Either I do or I must: An exploration of the marriage attitudes of Indonesian singles

Abstract

Abstract Despite the increasing proportion of never-married adults worldwide, there is a marked difference between Asian and Western societies regarding attitudes to both marriage and singleness. While marriage is generally accepted as a personal choice in the West, people in many Asian countries–particularly in Indonesia–still have firm beliefs about the universality of marriage. Singles face social pressure due to their status, so their attitude toward marriage is still understudied. This study thus aims to describe singles’ attitudes toward marriage through the interaction of three indicators: the intention to marry, the perceived social pressure to marry, and underlying reasons to marry. A survey of 107 never-married adults (Mage = 26.98 ± 5.79) was conducted which employed both open-ended and closed questions. Its findings confirm that, despite the considerable pressure singles experience due to their singleness, they still have a favourable attitude toward marriage.