Family and Life Development Exam 1 Study Guide
Heterogamy
The idea of choosing someone dissimilar in race, age, education, religion, or social class to marry; marriage between people with differing social characteristics.
Affirmative Consent
The idea of getting clear, unambiguous, verbal consent from one another before having sex, effectively switching the conversation from no means no, to yes means yes.
Nuclear Family
The typical (1950's/Modern) family structure (husband, wife, children). This style was better suited to city/urban life.
Gender Structure
The way in which gender roles are influenced by a society's Socio-Cultural environment.
Transsexual
A term that refers to persons who emotionally and psychologically feel that they belong to the opposite sex.
LGBTQ
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Questioning. The minorities of sexual identity.
Homosexual
Sexual, emotional and erotic attractions to individuals of the same sex/gender as yourself.
Bifurcated Consciousness
A divided perception according to which she is aware of and often troubled by two conflicting messages: first, that care-giving is most important for her; second, that care-giving is not as highly valued across society as is career success. How women navigate this bifurcated consciousness is a question for ongoing research.
Defining Family
A family is any sexually expressive, parent-child, or other kin relationship in which people, usually related by ancestry, marriage, or adoption, form an economic or otherwise practical unit and care for any children or other dependents, consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group, and commit to maintaining that group over time.
Gay
A form of homosexual behavior where men are attracted to other men.
Lesbian
A form of homosexual behavior where women are attracted to other women.
Bisexual
A person who is sexually attracted to and/or has sex with the opposite and same gender as themselves, both men and women.
Expressive Character Traits
A relative absence of agency has traditionally been thought to characterize femininity, and women are expected to embody relationship-oriented or expressive character traits: warmth, sensitivity, the ability to express tender feelings, and placing concern about others' welfare above self-interest.
Ethnicity
A social division/identity based on national origin, religion, language, culture, and often race.
Masculine Dominance
According to which masculine males exercise authority over females and people they perceive as not masculine enough. On the personal level, masculine dominance involves wielding greater power in a heterosexual relationship. On the societal level, masculine dominance is the assignment to men of greater control and influence over society's institutions and benefits. Only very recently in human history, within the last one hundred years, has patriarchal dominance begun to break down.
Feminist Theory Perspective
Although there are many variations, the central focus of this perspective is on gender issues. A unifying theme is that male dominance in the culture, society, families, and relationships is oppressive to women. Patriarchy, the idea that males dominate females in virtually all cultures and societies, is a central concept.
Interpersonal exchange model for sexual satisfaction
An exchange theory perspective that brings sex closer to our human experience. This shows us that satisfaction depends on the costs and rewards of a sexual relationship as well as the participant's comparison level, what the person expects out of the relationship. Also important is the comparison level for alternatives, what other options are available, and how good are they compared to the current relationship.
Case Study
An in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
Survey
An information-gathering tool for quantitative data analysis.
Scientific Study
Answering questions based on observable facts, data, and established methods. Cross-sectional studies gather data just once, giving us a snapshot-like, one-time view of behaviors or attitudes. Longitudinal studies provide long-term information as researchers continue to gather data over an extended period of time.
Heterosexual
Attracted to the opposite sex/gender.
Pansexual
Sexually and/or romantically oriented/attracted to all genders/sexes, not exclusively male or female.
Friends With Benefits
Friends with benefits is described as sex that takes place with friends but without expectations for romantic love or commitment
Sexual Identity
How one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically or sexually attracted.
Race
Identity with a group of people descended from a common, biological ancestor.
Arranged Marriage
In much of the world, particularly in parts of Asia and Africa that are less Westernized, parents have traditionally arranged their children's marriages. In this practice, future spouses can be brought together in various ways. In India, parents typically check prospective partners' astrological charts to ensure future compatibility. Traditionally, the parents of both prospective partners (often with other relatives' or a paid matchmaker's help) worked out the details and then announced the upcoming marriage to their children.
Extended Family
Include grandparents, aunts, cousins and uncles; can provide occasion for good times as well as an important source of security; its members help each other, especially during crises.
Assortive Mating
Individuals gradually filter or sort out those they think would not make the best life partner or spouse. Research has consistently shown that people are willing to date and live with a wider range of individuals than they would marry.
Serial Monogamy
Most unmarried teens and adults engage in a pattern known as serial monogamy, with most partners demonstrating sexual exclusivity to their partner. Individuals marry/date/hook up with several people over their life times, but usually only sexually engage with one partner at a time.
Intersex
People who are born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies".
Homophobic
Prejudice against homosexuals (fear of the same gender).
Family Functions
Raising children responsibly, providing members with economic and other practical support, and offering emotional security.
