Volume 22 - Article 33 | Pages 1037–1056  

Health and socio-demographic conditions as determinants of marriage and social mobility: Male partner choice in Sardinia, late 19th-early 20th century

By Marco Breschi, Matteo Manfredini, Stanislao Mazzoni

This article is part of the Special Collection 10 "Social Mobility and Demographic Behaviour: A Long-Term Perspective"

Abstract

This paper makes use of data collected from military registers and marriage certificates for the population of Alghero, in Sardinia, for the period 1866-1925, with the aim of investigating the role played by physical characteristics and health in the possibility of social mobility through marriage.
Our findings demonstrate that, whereas physical defects and ill health had little impact on the chances of marrying an illiterate woman, these factors did have a negative effect on the chances of marrying a woman who was literate. In a context in which intergenerational social mobility remained limited and the family had the final say on marriage arrangements, it is likely that only healthy individuals were selected for marriages regarded as strategic for the purposes of forming and strengthening family alliances, and/or improving the social position within the community.

Author's Affiliation

• Marco Breschi - Università degli Studi di Sassari (UniSS), Italy EMAIL
• Matteo Manfredini - Università degli Studi di Parma (UNIPR), Italy EMAIL
• Stanislao Mazzoni - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Deaths and survivors in war: The Italian soldiers in WWI
Volume 40 - Article 22

Fertility transition and social stratification in the town of Alghero, Sardinia (1866-1935)
Volume 30 - Article 28

Patterns of reproductive behavior in transitional Italy: The rediscovery of the Italian fertility survey of 1961
Volume 29 - Article 44

Demographic responses to short-term stress in a 19th century Tuscan population: The case of household out-migration
Volume 25 - Article 15

The Spanish flu and the health system: Considerations from the city of Parma, 1918
Volume 47 - Article 32

"Let’s talk about love": An analysis of the religious and economic factors determining the choice of marital property regime in Italy
Volume 36 - Article 29

For the times they are a changin': The respect for religious precepts through the analysis of the seasonality of marriages. Italy, 1862-2012.
Volume 33 - Article 7

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