Publications

Over the past decades, the patterns of educational sorting in marriage have changed dramatically in China, exhibiting a U-shaped trajectory for homogamy, an inverted U-shaped curve for hypergamy, and a consistently low prevalence of hypogamy. However, few studies have systematically examined why these changes occurred as they did. Using data from China’s Censuses (1982–2010), this study employs a decomposition approach to unpack the contributions of three driving forces: educational expansion, educational gradients in marriage rates, and assortative mating propensities. Results show that the initial decrease in homogamy among cohorts born before 1965 was driven entirely by educational expansion. For later birth cohorts, sustained educational expansion promoted homogamy and hypogamy while discouraging hypergamy, outweighing the opposing effects of a steeper decline in marriage rates among highly educated women. Mating propensities favoring homogamy and against heterogamy, especially hypogamy, intensified. Collectively, these three factors explain the rising homogamy, declining hypergamy, and stagnant hypogamy across later cohorts, as well as the persistent and, to some extent, widening urban-rural disparities.

Replication package

Intermarriage is often seen as a solvent of caste and ethnic divisions. This study provides the first nationwide analysis of intermarriage in Nepal, drawing on data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses. Despite Nepal’s remarkable diversity, intermarriage remains exceedingly rare, comprising only 0.74% of all marriages. Only Madhesi Brahman/Chhetri, Newar, and MPB (Marwadi, Punjabi, Bangali) communities surpass 1%. Log-linear models reveal persistent, though slightly weakening, intergroup boundaries, with indigenous Janajatis exhibiting greater openness to intermarriage. Gender asymmetries—such as lower-caste men marrying into higher-caste groups—are evident. Education most effectively facilitates intermarriage among disadvantaged groups (e.g., Dalits, Janajatis) but has limited or even negative effects among privileged groups. Child marriage, still present in nearly half of all unions, reinforces caste endogamy, especially among Dalits. However, unexpectedly higher intermarriage rates in child marriages among Madhesi Brahman/Chhetri and MPB communities suggest strategic arranged out-marriages. These findings highlight the enduring resilience of caste and ethnic divisions in Nepal, while identifying educational expansion and enforcement of minimum marriage age, especially targeting disadvantaged populations, as promising pathways toward greater social integration. These insights carry important implications for policies aimed at reducing caste- and ethnicity-based stratification in Nepal and similarly divided societies.

In multiethnic societies, interethnic marriage serves as a critical lens for understanding cultural integration and status hierarchies. Using data from China’s Censuses (1982–2010), we examine how these dynamics unfold in a context where ethnic disparities intersect with state interventions through preferential policies. Although uncommon, intermarriage with the Han majority gradually increased, occurring most frequently among the Manchu, Mongolian, and Southern minorities, and least frequently among the Kazakh and Uyghur. After controlling for ethnic compositions, we found cultural boundaries to become increasingly permeable for most groups over time except for Manchu. Our analysis of educational patterns reveals two distinct mechanisms for boundary crossing: more assimilated groups (e.g., Hui, Manchu, Mongolian) through educational assortative mating, and less assimilated groups through status exchange. Notably, the Koreans leveraged their educational advantage to marry Han spouses. In contrast, Han Chinese who were married to Tibetan and Southern minorities—those receiving the most substantial policy advantages—tend to have higher education than their endogamous counterparts. These findings reveal how marriage choices reflect complex negotiations between cultural preservation, social mobility, and state-structured incentives, providing insights into the persistence and malleability of ethnic boundaries in contemporary societies.

Objective: This study investigates the factors influencing perceived attractiveness of a romantic partner in urban China.

Background: Amidst the deinstitutionalization of marriage, ideational factors have come to play a more central role in partner selection. Concurrently, gender differences in relationship expectations have intensified.

Method: A factorial survey experiment was conducted to investigate how sociodemographic and ideational attributes influence perceptions of partner attractiveness in both marital and dating contexts. Data were collected between April and May 2025 from a sample of 1,225 never-married heterosexual respondents aged 25–34 across four metropolises: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Results: When seeking marriage partners, men prioritized fertility intentions, whereas women emphasized gender role attitudes, socioeconomic prospects, and emotional support; however, in dating contexts, both genders prioritized physical appearance, although men did so by a wider margin relative to other attributes. Gender differences were most evident in perceptions of housework arrangements, with neither gender willing to assume a greater share; in fertility intentions, where a partner’s unwillingness to have children was the strongest deterrent to marital attractiveness from men’s perspective but inconsequential to women; and in educational attainment, which women valued more than men did. Overall, women were perceived as more attractive in both marital and dating contexts.

