Final answer:
The statement "caste systems encourage romantic love as the basis of marriage" is False. It encourages endogamous unions that focus on social duties and maintaining hierarchy rather than romantic love.
Step-by-step explanation:
The caste system does not encourage romantic love as the basis of marriage. Instead, it is a closed stratification system, promoting marriages within the same caste to maintain social order and reinforce the caste hierarchy.
These marriages, known as endogamous unions, are expected to align with predetermined social rules and duties, rather than personal choice or affection. This system views accepting one's caste and following traditional roles, including marriage, as a moral duty.
Individuals in a caste system are typically born into their social standing and have limited opportunities for social mobility, so personal interests, talents, or desires, which include the freedom to choose a spouse based on love, are often considered secondary to social expectations and duty.
In contrast, class systems allow more flexibility, and marriages (exogamous marriages) can be based on personal values such as love and compatibility since these systems allow individuals to form unions across different social categories.
However, it's notable that even in societies with class systems, social pressures can still influence marital choices to some degree.
Hence, the statement is False.