婚姻狀況與體重變化的性別差異

Gender Differences in the Effects of Marriage on Body Weight

張峰彬(Fengbin Chang)

《人口學刊》 59期 (2019/12) Pp. 1-34

https://doi.org/10.6191/JPS.201912_(59).0001

摘要

雖然男女兩性在結婚之後普遍容易出現體重上升的情形，但如何解釋結婚事件和個人體重變化的關係，在學者當中並未出現一致看法。目前至少有4種觀點：一、婚姻選擇性假說（marriage selection hypothesis）；二、婚姻義務假說（marriage obligation hypothesis）；三、婚姻保護性假說（marriage protection hypothesis），以及四、婚姻市場假說（marriage market hypothesis）用來詮釋婚後發福的現象。為了釐清這些不同的觀點，本研究利用華人家庭動態資料庫於2004－2018年間，共10個波次的長期追蹤資料，並結合固定效果（fixed effects）模型來驗證進入婚姻是否對個人身體質量指數（body mass index, BMI）產生影響效果。我們以隨時間變動的方式將婚姻狀況區分為2種：一、未婚；二、已婚（或同居）。本研究的分析結果驗證婚姻選擇性效果的存在，體重較重的男性單身者和女性單身者都會被排除在結婚候選人的行列之外，而且婚姻選擇性效果在女性會大於男性。另外，在控制婚姻選擇性效果之後，婚姻義務假說和婚姻市場假說皆獲得實證資料的支持。固定效果模型的分析結果顯示已婚狀態和體重之間存在正向關係，而且女性在婚後增重的機率高於男性。至於婚姻保護性假說則並未獲得實證資料的支持。

關鍵字

婚姻狀況 ； 身體質量指數 ； 固定樣本追蹤調查 ； 固定效果模型

並列摘要

The association between weight and marriage has been an important issue in social science. In understanding the relationship between marital status and body weight, there are four perspectives: (1) the marriage selection hypothesis; (2) the marriage obligation hypothesis; (3) the marriage protection hypothesis; and (4) the marriage market hypothesis. With longitudinal survey data from the Panel Survey of Family Dynamics (2004 to 2018), this analysis examined gender differences in the relationship between marital status and body weight. We found support for the marriage selection effect, in that both men and women with a lower body mass index (BMI) are more likely to get married than their counterparts with higher BMI. Using fixed effects models, our findings also support the marriage obligation and marriage market hypotheses. On the one hand, marriage is associated with weight gain for both men and women. On the other hand, married women tend to gain more weight than married men. We found no support for the marriage protection perspective.

並列關鍵字

marital status ； body mass index (BMI) ； panel data ； fixed effects models

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