Conclusion: Profound gender differences in relationship ideals are likely driving the retreat from marriage in urban China. Bridging these gaps is crucial to alleviating such tensions.

Despite China’s earlier progress toward gender equality, recent decades have witnessed a resurgence of patriarchal values, characterized by women increasingly exiting the labor force to become full-time homemakers. However, how this trend varies across China’s diverse ethnic landscape and is influenced by rising interethnic marriage remains underexplored. Using census data from 1982 to 2015, this study examines ethnic disparities in women’s likelihood of being full-time homemakers, focusing on cultural adaptation through interethnic marriage. Multilevel logistic models revealed an overall increase in homemaking with significant ethnic variations. Women from the Manchu and several Muslim groups (Hui, Kazakh, Uyghur) were more likely than the Han majority to be full-time homemakers, whereas Korean, Southern, and Tibetan women showed lower probabilities. Analysis of majority-minority intermarriage uncovered asymmetric assimilation: Han women’s homemaking rates remained stable, whereas minority women’s patterns shifted toward Han norms. Notably, among groups with traditional gender norms (e.g., Hui, Kazakh, Uyghur, Manchu), higher education and greater presence of Han populations at the prefecture level amplified reductions in homemaking associated with intermarriage. In contrast, among groups with historically high labor force participation (e.g., Korean, Southern minorities), higher education mitigated increases in homemaking related to intermarriage, and Han concentration had minimal impact. Thus, underlying asymmetric assimilation lie strategic adaptation and resistance to Han cultural norms. These findings highlight diverse pathways of cultural adaptation at the intersection of ethnicity, education, and marriage, offering nuanced insights into social processes underlying gender and ethnic stratification in contemporary China.

The individualization of personal life has spurred a shift in relationship ideals, from institutions governed by gender norms to partnerships emphasizing not only instrumental considerations but also autonomy, emotional fulfillment, and mutual compatibility. However, this process unfolds differently for women and men. In this article, we examine the gendered ideals and quests for compatibility in contemporary relationships across key sociodemographic and ideational attributes, drawing on a factorial survey experiment administered to a sample of 1,225 never-married adults in urban China. Results reveal that women hold more progressive ideals than men, placing greater emphasis not only on a partner’s socioeconomic status but also on traits indicative of egalitarianism, such as a willingness to share housework. This progressiveness is also evident in fertility intentions, as women’s neutral attitude toward a partner’s desire to be childfree contrasts with men’s strong aversion. Furthermore, while men’s standards are largely absolute, women’s preferences are more dynamic: they actively seek compatibility between their own and their potential partner’s ideational attributes, especially for marriage. These findings underscore that the transition toward post-industrial, individualized relationships remains a deeply gendered and uneven process.

Literature examining the disparities in health outcomes between ethnic groups in China reveals a consistent disadvantage among ethnic minorities than Han Chinese. The ethnic differentiation of economic conditions between the majority and minority have been the most cited predictors. However, the cultural pathways underlying ethnic variations in health have been understudied. Using samples from China’s census and inter-census surveys in 2005, 2010, and 2015, this study provides a comprehensive documentation and understanding of ethnic variations in self-rated health among Chinese older than 60 years old. Findings show that compared to Han Chinese, Kazakh, Manchu, Mongolian, Southern, Tibetan, and Uyghur report significantly lower health. While minorities’ group-level dissimilarity from Han in various demographic characteristics, prefecture-level ethnic residential concentrations and number of high schools per thousand individuals are negatively associated with health, prefecture-level GDP per capita positively predict health. In prefectures with high levels of ethnic residential concentrations and higher per-capita GDP, the negative associations between dissimilarity to the Han and health are strengthened; in prefectures where the distributions of ethnic groups were more heterogenous, the negative associations between dissimilarity to the Han and health are mitigated. This study shows the importance of unpacking ethnic variations in health accounting for intra-ethnic diversity and interactions between cultural and socioeconomic contexts.