Authors: Judit Balatonyi, Mukta Sharangpani, Sameer Patankar

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The purpose of this international conference was to promote diversity in love studies across various areas of research-based knowledge and cultures. It also aimed to emphasize the significance of international collaboration and the incorporation of ideas from a wide range of academic fields and professional practices that are involved in love research. When participants presented their research on love and love-related phenomena, they emphasized how important it is to have a comprehensive understanding of the cultural contexts in which people live and love within their respective societies.

I put together a list of the thematic sessions and talks that were given at the conference in a separate article for this journal.

In other articles, authors briefly summarized the most essential points of their presentations at the sessions on Love in Popular Culture and Literary Explorations and Evolutionary and Cultural Perspectives on Love and Experiences and Expressions of Love and Conceptual and Linguistic Research on Love.

Below we present the abstracts of the presentation delivered and discussed at the session on Love and Family Relationships, chaired by Anna Romanowicz from Jagiellonian University, Poland, and Claude-Hélène Mayer from University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstracts of Presentations

Research Background. Contemporary marriages are shaped by a mix of personal, sentimental, and practical considerations. While earlier theories suggested a shift from “traditional” to “modern” marriages—marked by a move from economic interests to egalitarian intimacy—recent studies challenge this narrative. They reveal the enduring influence of family norms and economic factors alongside personal motivations. Not only do analysts discern this plurality of motivations, but individuals themselves often interpret their choices in similarly complex ways. However, significant differences exist between political, public, and personal interpretations of marriage, with “working misunderstandings” potentially underpinning these discrepancies.

The aims of the study and its method. This paper examines political discourses, everyday counternarratives, and lived experiences of love and marriage during the pandemic in Hungary. The central question it addresses is: How do personal motivations for marriage intersect with public discourses and state incentives, and how do interpretations differ across individual, community, and political levels? Part of a multi-sited cultural anthropological project launched in September 2019, the study employed online ethnography, media analysis, and in-depth interviews. Data collection included observations in Facebook wedding planning groups, participation in webinars and training sessions by wedding service providers, and over 40 interviews with engaged or recently married individuals. Media reports, government regulations, and online wedding-related discussions were also systematically archived and analyzed, offering insights into individual and collective dilemmas around love during this period.

Summary of the results and conclusions. In February 2020, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH/CSO) reported a dramatic rise in marriage rates—the highest in nearly 30 years. While marriage rates worldwide fell significantly during the pandemic, in Hungary, the number of marriages increased at the same time. This trend was linked in public discourse to state subsidies, including the Childbirth Incentive Loan (Babaváró Hitel) and Family Housing Allowance (CSOK). The government’s emphasis on these economic incentives sparked a critical public discourse that questioned whether love or financial benefits motivate marriages. However, my research reveals a more nuanced reality. Interviews with brides during the pandemic highlight that while economic considerations played a role, they were consistently framed as secondary to emotional and relational factors. Couples often emphasized love, mutual commitment, religious expectations, and the desire to build a family as primary motivations. Practical benefits, such as financial stability and legal advantages, were integrated into these broader narratives rather than standing alone. By foregrounding love and personal connections, brides not only reflected their genuine sentiments but also countered public critiques that reduced marriage to economic opportunism. This emphasis not only aligned with global ideals of marrying for love but also subtly responded to the socio-economic context in which these decisions take place. This research underscores the complexity of marriage motivations, challenging simplistic binaries between “traditional” and “modern” frameworks. It reveals how love remains a central and defining element, intricately intertwined with practical and emotional considerations. By foregrounding love, couples not only affirmed its enduring significance in their personal narratives but also resisted reductive interpretations that dismiss contemporary marriages as economically motivated. This intricate interplay of love, sentiment, and practicality highlights the evolving social meanings of marriage, offering fresh insights into how intimate relationships adapt to broader socio-economic and cultural contexts, particularly in times of global crises.

Research Background. This project began in 2020 as an inquiry into the increasing number of elderly migrating from India to live with their adult children and their families in the Bay Area of California at the time of the pandemic. In the first Conference on Love Studies in January 2024, I presented my work on the impact of elder care on family dyads, particularly sibling relationships.

The aims of the study and its method. Situated at the crossroads of migration, aging, and family, this research explores the terrain of filial care in proximity vs. from a distance. Here, I document the ways in which many elders and their families benefit from, struggle with, or challenge this transition. While the decision to live together as a ‘joint family’ emerges from strong cultural beliefs around filial obligation, my goal is to tease out the patterns in EVERYDAY patterns, actions, and behaviors that attest to love between kin rather than simply an obligation towards them. In doing so, I also critique the dichotomy of duty and love, revealing instead the many ways that my informants understand duty AS love.
The diverse and conflicting needs of multiple generations living in close proximity often create conditions for disagreements, conflicts, unhealthy patterns of coercion, and even violent confrontations. My hope is to seek out love behaviors in the midst of these conflicts as a guiding compass that offers a fresh perspective on the means and mode through which all family members or caregivers recognize, validate, and value these new experiences of shared life. By centering the elderly and their adult children’s narratives of relocation and dislocation, this project will highlight what coping strategies both generations deploy as parents move across borders and will consider what avenues exist for them to find hope and joy in this new and often final phase of their lives. Lastly, by positioning age-diverse households as a positive, this project will advance a new narrative on the meaning of aging and the values attributed to different life stages.

Summary of the results and conclusions. While the decision to live together as a ‘joint family’ emerges from strong cultural beliefs around filial obligation, my goal is to tease out the patterns in everyday patterns, actions, and behaviors that attest to love between kin rather than simply an obligation towards them. In doing so, I also critique the dichotomy of duty and love, revealing instead the many ways that my informants understand duty as love.

Research Background. The literature highlights the cultural stereotypes experienced by transnational families, which pertain to ‘intercultural communication,’ whereas few studies have examined ‘inter-state migrants’ belonging to different cultures but residing within a single country, reflecting ‘intra-cultural communication.’
This study aimed to examine whether individuals from ‘mixed-marriage families’ feel judged based on their ethnolinguistic identity and how it impacts their cultural adoption in the home environment.

The aims of the study and its method. The data were collected through structured interviews with 12 mixed-marriage families wherein a ‘woman,’ ‘man,’ and their family members share different mother tongues. Similarly, either the women or men are first-, second-, or third-generation migrants to the state of Maharashtra and currently reside in Mumbai, India. Purposive, volunteer, and snowball sampling techniques were used to select families with mixed marriages. ‘One family = One unit’ was defined as the ‘sampling unit’ for the structured interviews conducted with mixed-marriage families, which included both joint families (couples residing with in-laws and other relatives) and nuclear families (couples not living with in-laws or other family members, except for their children).
Respondents from ethnolinguistic families answered interview questions in English, Hindi, and Marathi, as these languages were common to both the researcher and the participants. Interviews were conducted both in person and virtually using the Zoom platform and were recorded (audio/video) with the participants’ consent. Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed and translated into English. The software ‘MAXQDA Pro 2022’ was used to code and analyze qualitative data through content analysis, primarily using pattern-matching and explanation-building.

Summary of the results and conclusions. The research findings suggest that ‘food’ is a dominant factor by which individuals are judged by their family members. Other factors include ‘clothing style,’ ‘body features,’ ‘personality traits,’ ‘language,’ ‘unfamiliarity with home culture,’ ‘religion,’ ‘caste and cultural differences,’ and ‘change of name/surname.’ All factors, except for the “change of name or surname,” indicated negative perceptions that hindered cultural adoption, whereas the latter facilitated the adoption of different cultures.