Pornification
Sexting is thought to be apart of this broader social phenomenon, in which sending, receiving, and viewing sexually explicit material is seen as a normal thing to do among young people.
Sternberg's Triangular theory of love
Sternberg found three components necessary to authentic love: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy "refers to close, connected, and bonded feelings in a loving relationship. Passion refers to the drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation. Commitment consists of not only deciding to love someone but also deciding to maintain that love over time.
Naturalistic Study
Studying something such a as person or creature without manipulating its environment or itself.
Intimacy
The ability to form close, loving relationships with another individual that help to make the relationship happier and last longer.
Abstinence
The act of refraining from sex for religious, health, or pregnancy/STD concerns.
Sex
The biological differences that distinguish males from females.
Gender Variance
The expressions of sex and gender that diverge from male/female norms which dominate society over any other expressional form of gender and sex.
Gender Differentiation
The extent to which a society maximizes gender differences; our cultural expectations about how men and women should behave.
Wheel of Love
The four-phase cycle of love. The four stages are rapport (mutual love and respect), self-revelation (self-disclosure/becoming intimate), mutual dependency (develop interdependence by spending and wanting to speed time with one another, which causes their lives to be intertwined), and personality need fulfillment (all emotional, sexual, and physical needs are met by one another).
Dating Scripts
The idea of who initiates and does what while dating. Such as in the past where males only initiate dates, decide where to go, control public domain (drive and pay), and initiate sexual contact; while females only control private domain (grooming and dressing), responding to males gestures/actions in the public domain, and responding to his sexual initiatives (gate keeper).
Exogamy
The practice of marriage outside the tribe, class, kinship, caste, or social group.
Endogamy
The practice of marriage within the tribe, class, kinship, caste, or social group.
Gender Socialization
The process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one's sex.
Gender
The psychological aspects of being male or female or other.
Asexual
The sexual orientation of having no sexual attraction to others.
Intersectionality
The structural connections or "intersections" among race, class, and gender. For example, a black woman immigrant from Haiti who is a single mother and domestic worker has a very different life from that of her employer, an Asian Indian woman lawyer who is an Ivy League graduate with a professional husband. When race, social class, sexual identity, physical abilities, and immigrant or national status are taken into account, we can see that in some circumstances' male privilege is partly, sometimes substantially, muted.
Homogamy
The tendency of individuals to marry people with social characteristics similar to their own such as race, religion, social class, etc.
Gender Expectations
The way to describe societal attitudes and behaviors expected of and associated with an individual's anatomical sex assigned at birth. Society expects females to develop a feminine gender identity and males, a masculine one. Meanwhile, a complication occurs because some people do not feel at ease with their sex as ascribed at birth.
Sexual Scripts
These are culturally written patterns or "plots" for human behavior. Sexual scripts offer reasons for having sex and designate who should take the sexual initiative, how long an encounter should last, what positions are acceptable, and so forth. These are typically dictated by men in society, thus giving women inferior roles and less say in their sexual choices.
Acquaintance Rape
This action is also known as date rape; someone becomes the victim of an unwanted sexual encounter with a date or other acquaintance.
Sexting
This action is defined as sending or posting sexually suggestive text messages and images, including nude or semi-nude photographs, via cell phones or smartphones or over the Internet. It is a growing phenomenon and is prevalent among men and women of all ages, genders, sexualities, classes, and belief systems.
Manipulating
This action means working to control the feelings, attitudes, and behavior of your partner or partners in underhanded ways rather than by directly stating your case. When not getting their way, manipulators are likely to find fault with a partner, sometimes with verbal abuse.
Commitment
This idea is characterized by this willingness to work through problems and conflicts as opposed to calling it quits when problems arise. In this view, it involves consciously investing in the relationship.
Family Change Perspective
This idea sometimes point out that some family changes can be for the better. Longer life expectancy can mean more positive years with parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Easier access to divorce than was the case fifty years ago means that family members have alternatives to living with domestic violence.
Patriarchal Sexuality
This idea/practice is characterized by many beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors developed to protect the male line of descent. This was typically practiced/believed Pre-20th Century. Men are to control women's sexuality. Exclusive sexual possession of a woman by a man in monogamous marriage ensures that her children will be legitimately his. Men are thought to be born with an urgent sex drive, whereas women are seen as naturally sexually passive; orgasm is expected for men but not for women. Unmarried men and husbands whose wives do not meet their sexual needs may gratify those needs outside marriage. Sex outside marriage is considered wrong for women, however.
Martyring
This involves maintaining relationships by consistently minimizing one's own needs while trying to satisfy those of one's partner. Periods of self-sacrifice are necessary through difficult times. However, excessive self-sacrifice is unworkable.
