Study: Wives should take husbands' surname

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- About half of the female respondents to a U.S. survey say the government should mandate women take their husbands' surname upon marriage, a researcher said.

USA Today said a study presented Tuesday at the American Sociological Association's meeting in San Francisco focused on the issue of brides' name changes because the issue was not as politically charged as other gender issues.

"Gender neutral language is seen as very PC (politically correct), it may not reflect a real change in attitudes as much as an awareness of what you're supposed to say and what you're not supposed to say," said Indiana University researcher Laura Hamilton, one of the study's authors.

Hamilton added that name changing after marriage is a good indicator of how respondents truly feel about many other issues because they're more likely to relax and answer questions honestly, the newspaper said.

Indiana University and the University of Utah researchers questioned approximately 815 people with multiple choice and open-ended questions to come up with their findings.