Marriage and Family Chapter 8

What are some background factors in predicting marital success?

- Age is an especially important factor in shaping marital outcomes; people who marry young are at greater risk of seeing their marriages fail. - Level of education, religion, and parental divorce are other background factors shaping marital outcomes.

What are some characteristics of age and marriage?

- Age is another important element of homogamy and most Americans tend to marry someone of similar age. - Research suggests that the importance individuals place on age varies by age with men seeking progressively younger women than themselves and women preferring their partners to be about the same age. - Despite the popular beliefs that we will be more compatible with partners similar to use in age, research suggests otherwise.

What are some restrictions in marriage among the states?

- Age restrictions specifying that both partners be at least 18 years of age without parental consent are found in 49 states. Nebraska requires that both partners be at least 19 years of age. - Number of spouses is restricted to 1 in all 50 states.

What are some characteristics of different religions in marriage?

- Although Judeo-Christian religious groups tend to support marriage, there are differences among them. - Conservative Protestant denominations and Latter-day Saints (Mormons) articulate especially strong commitments to marriage. - The Catholic Church has a "considerably less robust" promarriage orientation as evidenced in a movement toward viewing marital matters as subjects of individual choice - Liberal and moderate Protestants do not attach the same importance to marriage as do evangelical Protestants. - Orthodox Jews place greater emphasis on traditional gender roles and bearing children than do Reform Jews. - Women and men affiliated with moderate and conservative Protestant denominations and with the Mormon church are more likely to marry young. - Baptists have the highest divorce rate in the United States; Mormons are among those with the lowest likelihood of divorce

How has social class affected marriage?

- Although lifetime marriage rates among women have dropped by 5%, they have declined by 30% for women without a high school diploma. - Among college-educated white women, the prospect of marrying has grown greater, whereas among those without college degrees it has decreased. - For both women and men, educational attainment is positively associated with the likelihood of marriage.

Describe characteristics of Marriage and how its changed over the years

- Behaviorally, approximately 55% of adults, 18 and older, in the United States are currently married. - Attitudinally, marriage remains highly valued, even as divorce and nonmarital lifestyles are increasingly accepted. - Between 1980 and 2000, the view of marriage as a lifelong relationship received increased support. - Yet, more than 40% of new marriages are projected to end in divorce. - Singlehood, cohabitation, and births to unmarried mothers have increased over the last three decades. - Divorce rates declined between the 1980s and 2008 but are still relatively high.

Describe Marriage among Older Couples

- Compared with middle-aged couples, older couples engage in less conflict; these differences may be due to the effects of aging, stages in the family life course, and birth cohort. - Older couples also have greater potential for engaging in pleasurable activities together and separately. - Older people without children experienced about the same level of psychological well-being, instrumental support, and care as those who have children. - Later-middle-aged men and women tend to enjoy good health, are firmly established in their work, and have their highest discretionary spending power because their children have gone.

What are some relationship factors of predicting marital success?

- If couples can maintain humor, express "enthusiasm for what their partner is saying" and convey their continued affection for each other, couples with low levels of problem-solving ability will experience similar outcomes as couples more skilled at problem-solving. - Conflict in early marriage does not indicate that a marriage is doomed, particularly in the first year of marriage when couples may be experiencing the honeymoon effect. - Conflict in early marriage does not indicate that a marriage is doomed, particularly in the first year of marriage when couples may be experiencing the honeymoon effect.

How has same-sex marriage changed over the years in the U.S?

- In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act and President Bill Clinton signed it into law. - The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled on November 18, 2003 that the state's ban of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and since February 4, 2004, Massachusetts has had fully legal gay marriage. - In late 2008, Connecticut became the second state to legalize same-sex marriage and was joined in 2009, by Iowa, Vermont, and Maine. - Hawaii, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and California recognize same-sex domestic partnerships or civil unions. --- It is difficult to predict what level legalization of or opposition to gay marriage will continue or what effect it will have. (It's legal now)

What are some characteristics of Widowhood?

