Results

Besides those mentioned in the Context, there were a few reliable sources concerning this research area in the online library. Also, the previous research called ‘Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married? ’ made by sociologists Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey (2004) was included in the outcomes. This research found that “men with a higher earnings potential being more likely to find a partner and get married than poor or average ones.”

According to Stutzer and Frey (2004), “people engage in a long-term relationship with a strong commitment to a mutually rewarding exchange. Spouses expect some benefits from the partner’s expressed love, gratitude and recognition as well as from security and material rewards.” (p. 228).

Moreover, the research showed that people who get married are more prosperous and wealthy. The results are shown in the Appendix 10.1. Therefore, some people who are passionate with their well-being might potentially see marriage as a way of getting security.

They also stated that the reasons why marriage contributes to well-being are: first, marriage provides additional sources of self-esteem, for instance by providing an escape from stress in other parts of one’s life, in particular one’s job. It is advantageous for one’s personal identity to have more than one leg to stand on. Second, married people have a better chance of benefiting from a lasting and supportive intimate relationship, and suffer less from loneliness. (Argyle, 1999)

The interview that was taken at NIS allowed the research to be objective in making conclusions and reveal the similarities and differences in researches made by giving a full picture of the understanding of marriage, particularly in Kazakhstan. The outcomes gained were slightly different from expected because of cultural features of Kazakh people[WU11].

First of all, 9 out of 10 interviewees agreed that many people marry for money because its role is crucial nowadays and 8 of them agreed that people should take into consideration their well-being at the moment of marriage in order to not suffer from poverty. During the discussion one person who was a foreigner (let’s call him interviewee A) said, “We live in an increasing materialistic society where things we own make us feel good”. Interviewee B, person who grown in Kazakhstan, added that “it is a frightening thought for people to be without a good car, good house, nice clothes and things like that. All of these forces people to consider security when making decisions”.

However, all interview participants recognized that there are also other reasons of people’s marriages. Four people, who were not currently married, said that about 30 % of people marry because they want to find a real love with the man of their dreams just as they themselves used to think. Two participants said that they wanted to look better in a public eye when they got married. They explained that they did marry because it is morally right, because their parents wanted them to have their own families and because they do not want to suffer from loneliness. Two people sought for understanding in marriage, while the other two ones were familiar with their partners since their childhood and truly loved each other. They also mentioned possible reasons for marriage such as desire to intimate affinity, religion beliefs, fictitious marriage with the purpose of getting particular privileges, and so on.

Concerning differences in intentions among Kazakh people comparing to other cultures, there was an unexpected finding. Historically, Kazakh people were destined to marry by the choices of their parents. They merely had no opportunity to think of love or security; they got married because they were told to do so. Consequently, some old-fashioned people in Kazakhstan still believe that love is not as important as procreation.

Overall, the analysis shows that marrying for money is actual[WU12] in the world and in Kazakhstan too.