Age at First Marriage for Husband and Wife between Muslim and Santal Communities in Rural Bangladesh: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Age at first marriage is a basic temporal term that is
culturally constructed for marriage relationship between an adult
male and an adult female intended to have sex, to reproduce and to
adapt to environment from one generation to another around the
world. Cross-cultural evidences suggest that age at first marriage for
both male and female not only varies across the cultures, but also
varies among the subcultures of the same society. The purpose of the
study was to compare age at first marriage for husband and wife
including age differences between them between Muslim and Santal
communities in rural Bangladesh. For this we hypothesized that (1)
there were significant differences in age at first marriage and age
interval between husband and wife between Muslim and Santal
communities in rural Bangladesh. In so doing, 288 couples (145 pairs
of couples for Muslim and 143 pairs of couples for Santal) were
selected by cluster random sampling from the Kalna village situated
in the Tanore Upazila of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh, whose
current mean age range was 36.59 years for husband and 28.85 years
for wife for the Muslim and 31.74 years for husband and 25.21 years
for wife for the Santal respectively. The results of Independent
Sample t test showed that mean age at first marriage for the Muslim
samples was 23.05 years for husbands and 15.11 years for wives,
while mean age at first marriage for the Santal samples was 20.71
years for husbands and 14.34 years for wives respectively that were
significantly different at p<0.05 level. Although husbands compared
to wives in both the communities were relatively older, there were
significant similarities in mean age differences (7.71 for Muslim
couples and 7.51 for Santal, p>0.05) among the selected husbands
and wives between the two communities. This study recommends
that further cross-cultural researches should be done on the causeeffect
relationships between socio-cultural factors and age at
marriage between the two communities in Bangladesh.
[1] United Nations, First Marriage: Patterns and Determinants. New York:
Population Division, 1988.
[2] United Nations, Patterns of First Marriage: Timing and Prevalence. New
York: Population Division, 1990.
[3] E. W. Burgess & H. J. Locke, The family: From Institution to
Companionship. New York: American Book Company, 1945.
[4] E. D. Dyer, Courtship, Marriage, & Family: American Style. Homehood,
Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1983.
[5] G. P. Murdock, Social Structure. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1960.
[6] D. A. Schulz, The Changing Family: Its Function and Future. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1972.
[7] D. I. Sills ed., International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. The
Macmillan Company, 1968.
[8] W. N. Stephens, The Family in Cross-cultural Perspective. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, 1963.
[9] J. Bernard, American Family Behavior. New York: Elsevier North Holand
Inc., 1973, 2nd edition.
[10] D. M. Buss, "Love acts: The evolutionary biology of love", In R. J.
Sternberg & M. L. Bernes eds., The Psychology of Love. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 1988, pp. 100-118.
[11] D. M. Buss, "Sex differences in mate preferences: Evolutionary
hypotheses tested in 37 cultures", Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 12, 1-
49, 1989.
[12] R. E. Franken, Human Motivation. Monterey, California: Brooks/ Cole
Publishing Company, 1982.
[13] G. J. Craig, Human Development. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall Inc, 1996.
[14] N. J. Comb, The Child: Infants, Children and Adolescents. Mountain
View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2001.
[15] D. E. Papalia, S. W. Olds, & R. D. Feldman, A child-s World: Infancy
through Adolescence. New York: McGraw-Hill Company, 2002.
[16] J. Bancroft, "Biological factors in human sexuality", Sex Roles: A
Journal of Research, February, 01, 2002.
[17] E. T. Pengelley, "Cross-cultural and historical aspects of sexual
behavior", In P. Zimbardo & C. Maslach: Readings Psychology for our
Times. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1977, 2nd
Edition.
[18] S. Frayser, Varieties of Sexual Experience: An Anthropological
Perspective on Human Sexuality. New Haven, CT: Human Relations
Area File Press, 1985.
[19] W. J. Goode, World Revolution and Family Patterns (2nd Ed.). New
Work: Free Press, 2nd edition, 1983.
[20] W. H. Davenport, "An anthropological approach", In J. H. Geer & W. T.
O-Donohue (Eds.): Theories of Human Sexuality. New York: Plenum,
1987, pp. 197-236.
[21] H. Harpending, "Age differences between mates in Southern African
pastoralists", Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 15, 102-103, 1992.
[22] D. Marshall, "Sexual behavior on Mangaia", In D. Marshall & R. Suggs
eds., Human Sexual Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall
Inc., 1971, p. 123.
