diff --git a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonView.java b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonView.java
index e788241..6d8baa9 100644
--- a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonView.java
+++ b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonView.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 public class JsonView<T> {
   protected final T value;
   protected final Map<Class<?>, Match> matches = new HashMap<>();
+  protected MatcherBehavior matcherBehavior;
 
   protected JsonView(T value) {
     this.value = value;
@@ -27,6 +28,11 @@ public JsonView<T> onClass(Class<?> cls, Match match) {
     return this;
   }
 
+  public JsonView<T> withMatcherBehavior(MatcherBehavior matcherBehavior) {
+    this.matcherBehavior = matcherBehavior;
+    return this;
+  }
+
   public static <E> JsonView<E> with(E value) {
     return new JsonView<>(value);
   }
diff --git a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewModule.java b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewModule.java
index d72f274..82b7fd0 100644
--- a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewModule.java
+++ b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewModule.java
@@ -18,8 +18,14 @@ public JsonViewModule(JsonViewSerializer jsonView) {
     this.jsonView = jsonView;
   }
 
+  public JsonViewModule withDefaultMatcherBehavior(MatcherBehavior matcherBehavior){
+    this.jsonView.setDefaultMatcherBehavior(matcherBehavior);
+    return this;
+  }
+
   public <E> JsonViewModule registerSerializer(Class<E> cls, JsonSerializer<E> serializer) {
     jsonView.registerCustomSerializer(cls, serializer);
     return this;
   }
+
 }
diff --git a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializer.java b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializer.java
index 4396d53..9b4aeb0 100644
--- a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializer.java
+++ b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializer.java
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
+import static com.monitorjbl.json.MatcherBehavior.CLASS_FIRST;
+import static com.monitorjbl.json.MatcherBehavior.PATH_FIRST;
+
 public class JsonViewSerializer extends JsonSerializer<JsonView> {
 
   /**
@@ -45,6 +48,8 @@ public class JsonViewSerializer extends JsonSerializer<JsonView> {
    */
   private Map<Class<?>, JsonSerializer<Object>> customSerializersMap = null;
 
+  private MatcherBehavior defaultMatcherBehavior = CLASS_FIRST;
+
   public JsonViewSerializer() {
     this(1024);
   }
@@ -95,6 +100,15 @@ public void unregisterCustomSerializer(Class<?> cls) {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Set the default matcher behavior to be used if the {@link JsonView} object to
+   * be serialized does not specify one.
+   *
+   * @param defaultMatcherBehavior The default behavior to use
+   */
+  public void setDefaultMatcherBehavior(MatcherBehavior defaultMatcherBehavior) {
+    this.defaultMatcherBehavior = defaultMatcherBehavior;
+  }
 
   @Override
   public void serialize(JsonView result, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException {
@@ -339,14 +353,7 @@ && getAnnotation(cls, JsonSerialize.class) == null)
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    boolean fieldAllowed(Field field, Class declaringClass) {
-      String name = field.getName();
-      String prefix = currentPath.length() > 0 ? currentPath + "." : "";
-      if(Modifier.isStatic(field.getModifiers())) {
-        return false;
-      }
-
-      //search for matching class
+    private Match classMatchSearch(Class declaringClass) {
       Match match = null;
       Class cls = declaringClass;
       while(!cls.equals(Object.class) && match == null) {
@@ -363,10 +370,39 @@ boolean fieldAllowed(Field field, Class declaringClass) {
         }
         cls = cls.getSuperclass();
       }
-      if(match == null) {
-        match = currentMatch;
-      } else {
-        prefix = "";
+      return match;
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    boolean fieldAllowed(Field field, Class declaringClass) {
+      String name = field.getName();
+      String prefix = currentPath.length() > 0 ? currentPath + "." : "";
+      if(Modifier.isStatic(field.getModifiers())) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      // Determine matcher behavior
+      MatcherBehavior currentBehavior = result.matcherBehavior;
+      if(currentBehavior == null) {
+        currentBehavior = JsonViewSerializer.this.defaultMatcherBehavior;
+      }
+
+      //search for matching class
+      Match match = null;
+      if(currentBehavior == CLASS_FIRST) {
+        match = classMatchSearch(declaringClass);
+        if(match == null) {
+          match = currentMatch;
+        } else {
+          prefix = "";
+        }
+      } else if(currentBehavior == PATH_FIRST) {
+        if(currentMatch != null) {
+          match = currentMatch;
+        } else {
+          match = classMatchSearch(declaringClass);
+          prefix = "";
+        }
       }
 
