面對逐年上漲的離婚率,本研究初步嘗試運用配對研究的方式,針對20對已經訂婚的將婚伴侶,進行二階段面對面的深入訪談。檢視現代年輕人雙方從戀愛關係的交往階段到踏入婚姻實踐階段,當面臨婚姻考量與抉擇時,是什麼樣的因素促使他們仍然願意付出承諾,進入婚姻,與配偶共同建立新的人際關係網絡,以及新的權利義務關係。研究發現:現代年輕人對於婚姻承諾的抉擇與考量往往涉及了多元的意涵,交織著社會結構、人際網絡、個人與伴侶關係四種不同向度。其內涵了「男大當婚,女大當嫁」、「交往久了應該要結婚」、「傳宗接代」、「姻緣天注定」、「雙方家人相處」、「養父母,求賢內助」、「輿論壓力」等傳統價值觀念的文化腳本考量因素;以及對方個人特質的考量、情感投入程度的需求評估、思考伴侶雙方是否可以相互學習與扶持,並在日常生活中付出實踐,以行動表示自己對於情感的承諾,體現伴侶的共體關係,呈現出婚姻承諾多元文化價值並存的現象。
Due to the increasing rate of divorce and people delaying or not choosing marriage in Taiwan, this study intended to examine (1) how dating couples today proceed from dating relationships to marriage; and (2) what factors influence dating couples' willingness to commit into marriage. The present study was conducted by means of in-depth interviews with 20 engaged couples. Each couple was interviewed both individually and as a pair. It was found that, when young couples considered whether they should step into marriage, the factors influencing their decision seemed to be a mixture of the following four categories: social structure, social network, personal factors, and couple factors. Today's young people appear to be still strongly influenced by some traditional Chinese values. Partner's personality, emotional involvement, personal needs, mutual learning from each other, etc. also were considered. This study hopefully could help accumulating more knowledge in the field of couple relationships, and to serve as a reference for marriage preparation and premarital counseling in Taiwan.