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The study aimed at examining the attitude of the boys and girls students and male employed and unemployed persons towards Dowry. The study was conducted on 154 individuals. Among them 84 college students (boys-50; girls-34) were selected from three different degree colleges of Tripura and 70 male persons (35 employed and 35 umemployed) were selected from different strata of the society. The age of the college students ranged between 19-21 years whereas the ages of all the employed and unemployed persons were above 30 years. For the purpose of data collection, the Dowry Attitude Scale (DAS) was utilized. The test retest reliability coefficient and validity of the scale are 0.88 and 0.89 respectively. The study revealed that the girls possess favourable attitude towards dowry. Further, significant difference was found between the attitude of the boys and girls college students. No significant difference was evident between the attitude of the male employed and unemployed persons towards dowry. Surprisingly, all the groups possess favourable attitude towards dowry.
Keywords: dowry, college students, employed male, unemployed male, Tripura
One of the biggest menaces of the Indian society is the dowry system. From time immemorial, dowry as an ancient custom is attached to the Indian marriage system with the special term Kanyadaan, Sreedhan, Dahez etc. Further, dowry is a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage rather than at the holder's death. A dowry establishes some variety of conjugal funds, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund ensures her support (or endowment) in widowhood and eventually goes to provide for her sons and daughters (Goody, 1976). The historical origin of the dowry system in India has been traced to the Hindu marriage among high castes in North India (Srinivas, 1984; Lardinois, 1996). In the earlier days the amount of dowry reflected the status and prestige of the bride's family. Besides this, the philosophy behind such act was that it will help the bride, if her in-laws mistreat her or if unfortunately she faces severe problems after marriage.
But, the meaning of dowry has undergone rapid transformation. Today, dowry is negotiated and refers to the wealth that the bride's parents must pay the groom and his family as part of the marriage arrangement...