“Fear of missing out” is used to explain why people use social media items they don’t need nor want. But marriage is an example too.
I know there is wholesome cases where people want to start a family with other people they like to spend time with.
But a lot of the times it was also “Hey I am of the age my siblings and friends got married. I should meet people with the sole goal of marrying them and raising children.”
I got married to my husband for two reasons. Mostly because his preference to be married was stronger than my preference to avoid it my whole life, but another big reason was that “stepfather” has more legal rights here than “mom’s boyfriend”. It was easier for him to pick my kids up from school or take them to the doctor, things like that. Same with me & his kids .