[23] A. C. Kinsey, W. B. Pomerov & C. E. Martin, Sexual Behavior in the
Human Male. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1948.
[24] A. C. Kinsey et al., Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Philadelphia:
W. B. Saunders Company, 1953.
[25] M. Nag, "Sex, culture, and human fertility: India and United States",
Current Anthropology, 13, pp. 231-238, 1972.
[26] C. Greenblat, "The salience of sexuality in the early years of marriage",
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, pp. 277-289, 1983.
[27] D. L. Decker, Social Gerontology: An Introduction to the Dynamics of
Aging. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1980, pp. 222-224.
[28] C. M. Meston, P. D. Trapnell & B. B. Gorzalka, "Ethnic, Gender, and
Length-of residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes-,
Journal of Sex Research, May 01, 1998.
[29] M. S. Weinberg, I. Lottes & F. M. Shaver, "Sociocultural correlates of
permissive sexual attitudes: A test of Reiss-s hypotheses about Sweden
and the United States- Statistical data included", Journal of Sex
Research, February 01, 2000.
[30] E. S. Herold, "The social dimension of sex-Review", Journal of Sex
Research, May 01, 2001.
[31] E. Hatfield & R. L. Rapson, "Passionate love and sexual desire: Crosscultural
and historical perspectives", In H. Reis, M. A. Fitzpatrick, & A.
Vangelisti, Stability and Change in Relationship Behavior across the
Lifespan (in Press). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press
(file http://www.elainehatfield.com/histor.doc.).
[32] R. A. Baron & D. Byrne, Social Psychology: Understanding Human
Interaction. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, 7th
edition, 1995.
[33] A. R. Quisumbing & K. Hallman, Marriage in Transition: Evidence on
Age, Education, and Assets from Six Developing Countries, Policy
Research Division Working Papers, Population Council, 2003, Retrieved
from www.popcouncil.org/publications/wp/prd/rdwplist.html.
[34] Wikipadia, Age at First Marriage. The pages were last modified 20
November 2008. http://en.wikipadia.org/wiki/Age_at_first_marriage.
WIKIPADIA Foundation, Inc.
[35] United Nations, World Marriage Patterns. New York: Population
Division, 2000.
[36] A. P. McCauley & C. Salter, "Rising age at marriage", in Meeting the
Needs of Young Adults. Population Reports, Series J, no. 41. Baltimore,
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Population Information
Program, October, 1995.
[37] J. Lewis ed., Social age for marriage, Context: Southeast Asians and
other newcomers in California-s classrooms, vol. 16, no. 122, 1996.
[38] MS. J. Sheela & N. Audinarayana, "determinants of female age at first
marriage in Tamil Nadu: An analysis of NFHS data", The Journal of
Family Welfare, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 25-32, 2000.
[39] USAID, Community-based intervention to delay age of marriage: A
review of evidence in India, This article was retrieved from
http://www.intrahealth.org/assets/uploaded/resources_08ER_Brief_DO
M%201.pdf.
[40] D. R. Devi, Age at Marriage in India: Vision and Reality. New Delhi:
Serials Publications.
[41] G. E. Weisfeld & C. E. Weisfeld, "Marriage: An evolutionary
perspective", Human Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology, vol. 23,
no. 4, pp. 47-54, 2002.
[42] P. Maitra, "Effects of socioeconomic characteristics on age at marriage
and total fertility in Nepal", Journal of health, Population and Nutrition,
vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 84-96, 2004.
[43] M. J. Rosenfeld (2007), Interracial marriage and age at marriage: A
Research note, This article was retrieved from
www.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Rosenfeld-age-at-marriage.pdf
[44] C. T. Maloney, K. M. A. Aziz & P. C. Sarker, Beliefs and Fertility in
Bangladesh. Dacca: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease
Research, Bangladesh, 1981.
[45] S. N. Mitra & G. M. Kamal, Bangladesh Contraceptive Prevalence
Survey-1983. Dhaka: Mitra and Associates, 1985.
[46] K. M. A. Aziz & C. T. Maloney, Life Stages, Gender and Fertility in
Bangladesh. Dhaka: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease
Research, Bangladesh, 1985.
[47] M. B. Duza, ed., South Asia Study of Population Policy and
Programmes: Bangladesh. Dhaka: United Nations Population Fund,
1990.
