The willingness to marry without love is also highly subject to cultural vari- ation. In light of the different values that pervade individualist and collectivist cultures, the differences are not surprising. In many cultures, marriage is seen as a transaction between families that is influenced by social, economic, and religious considerations. Indeed, arranged marriages are still common in India, China, many Muslim countries, and sub-Saharan Africa. So, when Robert Levine and others (1995) asked college students from 11 countries about marrying with- out love, they found that the percentage who said they would do so ranged from 4% in the United States, 5% in Australia, and 8% in England, up to 49% in India, and 51% in Pakistan.
In cultures in which love is not a sufficient basis for marriage, other factors play a role. In India, a historically entrenched caste system divides its citizens and holds sway over love and marriage. Indeed, even though the gov- ernment legalized inter-caste marriage more than 50 years ago and is now offer- ing incentives for inter-caste couples to marry, an invisible separation remains between the upper and lower castes that lasts from birth to death—and “honor killings” of couples who dare to cross these traditional lines are not uncommon.