Research On The Influence Of Social Network On The Marriage Concept Of Unmarried Female Migrant Workers

This study investigated the effect of social network on the marriage concept of unmarried female migrant workers. Eighteen new generation unmarried female migrant workers in Wuwei, Anhui were selected by snowball sampling for in-depth individual interview. Data for the subjects' personal information, social networks before and after migrant, and concept of marriage was collected. In this study, social network was measured by Chinese New Year Greeting Network and Discussion Network, which was divided into four dimensions: social network scale, network peak, network difference and network composition. Concept of marriage was indicted by mating attitude, mating motivation, mating time, criteria and mating method. This study has three main findings as follows.First finding is that the new generation unmarried female migrant workers' social network changed after their migration. After migration, the subjects' social network expanded and the individual difference of social network increased. Also, the subjects' social network composition improved as they had more ties with elites after migration. Overall, these changes were more prominent when social network was measured by Discussion Network than it was measured by Chinese New Year Greeting Network.Second, this study finds that changes in the social network of unmarried female migrant worker, especially when measured by Discussion Network, have effects their concept of marriage. Female migrant workers' marriage concepts reflect "traditional” and “modern” and also partly comply with "structure assimilation theory" and "subculture hypothesis" in western literature. Their marriage concept is characteristic of traditional culture, but also reflects characteristics of urbanization, mercerization, and rationality.Finally, this study finds that migrant as a life event brought new generation unmarried female migrant workers social network changes. And it also shapes their marriage concept. In conclusion, the new generation female migrant workers plays the "double edge person" role, in this circumstance, they use the method of rational choice to form their own marriage concept.