An Investigation of Consanguineous Marriages in Turkey Based on Research on Family Structure in Turkey 2006 and 2011 Data

This article is based on the 2006 and 2011 Research on Family Structure in Türkiye of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. The purpose is to investigate certain factors in consanguineous marriages and to compare consanguineous and non-consanguineous marriages to identify the perceived advantages that keep consanguineous marriages sustainable. The 2006 data includes 4412 individuals in consanguineous marriages, which constitutes 22% of the participants. The 2011 data includes 3902 individuals in consanguineous marriages, which constitutes 21% of the participants. Consanguineous and non-consanguineous marriages have been compared in terms of spouse selection, early marriage as well as marriage satisfaction factors including conflicts, problem solving, spending time together, disagreement in material issues, expectations on roles, and getting along with the family of the spouse. The results verify that, consanguineous marriages continue not only depend on sociological factors but also base on psychological factors.