Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
When parents disapprove of your lover, what do you do?
A scene from the film Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), where the father (Steve Carell), opposes his daughter (Emma Stone) seeing her boyfriend (Ryan Gosling). / Captured by Youtube
By Kim Bo-eun
Single men and women are willing to keep seeing their lover, even if their parents disapprove, a survey shows.
Match-making firm Duo surveyed 521 single men and women aged 20 to 39.
Six in 10 said they had been in a relationship with which their parents were unhappy.
But women were found to value their relationships with their parents more, with 42.6 percent) saying they would try to persuade their parents, or break up (28.6 percent).
On the other hand, more than half of the men (52.7 percent) said they would continue with the relationship regardless of their parents’ opinion or try to persuade them (45.5 percent).
When it comes to marriage, 72.8 percent of men said they would go through it regardless of their parents opinion, whereas 86.9 percent of women said they would follow their parents’ advice.
Parents were found to disapprove of their children’s partners because “their job or academic background isn’t satisfactory” (42.6 percent), “their family background isn’t satisfactory” (25.5 percent) and “everyone else falls short of their own child” (21.1 percent).
However, while parents of sons took issue with the girlfriend’s job and academic background, the parents of daughters regarded the boyfriend’s family background as most important.
“If you react emotionally or instantly try resolve the issue of your parents’ objection to dating or marrying your partner, it can put a strain on the parent-child relationship as well as the relationship with your partner,” a Duo official said.
“Both parties should take the time to find a solution that with which everyone can be happy.”