Attitudes Towards Forms of Partnership

Abstract

The study analyses attitudes towards forms of partnership (marriage, cohabitation, living alone) in twelve European countries using the IPPAS comparative dataset. Basic patterns of partnership behaviour in Europe will be shown in the introduction using census data, after which people’s partnership-related attitudes will be confronted with practices on a country level, and only very loose associations shown. Considering attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation, we can see a high level of preference for marriage as an end-state partnership form, at the same time as a high level of tolerance for cohabitation. The rationales of marriage postponement differ between regions of Europe: In the former communist countries it is material circumstances, and in the Western countries it is post-material and individualistic value Orientations which may be responsible for marriage postponement. The available attitude components enable us to construct an overall index of partnership behaviour that will also be analysed on a European and country level. The multivariate analysis reveals that openness towards non-marital partnership is influenced by such general factors as age, gender, religion and partnership status, but that the role of country-specific effects is significant as well.