Pool of Eligibles
This is a group of individuals who are currently unmarried or un-partnered. The pool of prospective mates starts out large but is made smaller by propinquity (geographical area), desired demographic and social characteristics, physical attraction, and personal, lifestyle factors.
Consummate Love
This is composed of all three of Sternberg's Love Triangle components (Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment); it is a complete love, a kind of love toward which many of us strive, especially in romantic relationships.
Family Structure
This is the form or shape a family takes; varies according to the social environment in which it is embedded. In pre-industrial or traditional societies, the family structure involved whole kinship groups.
Family Decline Perspective
This is the idea that claims that a cultural change toward excessive individualism and self-indulgence has hurt relationships, led to high divorce rates, and undermines responsible parenting.
Expressive Sexuality
This modern idea/practice about sexuality is seen as a basic right to the humanness of both women and men; there is no one-sided sense of ownership. The modern idea about sex. Orgasm is important for women as well as for men. Sex is not primarily or only for reproduction, but it is an important means of enhancing human intimacy. Hence, all forms of sexual activity between consenting adults are acceptable.
Exchange Theory Perspective
This perspective applies an economic perspective to social relationships. A basic premise is that when individuals are engaged in social exchanges, they prefer to limit their costs and maximize their rewards. Chapter 1 discusses making informed decisions as a process of "deciding" rather than "sliding."
Family Ecology Perspective
This perspective explores how a family is influenced by the surrounding environment. The relationship of work to family life, discussed in Chapter 10, is one example of an ecological focus.
Interaction-Constructionist Perspective
This perspective focuses on interaction, the face-to-face encounters and relationships of individuals who act in awareness of one another. Often this perspective explores the daily conversation, gestures, and other behaviors that go on in families.
Family Life Course Perspective
This perspective focuses on the family itself as the unit of analysis The concept of the family life course is central here, based on the idea that the family changes in fairly predictable ways over time. Typical stages in the family life course are marked by: the addition or subtraction of family members (through birth, death, and leaving home), the various stages that the children go through, and changes in the family's connections with other social institutions (retirement from work, for example, or a child's entry into school).
Structure-Functional Perspective
This perspective investigates how a given social structure functions to fill basic societal needs. As discussed in Chapter 1, families are principally accountable for three vital family functions: to raise children responsibly, to provide economic support, and to give family members emotional security. Social structure refers to the ways that families are patterned or organized—that is, the form that a family may take.
Bio-Social Perspective
This perspective is characterized by concepts linking psycho-social factors to physiology, genetics, and evolution. This perspective argues that human physiology, genetics, and hormones predispose individuals to certain behaviors. In other words, biology interacts with the social environment to affect much of human behavior and, more specifically, many family-related behaviors.
Attachment Theory Perspective
This perspective proposes that during infancy and childhood a young person develops a general style of attaching to others . Once a youngster's attachment style is established, she or he unconsciously applies that style, or "state of mind," to later adult relationships.
Systems Theory Perspective
This perspective views the family as a whole, or system, comprising interrelated parts (the family members) and demarcated by boundaries. Originating in natural science, systems theory was applied to the family first by psychotherapists and was then adopted by family scholars.
Hooking Up
This practice can occur with no prior acquaintance between the parties and no further contact afterward. The basic idea behind hooking up, friends with benefits, and other forms of casual sex is that a sexual encounter means nothing more than just that, a sexual encounter.
Minority Group
This term conveys the idea that persons in non-white race/ethnic categories experience some disadvantage, exclusion, or discrimination in American society as compared to the politically and culturally dominant Non-Hispanic, white group.
Transgender
This term refers to persons who change gender identity. Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.
Gender Identity
This term refers to the degree to which we see ourselves as feminine, masculine, transsexual—or perhaps even non-gender or having no gender at all. Most of us are male and masculine or female and feminine. But gender scholars today see gender identity as fluid, largely socially constructed, and existing along a spectrum, or continuum, an imaginary line along which individuals vary between the opposite poles of femininity and masculinity.
Interactionist perspective on human sexuality
This theory holds that women and men are influenced by the sexual scripts that they learn from their culture. This is typically placing males at dominant roles and women at submissive roles.
Post-Modern Family/American Families Today
Today's families are not necessarily bound to one another by legal marriage, blood, or adoption. The term family can identify relationships in addition to spouses, parents, children, and extended kin. Individuals fashion and experience intimate relationships and families in many forms. As social scientists take into account this structural variability, it is not uncommon to find them referring to the family as postmodern. This type came into use to acknowledge the fact that families today exhibit a multiplicity of forms and that new or altered family forms continue to emerge and develop.
Heterosexist
Viewing heterosexual as normal and devaluing homosexuals; the idea of being biased against homosexuals
