“A Gente Escolhe Amar”: o noivado e as representações sobre o cônjuge ideal

Abstract

choosing a spouse is a modern phenomenon and is associated to the changes that have taken place in family life recently. The present paper analyzes data collected for the author’s masters’ dissertation research and focus on the socio affective trajectories of the engaged couples preparing for marriage in the Marriage Preparation Courses at the Lady of Nazareth Parish, in Belém, the Capital City of Pará, in Northern Brazil. Data collecting procedures included interviews and observation. It was found that representations of the ideal spouse are part of a long process of social typification resulting from socio affective trajectories of the participants.