- In 2007, 8% of men and 26% of women between 65 and 74 were widowed. - Because of the demographic facts of life expectancy, men have more opportunities to date and remarry. - Widowhood is often associated with a significant decline in income, especially for poorer families. - Recovering from loss is often difficult and prolonged. - One common response of widowed women and men is to glorify their marriages and their deceased spouses. - Women who have had a close marriage may be reluctant to start a new relationship; men may be especially motivated to establish another marriage. - About 2% of widows and 20% of widowers remarry. - A large number of elderly men and women live together without remarrying

What are the characteristics of an Enduring Marriage

- In general, the quality of the marital relationship appears to show continuity over the years. - Stability results more from assessments of the costs and rewards of staying in or leaving a marriage. - Unhappy marriages may be enduring ones because there are no better alternatives, because the costs of leaving exceed the costs of staying married, or both. - There is considerable diversity in married life.

How has the views on same-sex marriage changed over the years?

- Internationally, the movement toward gay marriage began in the 1990s and by mid-2009, the right to marry was extended to same-sex couples in the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Norway, and South Africa. - Recognition to same-sex couples as domestic partners or in civil unions is given in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, France, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Britain, Portugal, Slovenia, Australia, and New Zealand. - The issue of gay marriage has been in flux for more than a decade in the United States.

What are the functions of an Engagement?

- It signifies commitment to marriage; it prepares couples for marriage by requiring them to think about the realities of everyday married life; it is the beginning of kinship; it allows the prospective partners to strengthen themselves as a couple. - Men and women may need to deal with a number of social and psychological issues during engagement including the following: anxiety, maturation and dependency needs, losses, partner choice, gender-role conflict, idealization and disillusionment, marital expectations, and self-knowledge.

Describe Middle-Aged Marriages

- Middle-aged marriages, in which couples are in their 40s and 50s, are typically families with adolescents and/or young adults leaving home. - Married couples with adolescent children may disagree about such issues as their teens' dating, increasing autonomy, and their assumption of more adult roles and responsibilities. - While these disagreements may cause declines in marital satisfaction and marital love, for parents at midlife, their own aging process may cause them distress.

Describe the Not-So-Empty Nest: Adult Children and Parents Together

- More than 3.6 million parents lived in the same house with an adult son or daughter in 2007 representing a 67% increase from 2000. - Roughly half of 2008 college graduates expected to move back home after graduating. - Others return home after a temporary or lengthy absence and are known as the BOOMERANG GENERATION - High unemployment rates, a tightened recession, high divorce rates, as well as personal problems push adult children back to the parental home. - The "OPEN NEST" is not a stage that most parents anticipated.

Describe the process and characteristics of establishing boundaries in early marriage

- Newly married couples must decide how much interaction with their families is desirable and how much influence their families of orientation may have. - The critical task is to form a family that is interdependent, rather than totally independent or dependent. - married people are less likely to socialize with friends and neighbors than are either the never married or the previously married. - Ideally, both families of orientation and peers will understand, accept, and support these breaks.

What are some personal factors in predicting marital success?

- Opposites do not usually attract. - Attributes and characteristics matter greatly in shaping marital outcomes - The ability to identify and communicate emotions is associated with marital satisfaction.

Describe the controversy over same-sex marriage among the states

- Six states in the United States-Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire-have legalized same-sex marriage. - Many other states have added to their state marriage laws explicit declarations that same-sex marriage will not be recognized within their state. - Public opinion on the issue is similarly divided.

What are some characteristics of how Families are Launching Centers

- Some couples may be happy or even grateful to see their children leave home, while others may experience this with difficulty. - The period following the child's exit is commonly known as the EMPTY NEST. - Some cross-sectional studies of marital satisfaction showed an increase in marital satisfaction after children left home; longitudinal studies, however, showed satisfaction to be stable or to decline over time.

How does Parenthood affect marriage?

- The presence of children in the household appears to lower marital satisfaction and increase marital conflict. - The arrival of children is also frequently followed by an immediate decline in both independent and shared leisure activity. - Marital satisfaction declines in the early years of marriage even among nonparents in a process known as the DURATION OF MARRIAGE EFFECT as couples move beyond the honeymoon phase and toward more realistic assessments of their relationships. - Changes in employment, income, and residence can also affect how spouses evaluation their marriages.

Describe aging and later-life marriages

- There are some 37 million Americans over age 65; 58 percent are females; more than half are married; and nearly one-third are widowed. - Beliefs that the elderly are neglected and isolated tend to reflect myth more than reality. -- Among those over 65, an estimated 10% were below poverty. -- Those over 65 are more likely to be living with either a spouse or other relatives than alone. -- Most appear to remain fairly well connected to their families.

