A recent study published in the Journal of Human Capital examines movie star marriages in an attempt to identify why people often marry someone with a similar educational background. According to Gustaf Bruze, an economist at the Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences in Denmark, the answer has less to do with financial or professional considerations, and that just because a couple attended the same school is not necessarily conclusive.
Bruze reviewed information about the top movie stars’ marriages, earnings, and education levels. The analysis showed that the level of formal education may have little to no correlation with success (either financial or the likelihood of winning an industry award). Notwithstanding, movie stars who marry still tend to have similar educational backgrounds, even though it is unlikely a couple met in school or on a film set as a result of their their education level.
Bruze noted that the findings suggest education is not dependent upon financial or professional connections. “What it says is that men and women have very strong preferences for nonfinancial partner traits correlated with education. And educational sorting would remain even if the tendency of men and women to work with colleagues of a similar educational background were to disappear or if the role of educational institutions as a meeting place for future husbands and wives were to disappear.”