[48] S. N. Mitra, et al., Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey-1993-
1994. Dhaka: Mitra and Associates, 1994.
[49] P. C. Sarker, Social Structure & Fertility Behaviour: A Cross-Cultural
Study. Dhaka: Centre for development Services, 1997.
[50] J. E. Philips & M. B. Hossain, The Impact of Family Planning Household
Service Delivery on Women-s Status in Bangladesh. Policy Research
Division Working Papers, No. 118, New York: Population Council,
1998.
[51] Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh.
Ministry of Planning, Government of the People-s Republic of
Bangladesh, Dhaka: Statistics Division, 2001.
[52] M. K. Burket et al., Raising the Age of Marriage for Young Girls in
Bangladesh. Dhaka: Pathfinder International.
[53] A. Foster & A. Protik (2005), Age at marriage, migration, and marriage
market equilibrium in rural Bangladesh, This article was retrieved from
http://paa2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionld=51609.
[54] S. R. Schuler et al., "The timing of marriage and childbearing among
rural families in Bangladesh: Choosing between competing risks",
Social Science and Medicine, vol. 62, pp. 2826-2837, 2006.
[55] N. Kamal (2006), Causes and consequences of early marriage, This
article was retrieved from
http://www.iub.edu.bd/chpd/Causes%20and%20Consequences%20 of
%20 Early %20 marriage-Published %20Paper-2006-NKamal.pdf.
[56] M. A. Islam (2007), Bangladesh struggles with "child marriage",
Retrieved from voiceofsouth.org/2007/07/15/child_wedding/-38k.
[57] ICDDRB, Health and Demographic Surveillance System- Matlab:Vol.
39. Dhaka: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research,
Bangladesh, 2007.
[58] ICDDRB, "Consequences of early marriage on female schooling in rural
Bangladesh", Health and Science Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 13-18, 2007.
[59] Bangladesh bureau of Statistics, Key indicators on report of sample vital
registration system 2006-2007, Retrieved from
http://www.bbs.gov.bd/dataindex/Key_surs_2007.pdf.
[60] M. E. Uddin, Family structure in a village of Bangladesh: A crosscultural
study, Ph. D. dissertation, the Institute of Bangladesh Studies,
Rajshahi: Rajshahi University, Unpublished.
[61] M. A. M. Chowdhury, "Correlates of high-risk and low-risk childbearing
pattern in Bangladesh", Ph.D. Dissertation, Rajshahi: University of
Rajshahi, Unpublished.
[62] U. R. Saha, & R. Bairagi, "Inconsistencies in the relationship between
contraceptive use and fertility in Bangladesh", International Family
Planning Perspectives, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 31-37, 2007.
[63] A. Ali, The Santals of Bangladesh. Calcutta: The Sabuge Sangah Press,
1998.
[64] S. Kayes, Cultural change of Santal community of Rajshahi district: An
anthropological study", M. Phil Dissertation, The Institute of
Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi: University of Rajshahi, Unpublished.
[65] S. Sultana, "Kin relation of the Santal community and its recent changes:
A study of four villages of the Naogaon district", M. Phil Dissertation,
Rajshahi, University of Rajshahi, Unpublished.
[66] K. M. A. Aziz, Kinship in Bangladesh. Dhaka: International Centre for
Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, 1979.
[67] A. Z. M. Alam Family Values. Dhaka: Bangladesh Cooperative Society
Limited, 1995.
[68] M. Afsaruddin, Society and Culture in Bangladesh. Dhaka: Book House,
1990.
[69] World Bank, Bangladesh: A Proposal for Rural Development Strategy.
Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 2000.
[70] K. A. Toufique & C. Turton, Hands not Land- How Livelihoods are
Changing in Rural Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangladesh Institute of
Development Studies, 2002.
[71] K. T. Hossain, M. H. Imam & S. E. Habib ed., Women, Gender and
Discrimination. Rajshahi: Higher Education Link Programme, 2004.
[72] S. J. South & K. D. Crowder, "The declining significance of
neighborhoods? Marital transitions in community context", Social
Forces, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 1067-1099, 2000.
[73] A. R. Snyder, S. L. Brown & E. P. Condo, "Residential differences in
family formation: The significance of cohabitation", Rural Sociology,
vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 255-260, 2004.
[74] S. Bharat, Family Measurement in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications
Pvt Ltd, 1996.
[75] R. Bairagi et al., "Age misstatement for young children in rural
Bangladesh", Demography, vol.19, no.4, pp. 447-458, 1982.