What are some characteristics of marriage?

- Weddings are an ancient ritual that symbolizes a couple's commitment to each other. - Wedding ceremonies, celebrations, and rituals are rites of passage encompassing rites of separation, aggregation, and transition. - The wedding is especially noteworthy as a rite of transition, wherein it marks the passage from single to married status. - Marriage is a major commitment, and entering marriage may provoke considerable anxiety and uncertainty.

What are some of the economic and demographic aspects discouraging marriage?

- Where nearly three-fifths of Caucasians and Asians and half of Hispanics are married, only about a third of African Americans are married. - Hispanic women are most likely to marry young. - Marriage is still a strong institution for Chinese and Japanese Americans. - Fewer young African Americans express an expectation to every marry and report an older desired age at marriage than whites. - African Americans who marry are more likely to divorce than Caucasians who marry and are less likely than Caucasians to remarry after divorce.

What is the Family Life Cycle? What are the stages?

- the first stage of the family life cycle may begin with engagement or cohabitation, followed by a wedding, the ceremony that represents the beginning of a marriage. -- Today, more couples than in the past announce that they are "planning to get married"— this lacks the formality of engagement and is less socially binding.

What are the three social forces that help explain marriage patterns?

- the preferences of individuals for resources in a partner, - the influence of one's peer group, - the constraints of the marriage market.

What are the three steps to Identity Bargaining?

1) a person has to identify with the role he or she is performing; 2) a person must be treated by the other as if he or she fulfills the role; 3) two people must negotiate changes in each other's roles.

What are the tasks that newly married couples need to begin in order to build and strengthen their marriages?

1) establishing marital and family roles; 2) providing emotional support for the partner; 3) adjusting personal habits; 4)negotiating gender roles; 5) making sexual adjustments; 6) establishing family and employment priorities; 7) developing communication skills; 8) managing budgetary and financial matters; 9) establishing kin relationships; and 10) participating in the larger community. -- failures to successfully complete these tasks may contribute to the duration-of-marriage effect

According to LAUER and LAUER, what are the most important ingredients identified by men and women to explain their marital success

1) having a spouse who is a best friend; 2) believing in marriage as a long-term commitment; 3) consensus on aims, goals, and philosophies of life; 4) shared humor.

What are the three major types of commitment that operate within marriage, according to JOHNSON

1) personal commitment; 2) moral commitment; 3) structural commitment.

What are the four assumptions about husband/wife responsibilities in Traditional Marital Roles?

1) the husband is the head of the household; 2) the husband is responsible for supporting the family; 3) the wife is responsible for domestic work and, 4) the wife is responsible for child rearing. -- The traditional assumptions about marital responsibility may not have reflected marital reality.

Defense of Marriage Act

1996, Declares that states are not obligated to recognize any same sex marriages that might not be legally sanctioned in other states, defined marriage and spouse in heterosexual terms for federal law

How does social context and social stress affect marriage? (according to Bradbury and Karney)

BRADBURY and KARNEY offer the following points to consider: 1) Marital quality was lower among couples experiencing higher average levels of stress; 2) Marital quality dropped more quickly among couples reporting high levels of chronic stress; 3) During times of elevated stress, more relationship problems were perceived and partner's negative behaviors were more often viewed as selfish, intentional, and blameworthy.

What are some benefits of marriage? (costs?)

Benefits of Marriage include economic well-being, physical and mental health, and personal happiness. - In considering the benefits, researchers have been divided as to whether these benefits truly follow marriage or were instead reflections of differences in the types of people who do and don't marry. - It should be noted that a good marriage has healthful and stabilizing effects. - But research indicates that not-so-good marriages do not provide the health, happiness, or other benefits that otherwise appear to separate happily married people from the unmarried. -- Long-term unhappy marriage appears to have negative effects on spouses.

How can Courtship help predict marital success?

Courtship sets the stage for marriage: those who are unhappy before marriage are more likely to be unhappy after marriage as well. - Rocky and turbulent courtships are more typically experienced by "difficult" personalities and tend to result in unhappy but lasting marriages. - Sweet and undramatic courtships are more likely to result in satisfying and enduring marriages. - Passionate courtships often find that their "sizzle fizzles" after two years and are vulnerable to divorce.

