BYU
students marry for richer, not poorer
By
Dan Singer
The Daily Universe
PROVO,
Utah (U-Wire) -- The old Beatles' tune,
"Can't Buy Me Love," might be
wrong.
A
study by a Brigham Young University undergraduate
student has revealed that male BYU students
in majors that pay more money after graduating
college are more likely to be married than
male BYU students taking majors that yield
less money.
The
study looks at 22 fields of study at the
school, varying from the highest pay-yielding
major, chemical engineering, to the lowest,
music.
"Saying
that earning potential may be the primary
prerequisite in finding a spouse would be
overstating it," says Will Barlow,
a BYU senior from Orem, Utah, who is majoring
in psychology and authored the study. "But
the fact that it is recognized by male and
female students shows that it is an important
part of the mating ritual."
The overall percentage of married male undergraduates
at BYU is 31.5 percent. Yet in majors such
as chemical engineering, where the average
graduate can expect to make $53,000 a year,
more than 40 percent of the males are married.
Fifty
percent of males majoring in mechanical
engineering, which typically will earn more
than $47,000 a year, are married.
The
study contrasts these figures to BYU males
in majors such as music, who can expect
to earn only $32,000 a year. Only 22 percent
of the school's music majors are married.
Barlow
attributes the vast difference in the percentage
of married males to principles of evolutionary
psychology, a branch of psychology that
looks at the mind as a mechanism shaped
by natural selection.
Aaron
Sell, a graduate assistant at the Center
for Evolutionary Psychology at the University
of California at Santa Barbara, is not surprised
by the results of Barlow's study.
"When
females are making mate choices, they typically
look for the strongest, healthiest mate,"
Sell says. "Financially, it is true
that women look for a mate who is more ambitious."
Sell cites a study by David Buss, a principal
authority in evolutionary psychology, which
studied 37 cultures throughout the world.
Buss found that women preferred ambitious
men, even in cashless societies.
"It
is a common fact that men make more than
women, but women spend more than men,"
Sell says. "So, men must be giving
women money to spend. This can be an attraction
to women."
Barlow
concludes in his study that, at times, men
seek out majors that yield more money in
order to be more attractive to women. He
also asserts that women, at times, seek
out men that will earn more money because
of evolutionary factors.
Another
student interprets Barlow's data in a different
way.
Elisabeth
Westwood, president of Voice, the gender
equality club at BYU, believes the different
ratios of married men at BYU is a result
of cultural pressures, rather than evolutionary
design.
"In
a culture where men are expected to provide
financially for the family, it makes sense
that men who are in majors where they will
make more money would be ready to start
families," Westwood says. "Men
who are in majors where their financial
future is uncertain might want to wait longer
before taking on that commitment."
Westwood
also cites a study that shows that women
are more likely to choose a course of study
that they enjoy, while men traditionally
chose majors that enable them to best provide
for their family.
Other
BYU students see truth in both analyses
of the study.
"It
[the potential income of my husband] was
not a criteria for me, but I do think women
think about it," says Robin Adlong,
a junior from Orange County, Calif., who
has been married for five months. "I
did want the man I married to be a hard
worker though, I didn't want to marry someone
who was lazy."
One
student has seen evidence of Barlow's interpretation
of the data first hand.
"I
switched majors because I wanted to provide
better for my future family," says
Andrew Rich, a senior from Littleton, Colo.,
who is majoring in facilities management.
"I switched from Psychology (which
yields less money than facilities management)
and my dating life has never been better."
Heidi
Lutz, a sophomore from Brea, Calif., who
is majoring in English, says earning potential
is not the only thing she looks for in a
potential spouse.
"His
major does play into (things, when I am
dating)," Lutz says. "But, it's
more important to me that the man is interested
in what he's doing. He will be happier down
the road."
Another
student agrees completely with Barlow's
interpretation of the data.
"If
there are four equally good options in men,
and one's going to be a seminary teacher
and the other is pre-med, I'm gonna choose
the pre-med student," says Beth Stiles,
a sophomore from Point Marion, Penn., majoring
in English. "Especially at BYU, pretty
much everybody is a good guy, so why not
pick the one [that will make the most money]."
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