[1] United Nations, First Marriage: Patterns and Determinants. New York:
Population Division, 1988.
[2] United Nations, Patterns of First Marriage: Timing and Prevalence. New
York: Population Division, 1990.
[3] E. W. Burgess & H. J. Locke, The family: From Institution to
Companionship. New York: American Book Company, 1945.
[4] E. D. Dyer, Courtship, Marriage, & Family: American Style. Homehood,
Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1983.
[5] G. P. Murdock, Social Structure. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1960.
[6] D. A. Schulz, The Changing Family: Its Function and Future. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1972.
[7] D. I. Sills ed., International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. The
Macmillan Company, 1968.
[8] W. N. Stephens, The Family in Cross-cultural Perspective. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, 1963.
[9] J. Bernard, American Family Behavior. New York: Elsevier North Holand
Inc., 1973, 2nd edition.
[10] D. M. Buss, "Love acts: The evolutionary biology of love", In R. J.
Sternberg & M. L. Bernes eds., The Psychology of Love. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 1988, pp. 100-118.
[11] D. M. Buss, "Sex differences in mate preferences: Evolutionary
hypotheses tested in 37 cultures", Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 12, 1-
49, 1989.
[12] R. E. Franken, Human Motivation. Monterey, California: Brooks/ Cole
Publishing Company, 1982.
[13] G. J. Craig, Human Development. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall Inc, 1996.
[14] N. J. Comb, The Child: Infants, Children and Adolescents. Mountain
View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2001.
[15] D. E. Papalia, S. W. Olds, & R. D. Feldman, A child-s World: Infancy
through Adolescence. New York: McGraw-Hill Company, 2002.
[16] J. Bancroft, "Biological factors in human sexuality", Sex Roles: A
Journal of Research, February, 01, 2002.
[17] E. T. Pengelley, "Cross-cultural and historical aspects of sexual
behavior", In P. Zimbardo & C. Maslach: Readings Psychology for our
Times. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1977, 2nd
Edition.
[18] S. Frayser, Varieties of Sexual Experience: An Anthropological
Perspective on Human Sexuality. New Haven, CT: Human Relations
Area File Press, 1985.
[19] W. J. Goode, World Revolution and Family Patterns (2nd Ed.). New
Work: Free Press, 2nd edition, 1983.
[20] W. H. Davenport, "An anthropological approach", In J. H. Geer & W. T.
O-Donohue (Eds.): Theories of Human Sexuality. New York: Plenum,
1987, pp. 197-236.
[21] H. Harpending, "Age differences between mates in Southern African
pastoralists", Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 15, 102-103, 1992.
[22] D. Marshall, "Sexual behavior on Mangaia", In D. Marshall & R. Suggs
eds., Human Sexual Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall
Inc., 1971, p. 123.
[23] A. C. Kinsey, W. B. Pomerov & C. E. Martin, Sexual Behavior in the
Human Male. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1948.
[24] A. C. Kinsey et al., Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Philadelphia:
W. B. Saunders Company, 1953.
[25] M. Nag, "Sex, culture, and human fertility: India and United States",
Current Anthropology, 13, pp. 231-238, 1972.
[26] C. Greenblat, "The salience of sexuality in the early years of marriage",
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, pp. 277-289, 1983.
[27] D. L. Decker, Social Gerontology: An Introduction to the Dynamics of
Aging. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1980, pp. 222-224.
[28] C. M. Meston, P. D. Trapnell & B. B. Gorzalka, "Ethnic, Gender, and
Length-of residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes-,
Journal of Sex Research, May 01, 1998.
[29] M. S. Weinberg, I. Lottes & F. M. Shaver, "Sociocultural correlates of
permissive sexual attitudes: A test of Reiss-s hypotheses about Sweden
and the United States- Statistical data included", Journal of Sex
Research, February 01, 2000.
[30] E. S. Herold, "The social dimension of sex-Review", Journal of Sex
Research, May 01, 2001.
[31] E. Hatfield & R. L. Rapson, "Passionate love and sexual desire: Crosscultural
and historical perspectives", In H. Reis, M. A. Fitzpatrick, & A.
Vangelisti, Stability and Change in Relationship Behavior across the
Lifespan (in Press). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press
(file http://www.elainehatfield.com/histor.doc.).
[32] R. A. Baron & D. Byrne, Social Psychology: Understanding Human
Interaction. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, 7th
edition, 1995.
[33] A. R. Quisumbing & K. Hallman, Marriage in Transition: Evidence on
Age, Education, and Assets from Six Developing Countries, Policy
Research Division Working Papers, Population Council, 2003, Retrieved
from www.popcouncil.org/publications/wp/prd/rdwplist.html.
[34] Wikipadia, Age at First Marriage. The pages were last modified 20
November 2008. http://en.wikipadia.org/wiki/Age_at_first_marriage.
WIKIPADIA Foundation, Inc.
[35] United Nations, World Marriage Patterns. New York: Population
Division, 2000.
[36] A. P. McCauley & C. Salter, "Rising age at marriage", in Meeting the
Needs of Young Adults. Population Reports, Series J, no. 41. Baltimore,
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Population Information
Program, October, 1995.
[37] J. Lewis ed., Social age for marriage, Context: Southeast Asians and
other newcomers in California-s classrooms, vol. 16, no. 122, 1996.
[38] MS. J. Sheela & N. Audinarayana, "determinants of female age at first
marriage in Tamil Nadu: An analysis of NFHS data", The Journal of
Family Welfare, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 25-32, 2000.
[39] USAID, Community-based intervention to delay age of marriage: A
review of evidence in India, This article was retrieved from
http://www.intrahealth.org/assets/uploaded/resources_08ER_Brief_DO
M%201.pdf.
[40] D. R. Devi, Age at Marriage in India: Vision and Reality. New Delhi:
Serials Publications.
[41] G. E. Weisfeld & C. E. Weisfeld, "Marriage: An evolutionary
perspective", Human Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology, vol. 23,
no. 4, pp. 47-54, 2002.
[42] P. Maitra, "Effects of socioeconomic characteristics on age at marriage
and total fertility in Nepal", Journal of health, Population and Nutrition,
vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 84-96, 2004.
[43] M. J. Rosenfeld (2007), Interracial marriage and age at marriage: A
Research note, This article was retrieved from
www.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Rosenfeld-age-at-marriage.pdf
[44] C. T. Maloney, K. M. A. Aziz & P. C. Sarker, Beliefs and Fertility in
Bangladesh. Dacca: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease
Research, Bangladesh, 1981.
[45] S. N. Mitra & G. M. Kamal, Bangladesh Contraceptive Prevalence
Survey-1983. Dhaka: Mitra and Associates, 1985.
[46] K. M. A. Aziz & C. T. Maloney, Life Stages, Gender and Fertility in
Bangladesh. Dhaka: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease
Research, Bangladesh, 1985.
[47] M. B. Duza, ed., South Asia Study of Population Policy and
Programmes: Bangladesh. Dhaka: United Nations Population Fund,
1990.
[48] S. N. Mitra, et al., Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey-1993-
1994. Dhaka: Mitra and Associates, 1994.
[49] P. C. Sarker, Social Structure & Fertility Behaviour: A Cross-Cultural
Study. Dhaka: Centre for development Services, 1997.
[50] J. E. Philips & M. B. Hossain, The Impact of Family Planning Household
Service Delivery on Women-s Status in Bangladesh. Policy Research
Division Working Papers, No. 118, New York: Population Council,
1998.
[51] Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh.
Ministry of Planning, Government of the People-s Republic of
Bangladesh, Dhaka: Statistics Division, 2001.
[52] M. K. Burket et al., Raising the Age of Marriage for Young Girls in
Bangladesh. Dhaka: Pathfinder International.
[53] A. Foster & A. Protik (2005), Age at marriage, migration, and marriage
market equilibrium in rural Bangladesh, This article was retrieved from
http://paa2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionld=51609.
[54] S. R. Schuler et al., "The timing of marriage and childbearing among
rural families in Bangladesh: Choosing between competing risks",
Social Science and Medicine, vol. 62, pp. 2826-2837, 2006.
[55] N. Kamal (2006), Causes and consequences of early marriage, This
article was retrieved from
http://www.iub.edu.bd/chpd/Causes%20and%20Consequences%20 of
%20 Early %20 marriage-Published %20Paper-2006-NKamal.pdf.
[56] M. A. Islam (2007), Bangladesh struggles with "child marriage",
Retrieved from voiceofsouth.org/2007/07/15/child_wedding/-38k.
[57] ICDDRB, Health and Demographic Surveillance System- Matlab:Vol.
39. Dhaka: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research,
Bangladesh, 2007.
[58] ICDDRB, "Consequences of early marriage on female schooling in rural
Bangladesh", Health and Science Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 13-18, 2007.
[59] Bangladesh bureau of Statistics, Key indicators on report of sample vital
registration system 2006-2007, Retrieved from
http://www.bbs.gov.bd/dataindex/Key_surs_2007.pdf.
[60] M. E. Uddin, Family structure in a village of Bangladesh: A crosscultural
study, Ph. D. dissertation, the Institute of Bangladesh Studies,
Rajshahi: Rajshahi University, Unpublished.
[61] M. A. M. Chowdhury, "Correlates of high-risk and low-risk childbearing
pattern in Bangladesh", Ph.D. Dissertation, Rajshahi: University of
Rajshahi, Unpublished.
[62] U. R. Saha, & R. Bairagi, "Inconsistencies in the relationship between
contraceptive use and fertility in Bangladesh", International Family
Planning Perspectives, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 31-37, 2007.
[63] A. Ali, The Santals of Bangladesh. Calcutta: The Sabuge Sangah Press,
1998.
[64] S. Kayes, Cultural change of Santal community of Rajshahi district: An
anthropological study", M. Phil Dissertation, The Institute of
Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi: University of Rajshahi, Unpublished.
[65] S. Sultana, "Kin relation of the Santal community and its recent changes:
A study of four villages of the Naogaon district", M. Phil Dissertation,
Rajshahi, University of Rajshahi, Unpublished.
[66] K. M. A. Aziz, Kinship in Bangladesh. Dhaka: International Centre for
Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, 1979.
[67] A. Z. M. Alam Family Values. Dhaka: Bangladesh Cooperative Society
Limited, 1995.
[68] M. Afsaruddin, Society and Culture in Bangladesh. Dhaka: Book House,
1990.
[69] World Bank, Bangladesh: A Proposal for Rural Development Strategy.
Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 2000.
[70] K. A. Toufique & C. Turton, Hands not Land- How Livelihoods are
Changing in Rural Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangladesh Institute of
Development Studies, 2002.
[71] K. T. Hossain, M. H. Imam & S. E. Habib ed., Women, Gender and
Discrimination. Rajshahi: Higher Education Link Programme, 2004.
[72] S. J. South & K. D. Crowder, "The declining significance of
neighborhoods? Marital transitions in community context", Social
Forces, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 1067-1099, 2000.
[73] A. R. Snyder, S. L. Brown & E. P. Condo, "Residential differences in
family formation: The significance of cohabitation", Rural Sociology,
vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 255-260, 2004.
[74] S. Bharat, Family Measurement in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications
Pvt Ltd, 1996.
[75] R. Bairagi et al., "Age misstatement for young children in rural
Bangladesh", Demography, vol.19, no.4, pp. 447-458, 1982.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:58367", author = "Md. Emaj Uddin", title = "Age at First Marriage for Husband and Wife between Muslim and Santal Communities in Rural Bangladesh: A Cross-Cultural Perspective", abstract = "Age at first marriage is a basic temporal term that is
culturally constructed for marriage relationship between an adult
male and an adult female intended to have sex, to reproduce and to
adapt to environment from one generation to another around the
world. Cross-cultural evidences suggest that age at first marriage for
both male and female not only varies across the cultures, but also
varies among the subcultures of the same society. The purpose of the
study was to compare age at first marriage for husband and wife
including age differences between them between Muslim and Santal
communities in rural Bangladesh. For this we hypothesized that (1)
there were significant differences in age at first marriage and age
interval between husband and wife between Muslim and Santal
communities in rural Bangladesh. In so doing, 288 couples (145 pairs
of couples for Muslim and 143 pairs of couples for Santal) were
selected by cluster random sampling from the Kalna village situated
in the Tanore Upazila of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh, whose
current mean age range was 36.59 years for husband and 28.85 years
for wife for the Muslim and 31.74 years for husband and 25.21 years
for wife for the Santal respectively. The results of Independent
Sample t test showed that mean age at first marriage for the Muslim
samples was 23.05 years for husbands and 15.11 years for wives,
while mean age at first marriage for the Santal samples was 20.71
years for husbands and 14.34 years for wives respectively that were
significantly different at p0.05) among the selected husbands
and wives between the two communities. This study recommends
that further cross-cultural researches should be done on the causeeffect
relationships between socio-cultural factors and age at
marriage between the two communities in Bangladesh.", keywords = "Age at First Marriage, Age Difference at Marriage,
Bangladesh, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Muslim, Santal.", volume = "3", number = "7", pages = "1566-9", }
