Forgot your password?  

Not What You Meant?  There are 6 definitions for Hook-up.  Also try: Tryst or Mating ritual.

Courtship | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Print-Friendly   Order the PDF version   Order the RTF version
About 17 pages (5,061 words)
Courtship Summary

Purchase our Courtship


Courtship

Given the social centrality of the family institution and the role of courtship in the family formation process, it is not surprising that the study of courtship has received attention from several disciplines. Anthropologists have described practices in primitive and other societies, historians have traced courtship patterns in America from colonial to contemporary times, psychologists and social psychologists have examined intra- and interpersonal components of relationships, and sociologists have developed research-based theories explaining the process of mate selection, and have investigated various courtships dynamics. Here, some attention will be given to each of these approaches, along the way selectively noting scholars who have made major contributions.

Historically, according to Rothman, the term courtship applied to situations where the intention to marry was explicit (if not formally—and mutually—stated). Courting was the broader term used to describe socializing between unmarried men and women" (Rothman 1984, p. 23, italics in original).

Scholars have disagreed as to whether dating—a twentieth-century term for a primarily recreational aspect of courting—should be considered a part of courtship since, according to Waller (1938) and others, dating may be merely thrill-seeking and exploitative, and not marriage oriented (but see Gordon 1981 for an opposing view). However, wooing (that is, seeking favor, affection, love, or any of these) may be integral to courtship and yet not result in marriage.

This page contains 201 words.

Purchase our Courtship article Courtship article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 5,061 words (approx. 17 pages at 300 words per page).
Ask any question on Courtship and get it answered FAST!
Answer questions in BookRags Q&A and earn points toward
discounted or even FREE Study Guides and other BookRags products!
Learn more about BookRags Q&A
Copyrights
Courtship from Encyclopedia of Sociology. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. All rights reserved.

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags