As a crucial part of man’s values, attitudes towards loveand marriage not only exert considerable influence on one’s life andwell-being, but also pertain to the development and harmony of the wholesociety. In China, the traditional values of love and marriage has always beenthe dominant trend, which stem from the long history and the rooted culture.However, at the turn of the century, changes have happened. A large amount ofwestern effect can be seen regarding attitudes to love and marriage, in which theChinese millennials, namely, the cohort born between 1984 and 2000, constitutethe most typical case.

Under the impact ofglobalization, computerization , capitalism, hedonism and so forth, the westernculture invasion is omnipresent. The traditional values have been challenged.The young people’s minds are hybrids of old Chinese outlook and new westerninclination. They get to acquaint themselves with new approaches of media,which shapes their minds over time. In the time of change, transformation hastaken place politically, economically, culturally and ideologically. In thisthesis, the focus is on the attitudes to love and marriage.

As for the generationsbefore the Millennials, they treat love and marriages formally and holy, whichis under the shadow of feudalism. In contrast, however, the millennials get ridof the effect of feudalism gradually and embrace a new kind of value of loveand marriage. They put emphasis more on the individualism and freedom. Love andmarriage has become a personal choice instead of part of the patriarchalism.

Furthermore, in today’ssociety, the millennials have all stepped into their adult stage and theirdecisions to love and marriage will have a huge impact broadly. As webecome increasingly concerned about the marriage of them, for example, agrowing number of dating programmes and platforms spring up vigorously. Howthis generation regard love and marriage matters greatly.

In regard to theMillennials, this cohort has gained in popularity among the scholars worldwide,and plenty of studies are related to their working attitude and consumptionhabits. However, their attitudes towards love and marriage have been mentionedless, especially the Chinese millennials, for which the relevant study will beconducted in this thesis. And I sincerely hope that through this thesis, we canhave a clear mind of the western influence on the attitudes to love andmarriage of the Chinese millennials, as well as the way such influences areexerted and to what extend these effects are made.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

In this thesis, the aim is to probe into thewestern influence on the attitudes towards love and marriage of ChineseMillennials. The time range is from 1984 until today. And I will undertake thestudy from the major events and important social phenomena within this periodof time. Along with the current statistics of the surveys about their love andmarriage opinions, and the available relevant studies, I will analyze theinfluence from separating perspectives, such as political aspect, economiceffect, the rise of computer, the bringing in of western media and so forth. Inaddition, I will put different degree of emphases on various aspects ofinfluence and make explanations of them. As for the consequences of suchinfluences to the Millennials and to the whole society, appropriatedevelopments will contribute to this part, as the practical influence of suchphenomenon deserves further research. As a whole, horizontal analysis andvertical analysis based on time axes will be both conducted.

References

[1] Dawn, B. amp;Thomas, V. L. Generation Y values and lifestyle segments[J]. Journal of Consumer Marketing,2013,30(7).

[2] Garcia, G.amp; Kincannon, H. T. amp; Dudley L. amp; Walther, C. S. Patterns of Sexual Activity in China and the United States[M]. SpringerNetherlands:2014-06-15.