“Chemistry majors are the least single…I guess you could say they’ve got chemistry”
THE NORTHWESTERN MARRIAGE PACT WAS A CRAZE IN THE FALL QUARTER OF 2022, WHEN 4876 STUDENTS ANSWERED A VARIETY OF QUESTIONS THAT THEY WERE TOLD WOULD SET THEM UP WITH THE BEST ROMANTIC MATCH. MATCHES WERE ANNOUNCED ON NOVEMBER 11, BUT AFTER THEY WERE ANNOUNCED, MOST PEOPLE EITHER ACTED OR DIDN’T. AND THAT SEEMED TO BE WHERE THINGS ENDED.
UNTIL MARCH 27, WHEN MARRIAGE PACT FINALLY RELEASED A BOMBSHELL: THE AGGREGATED CAMPUS WIDE DATA OF ALL THOSE ANSWERS FROM WAY BACK IN THE FALL. THE DATA WAS OBTAINED BASED OFF OF THE ANSWERS THAT THE STUDENTS THEMSELVES PROVIDED TO THE APP, AND WERE AGGREGATED AND CALCULATED BY MARRIAGE PACT. THE DATA INCLUDED CERTAIN BREAKDOWNS BY POLITICAL AFFILIATION, RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION (OR LACK THEREOF), MAJOR, AND MORE.
PERHAPS THE LEAST SURPRISING RESULT: NORTHWESTERN AS A WHOLE IS VERY SINGLE. AT LEAST 63% PERCENT OF ALL FOUR GRADE LEVELS ANSWERED A 6 OR A 7 (THE TWO HIGHEST OPTIONS) ON A “HOW SINGLE ARE YOU?” QUESTION, WHILE NO MORE THAN 16% PERCENT OF ANY GRADE ANSWERED A 1 OR A 2.
BEA VILLAFLOR, A FIRST-YEAR MAJORING IN JOURNALISM AND COMPUTER SCIENCE, WASN’T SUPER SHOCKED BY THIS DATA.
“Northwestern’s a pretty single campus…I think it’s just because people study a lot and they don’t want to date when they have assignments to do”
DAVID SAMSON, ANOTHER FRESHMAN MAJORING IN JOURNALISM AND MINORING IN GLOBAL HEALTH, ALSO WASN’T STUNNED BY THE RESULTS.
“It confirmed a lot of things for me…I thought it was interesting how different majors viewed themselves a little bit”.
FRESHMEN ARE THE LEAST SINGLE, WITH 62.6% ANSWERING THAT THEY WERE A 6 OR A 7 ON THE SINGLE SCALE, WHILE SOPHOMORES WERE THE MOST SINGLE WITHT 68.9% ANSWERING 6 OR 7. VILLAFLOR THINKS THE REASON WHY IS PRETTY OBVIOUS.
“Everyone’s studying all the time…a lot of freshmen are still in the phase of am I still dating my boyfriend from back home”
ANOTHER KEY PART OF THE BREAKDOWN WAS HOW RELIGION AFFECTED PEOPLE’S DESIRE TO TAKE THINGS SLOWLY. A KEY QUESTION MARRIAGE PACT ASKED WAS HOW LONG PEOPLE BELIEVED IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO WAIT FOR SEX.
MUSLIMS AND PROTESTANTS WERE THE MOST SEXUALLY CONSERVATIVE, WHILE AGNOSTICS, ATHEISTS, AND JEWS WERE THE LEAST. 30% OF MUSLIMS GAVE A RESPONSE OF 7 ON APPROPRIATE LENGTH TO WAIT, WITH A 7 REPRESENTING THE LONGEST POSSIBLE AMOUNT OF TIME, WHILE JUST 1% OF JEWS DID. THE ANSWERS BY RELIGION PROVED VERY INTERESTING, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO WERE RAISED IN RELIGION.
VILLAFLOR, WHO WAS RAISED CATHOLIC, WAS SURPRISED THAT THE DOCTRINES DIDN’T PLAY MORE OF A ROLE.
“As someone who identifies as Catholic…obviously the doctrinal teaching in Catholicism is that you wait until marriage…it’s very interesting to see over 50% of Catholics saying that it’s okay to be quicker”
SAMSON, HOWEVER, BELIEVED SOME OF THE MORE SURPRISING NUMBERS HAD AN EASY EXPLANATION.
“I feel like we’re at a place where some people are influenced by their religious beliefs…but others are like “I’m gonna take some stuff but live my life the way I want it”
MANY PEOPLE ALSO FOUND THE WAY TRADITIONAL LABELS AND GENDER ROLES AFFECTED ANSWERS INTRIUGING. VILLAFLOR ESPECIALLY BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF PRESSURE TO ANSWER THE WAY PEOPLE BELIEVED SOCIETY IN GENERAL WOULD WANT OR EXPECT.
“People are incentivized to play up to certain things”
SHE ALSO SAID THAT SOME ANSWERS COULD HAVE BEEN SHIFTED BY PERSONAL CHOICE TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT.
“I definitely skewed my answers a little bit because I wasn’t sure who was going to see them”
SAMSON FOUND THE RESULTS FROM THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY ESPECIALLY INTERESTING. HE BELIEVED THERE MIGHT BE A SPECIFIC REASON FOR THE VAST DIFFERENCE IN BISEXUAL IDENTIFICATION BETWEEN NON-STRAIGHT MEN AND NON-STRAIGHT WOMEN. WHILE 64% OF NON STRAIGHT WOMEN IDENTIFIED AS BISEXUAL, JUST 28% OF NON-STRAIGHT MEN DID. SAMSON, WHO IDENTIFIES AS GAY, IS CURIOUS TO FIND THE ORIGINS OF AND EXPLANATION FOR THAT GAP.
“I don’t know if that’s a scientific thing…a sociocultural thing…it could come down to in the media, we’re at a point where gay men are getting representation.”
HOWEVER, HE ALSO BELIEVED THAT IN MOST CASES THOSE LABELS ARE UNNECESSARY.
‘I think labels are stupid…go love hot people”
OVERALL, THE MARRIAGE PACT DATA WAS ABOUT WHAT MOST PEOPLE EXPECTED. NORTHWESTERN IS A VERY SINGLE CAMPUS THAT LEANS HEAVILY LIBERAL AND IS ABOUT EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN RELIGIOUS AND NON-RELIGIOUS. MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, THOUGH, FROM VILLAFLOR:
“It’s just really fun to look at honestly, I had a great time”
INDEED IT IS. ALL THAT DATA IS AVAILABLE ON https://northwestern.marriagepact.com/campus-report, AND THIS REPORTER FOR ONE HAS REALLY ENJOYED LOOKING AT IT. THE ONLY THING MORE FUN THAN LOOKING AT THIS DATA? GUESSING WHERE IT WILL FALL NEXT YEAR.
FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M BRENDAN PREISMAN.
