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Aggregate Age-at-Marriage Patterns From Individual Mate-Search Heuristics
- Demography
- Population Association of America
- Volume 42, Number 3, August 2005
- pp. 559-574
- 10.1353/dem.2005.0027
- Article
- Additional Information
The distribution of age at first marriage shows well-known strong regularities across many countries and recent historical periods. We accounted for these patterns by developing agent-based models that simulate the aggregate behavior of individuals who are searching for marriage partners. Past models assumed fully rational agents with complete knowledge of the marriage market; our simulated agents used psychologically plausible simple heuristic mate search rules that adjust aspiration levels on the basis of a sequence of encounters with potential partners. Substantial individual variation must be included in the models to account for the demographically observed age-at-marriage patterns.