In August 1971 a random sample of 3,392 married couples was drawn from the registery-office of Amsterdam for the study of the possible relationship between month of birth and partner choice. A statistical analysis of the data gave the following results which are summarized in Fig. 9. 1. MONTH OF BIRTH AND MARRIAGE (a) Males born in the second half of January seem to have a tendency to marry females, born in the second half of October, significantly more than expected (about 2.3 times). (b) Males born in April and the first half of May have a tendency to marry females, born in the same period, significantly less than expected (about 1.27 times less) (c) Males born in the period half June to half July have a tendency to marry females, born in the period from half July to half August, significantly more often than expected (about 1.7 times). (d) Males as well as females prefer most of all a marriage partner that is born in a part of the year that is closer to the own month of birth than their lowest preferred partner. (e) There is a significant tendency that for males their most preferred female month is 0 - 2 months earlier or later than the own month of birth, whereas their least preferred female category differs 4-6 months with the male's month of birth. (f) Females marry more often males born two months later in the year than males born two months earlier. 2. MONTH OF BIRTH AND DIVORCE (a) Males born in March who married females born in July have an eight times higher chance to divorce than other months of birth combinations. (b) A similarly high, but less significant, chance to divorce was found for males born in February who married females born in May; for males born in July who married females born in February; for males born in October who married females born in June. (c) Males born in the second half of November divorce in general more often than other males (2 times more). (d) There is probably no relation between preference for marrying partners born in particular months and the chance to divorce them.
Tijdschrift beschrijving