Parental In-Law Preferences for Similarity in China

Across different cultures and across different times, parents exercise considerable influence over their children’s mate choices. When exercising such influence, parents are interested in finding daughters- and sons-in-law who are similar to them and to their children. In this paper, the preference for similarity was examined in China. On the basis of a sample of 534 Chinese parents, it was found that mothers and fathers preferred as daughters- and sons-in-law individuals who were similar to them and to their children, and who came from families of similar background. Comparisons were also made between the preference for similarity of Greek-Cypriot parents from previous studies and the preference for similarity of Chinese parents from the current study. The results indicated that the two groups converged considerably in their preferences. However, differences also existed, predominantly over religious and ethnic background.