Consanguineous Marriage in Andhra Pradesh: Knowledge and Contemporary Attitudes (2012)

Undergraduate: Bindhu Pamarthi

Faculty Advisor: Dr.Don/Dr.Adam Baucom/Zolotor
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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This study examined the attitudes (personal preferences and social acceptability) toward consanguinity in a Hindu population of south Indian college students in Andhra Pradesh. Consanguinity remains commonplace among south Indians across socioeconomic classes despite opposing legislation and medical findings linking such breeding to increased risks to offspring for congenital defects. The aims of this study were to measure the attitudes toward the practice; gauge knowledge about the medical risks, and assess the relationship between attitude and knowledge. Some exploratory factors (marriage type, dowry, joint family) were examined for correlations with consanguineous attitudes. This study employed a survey instrument adapted from Sandridge et al.’s (2009) Qatari questionnaire, to conduct 12 semi-structured interviews with locals in India to capture region-specific cultural themes for the development of a questionnaire. The main sample consisted of 415 respondents. South Indian college students were found to hold neutral to slightly negative consanguineous attitudes. High proportions of the sample, particularly women, reported awareness of medical risks. The central hypothesis that knowledge and attitudes would be, at best, weakly correlated, was supported by point-biserial correlation analysis. This study’s findings have striking implications for public health initiatives and cross-cultural understanding.