Schoen, R., & Wooldredge, J. (1989). Marriage choices in North Carolina and Virginia, 1969-71 and 1979-81. Journal of Marriage and Family, 51(2), 465-481. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/352508

The authors report the study investigating race, age, and educational patterns of marriage choice in North Carolina and Virginia during 1969–71 and 1979-81.

The results provide substantial evidence in support of exchange theories of marriage behavior. While “like marrying like” is the most common, the finding showed substantial patterns of exchange when a female emphasizes male economic features, and a male emphasizes female noneconomic characteristics. In terms of education, nonblack (but not black) females “marry up,” with substantial interactions between a male’s higher education and a female’s younger age, as well as a black male’s higher education and a nonblack female’s race.

The main difference between 1969-71 and 1979-81 is a decrease in the number of marriages, while the increased economic position of women is linked to a decrease in the number of women marrying men with greater education. As marriage becomes less popular, there is less inequity between the genders reflected in the marriage exchange.