Does Not Marrying Suggest Rejection of Marriage?

EDIN and colleagues assert that marriage has by no means lost its status as a cultural ideal among low-income and minority populations -- Three barriers to marriage are reflected in interviews with low-income, unmarried couples: financial concerns, concerns about the quality and durability of their relationships, fear of divorce.

What are the expectations that to people have about their own and each other's marital roles based on?

Gender roles and their own experience

Describe The Beginning/Early Marriage

HUTSON and MELZ contend that early in marriage, newly married couples are affectionate, very much in love, and relatively free of excessive conflict, a state that might be called "blissful harmony." - Within a year, this affectionate climate "melts" into a more genial partnership. - Huston and Melz also found that couples establish a "distinctive emotional climate" from the outset that does not change over the initial 2 years of marriage; they are either happy or unhappy. - Happy couples typically contain two people who are both warm and even tempered.

What is the Retreat from Marriage and how is it described by OROPESA and LANDALE?

It's described as being "evident" in a number of recent and ongoing trends: "historic" delays in the age at which women and men first marry, nearly "unprecedented" proportions of the population never marrying, "dramatic" increases in cohabitation and nonmarital births, and continued high divorce rates. -- The retreat from marriage appears to be associated with increases in employment of women, smaller gender wage gaps in earnings, wider inequality among men, and persistent economic inequality in racial groups.

Describe Marriage between blood relatives

Nowhere in the United States is marriage allowed between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, uncles and nieces, and aunts and nephews. -- Twenty states allow marriage between first cousins.

endogamy

People usually marry others from within their same large group

How are religion and marriage related?

Religion and marriage are related in that religious differences have been identified in mate choice, childbearing and childrearing, the division of household labor, domestic violence, marital quality, and divorce.

How has religion been a significant factor in marital choice?

Religion has long been a significant factor in marital choice in the following ways: 1) religious homogamy has a stronger effect on marital quality than does the level of religiosity; 2) marital conflict is higher among couples with theological differences; 3) religious homogamy unites spouses who have similar values and strengthens their commitment.

What do scholars disagree on regarding trends in marriage?

Scholars disagree whether trends undermine marriage as an institution or put more emphasis on marriage as a relationship between two individuals based on self-development, freedom, and equality between spouses. - Neither the marital decline perspective nor the marital resilience perspective is consistently supported by the variety of data available.

How is socioeconomic status an important factor in marriage?

Socioeconomic status is similar among most couples who marry and among those who do not marry homogamously, (i.e. marry up-hypergamy or marry-down-hypogamy) marry someone in a nearby social class (there are few "prince and pauper" marriages.)

What is the Stations of Marriage and what does it highlight?

The Stations of Marriage highlight the multidimensionality of marriage and include: - Emotional marriage. The experiences associated with falling in love and the intensification of an emotional connection between two people. - Psychic marriage. The change in identity from an autonomous individual to a partner in a couple. - Community marriage. The changes in social relationships and social network that accompany the shift in priorities and identity described earlier. - Legal marriage. The legal relationship that provides a couple with a host of rights and responsibilities. - Economic marriage. The variety of economic changes that people experience when they marry. - Coparental marriage. The changes induced in marriage relationships by the arrival of children. - We might also include a domestic marriage—all of the negotiating, dividing, managing, and performing of daily household chores.

What are the main reasons why we marry?

The greatest attraction of marriage is probably the love and intimacy that we expect to find and share there. - Among the many reasons for marriage, we can easily recognize the role of possible economic and social pressures, as well as the strong desires to have and raise children. - For many, marriage symbolizes that two people have reached a stage in their lives in which they have attained a "prestigious, comfortable, stable style of life"; marriage has become less a marker of conformity and more a marker of prestige.

What are some important elements and characteristics of homogamy?

The most important elements of homogamy are race and ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, age, and personality characteristics. - Of the nearly 55 million married couples in the United States in 2000, 98% of them consisted of husbands and wives of the same race although Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans are all much more likely to marry whites than are African Americans. - Approximately one-fourth of racial intermarriages are marriages between African Americans and Caucasians; three-fourths of all black-white marriages are between an African American man and a white woman. - Overall, interracial marriages have a greater risk of divorce, but how interracial couples think and feel about race is of major significance in the quality of their marital experience.

