Chapter 12
Which of the following are functions of religion?
Religion operates as a form of social control. Religion can motivate social action. Religion can provide believers with deep social-psychological benefits.
Marx argued that religion served to maintain the interests of
the ruling class.
The fastest growing religious category in recent years has been
the unaffiliated.
A belief in the existence of a god or gods is called
theism.
The practice of restricting sexual relations to one partner is called
Monogamy
Which of the following describes a marriage consisting of only two partners?
Monogamy
When was the concept of no-fault divorce first introduced into laws in the U.S.?
1970s
About ______% of Americans identify as Christian.
70
In the United States today, about ______ of all children are raised in two-parent households.
70%
Peter Berger believed that religion provides a ______ under which a society's members can find shelter.
sacred canopy
According to Durkheim, something extraordinary that is to be treated with reverence and awe is considered
sacred.
A small, dissenting faction of a church that promotes new beliefs or practices is called a
sect
Marriage is now ______ common among college-educated people than among others.
significantly more
In 2016 the percentage of new marriages that were interracial or interethnic was ______ the percentage in 1967.
six times higher than
Same-sex couples with children are more likely to be
working-class. poor. middle-class.
______ of all marriages in the United States are interracial or interethnic.
About 18%
Which of the following were once characteristics of the "traditional" family?
Children were well-mannered. The husband assumed the role of breadwinner. Fathers were considered strong, and mothers were nurturing.
In the U.S. groups that reject secularization assert that the country was founded as a ______ nation and that the laws and institutions should embody those beliefs.
Christian
______ is the most widespread religion.
Christianity
Who of the following focused on the most rudimentary forms of religion and their social functions in his work The Elementary Forms of Religious Life?
Emile Durkheim
The term refers to two or more people, related either by birth or through social commitment, who share resources, care for any dependents, and often maintain close emotional relationships.
Family
Which of the following statements about the fertility rate in the United States is true?
It has fluctuated throughout the history of the nation.
is a social relationship that creates family ties, typically involves sexual intimacy, and is formalized by legal contract, religious ceremony, or both.
Marriage
Which of the following sociologists argued that Protestant values unintentionally contributed to the rise of capitalism and industrialization?
Max Weber
Which of the following are global trends in family life that have been identified by sociologists?
More women are joining the paid labor force. Families increasingly include more elderly members.
Which of the following are global trends in family life that have been identified by sociologists?
Open mate-selection is growing. Women are waiting longer to get married. Families are getting smaller.
What did Marx mean when he wrote that religion is an "opiate"?
Religion falsely comforts people and therefore encourages them to accept the inequalities of their society.
According to ______, the rise of science and rationality marked a new way of thinking that emphasized the need for skepticism, questioning, and empirical evidence as the basis for knowledge and action.
Weber
Which of the following statements about families is true?
The family is a key social institution.
By promoting values and norms, religious organizations can play an important role in socialization. In this case, religion is acting as a form of social
control.
Small religious communities whose beliefs and practices are at odds with the dominant culture are called
cult
Which of the following best describes the concept of the traditional family?
The traditional family is an idealized concept that simplifies the truth.
Which of the following are some of the ways that cohabitation is viewed across different cultures?
There are some cultures where cohabitation is viewed as a prelude to marriage. There are some cultures where cohabitation is viewed as an alternative to marriage.
True or false: Almost anything can be sacred.
True
True or false: Maria and John formalized their union in a religious ceremony. This is an example of marriage.
True
During the mid-twentieth century, divorce was not an easy option due to
a lack of economic opportunities for women. strict divorce laws.
In today's industrialized societies, many of the original functions of the family
are now handled by other social institutions.
John and Mary have a sexual relationship and decide to move in together but do not yet want to get married. Their arrangement is an example of
cohabitation.
By protecting religious freedom but never having an official state religion, the U.S. created a vibrant climate for
competition among faiths.
Churches often have well-organized subgroups with varying interpretations of their faith called
denominations
The way people trace kinship over multiple generations is called
descent.
An example of endogamy is
encouraging people to marry within their own racial, ethnic, or religious group.
The restriction of marriage either by law or custom to people within the same social category is called
endogamy
A family that consists of the nuclear family plus other relatives, such as grandparents, is called a(n) ______ family.
extended
Mary lives with her husband, their children, and her parents. This is an example of a(n) ______ family.
extended
Belief grounded in personal conviction or divine revelation rather than scientific evidence is
faith
True or false: The ordinary world of everyday life is referred to as the sacred.
false
The average number of births per female is called the ______ rate.
fertility
Most sociologists who agree with the secularization thesis
focus on the declining influence of religion on social life. do not predict the disappearance of religion.
When did the so-called traditional family prevail in the United States?
for a relatively brief period of time after World War II
According to Weber, which of the following were characteristics of the Protestant ethic?
frugality self-denial hard work
Since the 1950s the median age at first marriage in the United States has
increased.
There is evidence that religion in the United States is
increasingly a source of individual emotional comfort.
According to the functionalist view, which of the following are important functions that the family performs?
material aid socialization sexual regulation emotional comfort
Compared to their peers growing up in two-parent households, children from single-parent households are
more likely to drop out of high school. more likely to have unsteady employment as young adults.
The concept where family courts can grant a divorce based solely on the request of one partner is called ______ divorce.
no-fault
The idealized traditional family of the mid-twentieth century reflected the historical fact that authority in the Western family was vested in a male family head, or
patriarch.
According to Peter Berger, religion is
primarily an effort to create a meaningful reality in which to live.
In his discussion of religion, Durkheim noted that faiths distinguish between which realms?
profane sacred
Research has shown that same-sex couples are more likely to
raise an adopted child. become parents as a result of a previous heterosexual relationship. be interracial.
Which of the following allowed the traditional family to prevail in the United States for a relatively brief period after World War II?
relative economic affluence limited aspirations for goods
A unified system of beliefs and ritual practices relating to the sacred that bond people into a moral community is
religion.
According to Weber, the rationalization of society was accompanied by a decline in the influence of
religion.
An inner sense of meaning or purpose, especially as it involves a person's relationship to something greater than the self is known as
spirituality.
The large religious diversity and widespread religious tolerance in the United States can likely be attributed to
the country's longstanding separation of church and state.
Moving previously private beliefs into the public sphere is referred to as
the deprivatization of religion.
In Durkheim's treatment of religion, the profane includes
the ordinary and commonplace.
Why do sociologists study religion?
to understand the role it plays in social life
People in the world's ______ nations are least likely to be religiously active.
wealthier
