ABSTRACT
Mate selection has long been a concern for academics of various disciplines like geneticists, anthropologists, social psychologists, and sociologists. Social homogamy between spouses can be seen essentially as a function of social stratification, and serves to preserving the cultural, social and economic resources of its own class. Family studies suggested a more social and dynamic view of how people create a social environment that facilitates and rein-forces one’s own psychological attributes by selecting a mate with similar or compatible disposition or traits. Patients and their spouses have been found to be of low social background, but it is not certain whether this is a consequence of the illness, accumulated premorbid social disadvantages, or homogamy of backgrounds between the families. The need for research into the psychosocial aspects of mate selection among psychiatric patients is well justified by its potential contribution to greater understanding of genetic transmission, and the effect of interpersonal contexts on the causes and courses of mental disorders.
