Hypergamy

Esther is crowned in this 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld.

Hypergamy (colloquially referred to as "dating up" or "marrying up"[1]) is a term used in social science for the act or practice of a person dating or marrying a spouse of higher social status than themselves.

The antonym "hypogamy"[a] refers to the inverse: marrying a person of lower social class or status (colloquially "marrying down").

The term hypergyny can also be used to describe the overall practice of women marrying up, since the men would be marrying down.[2]

Concepts such as hypergamy, hypogamy, and hypergyny could be considered as special cases of mésalliance.[3]

  1. ^ Abgarian, Almara (21 October 2018). "What is hypergamy and are some people prone to it?". metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  2. ^ Dickemann, Mildred (May 1979). "The ecology of mating systems in hypergynous dowry societies". Social Science Information. 18 (2): 163–195. doi:10.1177/053901847901800201. S2CID 144749330. It seemed clear from my materials that, as long ago proposed by Risley (1908) and Rivers (1921), this practice was a product of hypergyny, the upward flow of brides in a society which, being pyramidal, had fewer grooms at the top
  3. ^ Eckland 1971, p. 233.


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