Mate choice in humans is specific by the involvement of kin both in partner choice and in the functioning of the relationship. The influence of relatives ranges from providing advice all the way to arranged marriages. Existing research so far tended to map neither the actual parental interventions and further reactions (counteractions) nor the independently pursued behavior (actions) by which the offspring or their partners assert their interests. This study identified such sets of behaviors through semi-structured individual interviews with members of 20 dyads of adult offspring and their biological parents (five son–mother, five son–father, five daughter–mother, and five daughter–father dyads). Thematic analysis revealed sets of parental actions aimed at the offspring, their partners, and the couple as a whole, as well as further counteractions (reactions to parental interference) and independently pursued behavior (actions) of the offspring and their partners aimed at the parents in the context of the offspring’s previous or current relationship. Our findings showed that parental interference differed depending on the recipient: toward the couple were applied mainly indirect and supportive parental actions, whereas when facing their offspring or offspring’s partner, parents’ actions were more direct and disruptive. Our results thus indicate the importance of reporting about actual interactions which differ from the hypothetical settings used in prior studies by lower intensity. Moreover, by interviewing both members of dyads, we expanded the sets of actions and counteractions identified by prior studies and managed to limit self-reporting bias.

人类的择偶是特定的，因为亲属参与伴侣选择和关系的运作。亲戚的影响范围从提供建议一直到包办婚姻。迄今为止，现有的研究既没有描绘出父母的实际干预和进一步的反应（反作用），也没有描绘出后代或其伴侣维护其利益的独立追求的行为（行动）。这项研究通过对 20 个成年后代及其亲生父母（五个儿子-母亲、五个儿子-父亲、五个女儿-母亲和五个女儿-父亲二人组）的成员进行半结构化个人访谈，确定了此类行为。主题分析揭示了针对后代、其伴侣和夫妻整体的一系列父母行为，以及后代及其伴侣针对父母的进一步反作用（对父母干预的反应）和独立追求的行为（行动）在后代以前或现在的关系的背景下。我们的研究结果表明，父母的干预因接受者的不同而有所不同：对夫妇主要采取间接和支持性的父母行为，而当面对子女或子女的伴侣时，父母的行为则更加直接和破坏性。因此，我们的结果表明报告实际相互作用的重要性，这些相互作用与先前研究中使用的假设设置的强度较低不同。此外，通过采访二人组的两名成员，我们扩大了先前研究确定的行动和反作用的范围，并设法限制自我报告的偏见。