arranged marriages.

In societies in which individuals choose their own mates, dating is the most typical way for people to meet and become acquainted with prospective partners. Successful dating may result in courtship, which then usually leads to marriage.