Redefining Marriage: The Impact of College Education on Youth Marriage Purpose in China

A trend of rising ideal age for marriage and declining marriage intentions in China has garnered significant attention. Previous studies have emphasized constraints such as finances and time the youth face, however, the transformation of culture underlying this trend has been less explored. This study argues that college, as a cultural field, plays a crucial role in shaping youth culture, and could systematically influence marriage purpose through two forms of cultural capital: embodied and institutionalized. Embodied cultural capital refers to the values and beliefs shaped by one’s education, different academic disciplines within universities have their own distinct norms and value systems, which in turn cultivate different attitudes toward marriage. On the other hand, the college degree serves as a form of institutionalized cultural capital that influences the acquisition of socio-economic status, which in turn shapes marriage values. Utilizing data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey, this study finds that college-educated individuals are more likely to reject materialistic and traditional family-oriented marriage purposes. Specialized education, understood as embodied cultural capital, also has an impact, with humanities students being less likely to endorse materialistic marriage purposes compared to those majoring in social sciences or STEM. Furthermore, socio-economic status mediates the relationship between college education and marriage purposes, demonstrating the impact of institutionalized cultural capital. The findings indicate that youth culture is undergoing a profound transformation, shifting from a focus on material and familial obligations to prioritizing individual happiness and emotional fulfillment. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms of youth cultural change within the marriage domain in the Chinese context and offers new insights into declining marriage intentions.