Andrea_1_DQ1-3

Since religion plays a dominant role within Indian culture, the sole act of making a commitment such as marriage is greatly valued. Just as the book says, "Your relationships, then, somewhat surprisingly, are not just yours but society's."; in other words, society dictates how to handle relationships according to the cultural base and beliefs that this society has. In the case of India, where marriages are arranged, their beliefs determine how and when relationships will happen, giving more room for economic stability which for some people plays a key factor in the stability of their marriage. On the other side, in the United States having freedom of choosing who to get married to may indirectly affect the stability of the marriage. These relationships may no longer be based on economic stability or good family relations that the other partner may bring to the table when getting married. Instead, they are based on feelings, emotions, hunches, temporary factors that may not last long enough. 

Personally, I don't believe marriages should be neither approved nor arranged by parents, getting married with someone should be your a decision that you and only you can make. Of course, there should always be room for listening to what your parents may think about the person you want to spend a quite large amount of your time with. Even though some parents may not take their authority role seriously, it is always important as a parent to set some kind of guideline and educate their children in order to choose a proper partner. When I was younger I wasn't allowed to date, but once I got to college I became more independent and my parents became aware of that so I was allowed to date. I'm currently single, but my last partner (who was my first boyfriend as well) is also from Nicaragua, catholic and he won the same scholarship I got except he's going to another university two hours away from Ozarks.

Using college-age students in research about romantic relationships may not give the most accurate and complete analysis on relationships. Starting with the fact that some college students are just entering into the complicated world of relationships and may not have any clue on what a romantic relationship is about. Also, having a romantic relationship at that age may not be the biggest priority for some; thus, the person may not take the relationship seriously and even feel like the person is not in a real relationship. However, college years are usually for some the period where they meet their future partner so using people at this age might help to analyze the early stages of romantic relationships.