从约会到同居:“他的”和“她的”同居决策比较--基于“90后”流动青年同居者的质性研究

Transition from Dating to Cohabitation: A Comparison of “His” and “Her” Decision-Making--A Qualitative Study Based on “Post-90s” Floating Youth Cohabitants

未婚同居现象在中国日趋增多,但对于年轻人如何从约会发展到同居、性别是否以及怎样影响同居的动机与意义还缺乏研究。本文通过对94名正在同居和近期经历同居的"90后"乡-城流动青年的深入访谈,从性别视角探讨了影响年轻人从恋爱交往向同居转变的因素。研究发现,流动青年受访者的同居,无论男女大部分发生在有结婚意图甚至是订婚之后,但在同居决定如何受结婚目标推动上出现了明显的性别特征,女性更多地因道德规范压力,男性更多地出于经济和时间成本。同时,一些流动青年的同居决策也受到现实因素的影响,如为了相处或居住上的便利以及意外怀孕的发生,往往会推动男女加快向同居的转变;经济层面的考虑对同居决定的影响则因性别而异,女性更有可能出于经济需要而加快同居,而男性更多地因经济紧张而推迟同居。总之,传统性别文化规范和农村婚姻市场变动延伸到同居,并影响流动青年男女的同居决策。

Unmarried cohabitation is increasing markedly among young people in China. However,little is known about how they transition from dating to cohabitation,whether and how gender affects the meanings and motivations associated with cohabitation. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 94 rural-city floating young adults who were born"post-90 s"and have current or past experience of cohabitation,this exploratory study investigates the factors behind the transition from romantic relationships to cohabitation from a gender perspective. We find that majority of the interviewees,regardless men and women,chose cohabitation after they had marriage intentions or even engagement. However,strong gender differences emerge in the decision to live together that was driven by the goal of marriage between women who were more constrained by the rules of ethics and men by the cost of financing at the time. We also find that some respondents cohabited for practical reasons,such as the convenience of getting along or housing,unplanned pregnancy often expedited the transition to cohabitation for men and women who already planned to marry. The impact of economic considerations on decisions to cohabit was clearly gendered,with women more likely to accelerate cohabitation because of financial necessity,while men more likely to delay cohabitation because of financial constraints. Overall,our findings suggest that the traditional gendered culture norms and the changes in the rural marriage market both help shape differences between men and women in their decisionson entering into cohabitation.