Why do couples in middle age tend to re-examine their aims and goals?

This reevaluation is in part sparked by an increased awareness of one's own mortality and can be met with continued exercise and hard work or a reflective, retreating from the world.

Although cohabiting couples may be living together before marriage, their relationship is not legally recognized until the wedding, nor is the relationship afforded the same social legitimacy.

True

Vital Marriages (typology)

appeal more to our romantic notions of marriage because they begin and continue with high levels of emotional intensity. - less common (CUBER and HAROFF)

Total Marriages

are relationships in which characteristics of vital relationships are present and multiplied. - less common (CUBER and HAROFF)

Devitalized Marriages (typology)

begin with high levels of emotional intensity that over time has dwindled. - more common (CUBER and HAROFF)

Marriage Debate

disagreement about the health and future of marriage - experts can't agree about whether marriage is or isn't "endangered" - some see marriage as "in decline," while others portray it as dynamic, changing, and resilient.

Family History Homogamy

does not always reduce the risk of divorce; when partners are both children of divorce, their chance of divorcing is three times greater than for couples in which neither are children of divorce.

Marital Commitment

factors that keep people married, including the personal, moral, and structural commitments

Stimulus-Value-Role Theory

identifies three stages of romantic relationships: 1) being attracted before interacting, 2) weighing each other's values seeking compatibility 3) analyzing the other's behavior to determine how the other person fulfills certain roles.

Individualized Marriage

individual self-fulfillment and personal growth became the objectives people sought to satisfy through marriage.

Intermarriage

marriage between persons of different religions, races, castes, etc. -- Intermarriage can decrease the importance of cultural differences and cause individuals to question and lose negative attitudes they have toward other groups.

Hypogamy

marrying "down" in the social class hierarchy

Hypergamy

marrying "up" in the social class hierarchy

Marital History Homogamy

occurs as a matter of deliberate choice (i.e. with those coming from divorce choosing partners who have also experienced divorce, etc.).

What is the seven-type marriage typology created by LAVEE and OLSON and is based on couples in marriage enrichment programs or marital therapy?

personality issues, conflict resolution, communication, sexual intimacy, religious beliefs, financial management, leisure, parenting, relationships with friends and family. -- We need to be cautious about generalizing too far from either typology but to recognize that not all marriages are alike. (Throughout marriage, we are presented with opportunities for growth and change)

The Marriage Squeeze and Mating Gradient

refer gender imbalance reflected in the ratio of available unmarried women and men and the tendency for women to marry men of higher status, respectively.

The Deinstitutionalization of Marriage

refers to the "weakening of the social norms that define people's behavior in a social institution such as marriage." - As a result of wider social change, individuals can no longer rely on shared understandings of how to act in and toward marriage.

Heterogamy

refers to the tendency to choose a mate whose personal or group characteristics differ from our own.

Conflict-Habituated Marriage (typology)

relationships in which tension, arguing, and conflict "permeate the relationship. -more common (CUBER and HAROFF)

Passive-Congenial Marriages (typology)

relationships that begin without the emotional "spark" in romantic idealizations of marriage. - more common (CUBER and HAROFF)

exogamy

requires us to marry outside certain groups-particularly outside our own family and outside our sex.

Value/Role Theory

suggests that people find gratification when finding someone who feels and thinks as they do.

Complementary Needs Theory

suggests that people select spouses whose needs differ from their own (opposites attract)

Parental Image Theory

suggests that we seek partners similar to our opposite-sex parent.

Duration-of-Marriage Effect

the accumulation over time of various factors that cause marital disenchantment.

Identity Bargaining

the process by which people adjust their idealized preconceptions of marriage to the reality of their partner's personality and to the circumstances of their marriage

Homogamy

the tendency to choose a mate whose personal or group characteristics are similar to ours, is encouraged by society and is also known as POSITIVE ASSORTATIVE MATING -

Residential Propinquity

the tendency to select partners from a geographically limited locale and overlaps with age, socioeconomic class, and age homogamy.

marital resilience perspective

the view that overall, marriage is no weaker than in the past, but that all families need an increase in structural supports to thrive

marital decline perspective

the view that the institution of marriage is increasingly being threatened by hedonistic pursuits of personal happiness at the expense of long-term commitment

boomerang generation

young adults who move back into their parents' homes after living independently for a while