       //if there is a match, respect it
diff --git a/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/MatcherBehavior.java b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/MatcherBehavior.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d90f19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/json-view/src/main/java/com/monitorjbl/json/MatcherBehavior.java
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package com.monitorjbl.json;
+
+/**
+ * Dictates the order in which to search for matches when serializing objects.
+ */
+public enum MatcherBehavior {
+  /**
+   * Check for matches on an class first before using the
+   * current path matcher
+   */
+  CLASS_FIRST,
+
+  /**
+   * Check for matches against the current path first before
+   * looking for a matcher on the class
+   */
+  PATH_FIRST
+}
diff --git a/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializerTest.java b/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializerTest.java
index f284430..9806a40 100644
--- a/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializerTest.java
+++ b/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/JsonViewSerializerTest.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.UUID;
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
 
 import static com.monitorjbl.json.Match.match;
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
@@ -862,4 +863,52 @@ public void testJsonSerializeAnnotation() throws Exception {
     assertTrue(obj.get("customFieldSerializer") instanceof String);
     assertEquals(obj.get("customFieldSerializer"), "5[hello]");
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testPathFirstMatch_defaultBehavior() throws Exception {
+    TestObject ref = new TestObject();
+    ref.setInt1(1);
+    ref.setStr1("sdfdsf");
+    ref.setStr2("erer");
+    ref.setRecursion(ref);
+
+    Consumer<Map<String, Object>> doTest = obj->{
+      assertEquals(ref.getInt1(), obj.get("int1"));
+      assertEquals(ref.getStr1(), obj.get("str1"));
+      assertEquals(ref.getStr2(), obj.get("str2"));
+      assertNotNull(obj.get("recursion"));
+
+      Map<String, Object> rec1 = (Map<String, Object>) obj.get("recursion");
+      assertNotNull(rec1.get("recursion"));
+      assertEquals(ref.getStr1(), rec1.get("str1"));
+      assertNull(rec1.get("str2"));
+      assertNull(rec1.get("int1"));
+
+      Map<String, Object> rec2 = (Map<String, Object>) rec1.get("recursion");
+      assertEquals(ref.getStr2(), rec2.get("str2"));
+      assertNull(rec2.get("str1"));
+      assertNull(rec2.get("int1"));
+
+      assertNull(rec2.get("recursion"));
+    };
+
+
+    // Perform test with behavior set at default level
+    sut = new ObjectMapper().registerModule(new JsonViewModule(serializer)
+        .withDefaultMatcherBehavior(MatcherBehavior.PATH_FIRST));
+    String serialized = sut.writeValueAsString(JsonView.with(ref)
+        .onClass(TestObject.class, match()
+            .include("recursion", "recursion.str1", "recursion.recursion.str2", "str1", "str2", "int1")
+            .exclude("*")));
+    doTest.accept(sut.readValue(serialized, HashMap.class));
+
+    // Perform test with behavior set at the JsonView level
+    sut = new ObjectMapper().registerModule(new JsonViewModule(serializer));
+    serialized = sut.writeValueAsString(JsonView.with(ref)
+        .withMatcherBehavior(MatcherBehavior.PATH_FIRST)
+        .onClass(TestObject.class, match()
+            .include("recursion", "recursion.str1", "recursion.recursion.str2", "str1", "str2", "int1")
+            .exclude("*")));
+    doTest.accept(sut.readValue(serialized, HashMap.class));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/model/TestObject.java b/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/model/TestObject.java
index c250167..b15e1a8 100644
--- a/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/model/TestObject.java
+++ b/json-view/src/test/java/com/monitorjbl/json/model/TestObject.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ public enum TestEnum {VALUE_A, VALUE_B}
   @JsonProperty
   private String jsonPropNoValue;
   private UUID uuid;
+  private TestObject recursion;
 
   public String getStr1() {
     return str1;
@@ -289,4 +290,12 @@ public UUID getUuid() {
   public void setUuid(UUID uuid) {
     this.uuid = uuid;
   }
+
+  public TestObject getRecursion() {
+    return recursion;
+  }
+
+  public void setRecursion(TestObject recursion) {
+    this.recursion = recursion;
+  }
 }