Role of Ethnicity in Mate Selection Mechanism among Educated Female in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

The present study probes the role of ethnicity in mate selection among educated females in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The data for the study were collected from 278 educated females working in three public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtukhwa through a pre-tested questionnaire. Results obtained through Chi-Square statistics report a strong tendency of female marrying outside of their ethnic groups. The major role in this respect was played by the female education, their exposure to mass media and less effective role of religion. Marrying outside the ethnic group was found not a problem for both the female from the upper and lower class. More or less same was the case of middle class females despite of security, adjustment, fear of divorce and even death threat to female while marrying outside the family and the ethnic group. The study recommends a positive role of mass-media, educational institutions and religious leaders especially by emphasizing on making balance between marrying in and outside the family and discouraging the patriarchal norms that still influence the mate selection process in one way or the other. Emphasis should also be made to discourage materialistic, idealistic and western oriented tendencies among educated females through promotion of Islamic and cultural teachings about simplicity and humbleness.