Marriage and Family Sociology Test 1

What is meant by the term postmodern family?

Families today exhibit a multiplicity of forms.

Which of the following is true about the age at marriage today?

It is the highest recorded since the 1890 census.

Which of the following is NOT one of the four themes of the textbook?

Personal decision making has little impact on society.

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps involved with making knowledgeable choices?

Try to avoid making a decision if possible.

In sharing sexual pleasure, each partner assumes ___________, that is, responsibility for his or her own sexual response.

a certain role

Current controversy centers on whether sex education should be "abstinence-only" or "__________" (also termed "comprehensive").

abstinence-plus

Men are expected to have _________ character traits like strength, self-confidence, assertiveness, and ambition.

agentic

Warmth, sensitivity, tenderness, and placing concern about others' welfare above self-interest can be classified as __________ character traits.

agentic

Individuals' choices depend largely on the ________ that exist in their social environment.

alernatives

To help accomplish ethical standards, most researchers now must have their research plans reviewed by

an institutional review board (IRB).

The concept of "household" is broader than that of "family" as it includes

any person residing in the home.

The __________ perspective argues that humans' evolutionary biology affects much of human behavior and, more specifically, many family-related behaviors.

biosocial

The text observes that most people grow up in some form of family and know something about what marriages and families are. But while personal experience provides us with information, it can also act as

blinders

A practice among schoolmates involves _______ where many cross-sexual interaction rituals are based on and reaffirm boundaries and differences between girls and boys.

borderwork

While family members increasingly encourage girls to develop instrumental skills,

boys are still discouraged from cultivating tenderness.

In the exchange perspective, what a person expects out of a relationship is referred to as

comparison level

Which of the following is NOT a style of relating, according to attachment theory?

compliant

The _______ of men's and women's roles reflects a dramatic change since the gender roles of 1950s and before.

convergence

Over the past four decades, fertility in the United States has

declined

The increasing independence of Asian women in the U.S. has been attributed to _________.

discrimination

Deciding about, rather than sliding into, a situation involves looking at the alternatives, not just picking the ________ choice.

easiest

Biological theories of gender difference were initially offered by

ethologists

People are influenced by the society around them. Societal or structural conditions can negatively limit or positively__________ our options.

expand

Within the scope of __________ sexuality, orgasm is important for women as well as for men, and sex is not only, or even primarily, for reproduction, but is an important means of enhancing human intimacy.

expressive

Many households containing grandparents are __________ family households, which include other relatives besides parents and children.

extended

Scholars and advocates with a __________ perspective point to what they see as a negative cultural change accentuated by excessive individualism and self-indulgence.

family decline

A strength of the __________ perspective is that it sensitizes us to significant political-economic and social-cultural issues that may not be addressed in other theories.

family ecology

The __________ perspective focuses on how the family influences and is influenced by the environments that surround it.

family ecology

The __________ perspective looks at the family as a whole; where change in one part sets in motion a process to restore equilibrium.

family systems

A central focus of the feminist perspective is on__________ issues.

gender

Women outnumber men in college today, but there is still ________.

gender differentiation in choice of majors

Dorothy perceives herself as being ultra-feminine, based on society's definitions of appropriate gender roles. Dorothy's perceptions are linked to her

gender identity

Michael is a stay-at-home father and feels pressure from society to watch football on TV, enjoy action movies, play basketball on the weekends, and bring home a bigger paycheck than his corporate executive wife. What is this societal pressure called?

gender roles

Representative samples (like Gallup polls) are important to family survey research because the results can be ________ to the national population of the sample.

generalized

In the contemporary version of evolutionary theory, it is the survival of one's __________ into future generations that is important.

genetic material

The emotional dimension of decision making is referred to in the text as the

gut factor

The text points out that some music videos broadcast shockingly violent misogynist messages, meaning that these presentations communicate which sentiment toward women?

hatred

Until several decades ago, _________ or the taken-for-granted belief that sexual relations between a man and a woman was the norm

heterosexism

Which of the following is NOT a neighborhood risk factor which puts children at greater risk for negative outcomes including violence?

homogeneous neighborhoods

According to the text, one disadvantage of survey research is it depends on the

honesty, motivation, and ability to respond.

Exchange theory stresses the importance of __________ in family relationships.

how family members use their resources to trade with other family members

Compared to 50 years ago, marriage is not as __________ to Americans.

important

Which of the following is attributed to the U.S. by "family change" scholars?

inadequate support for families

The heterosexual transmission of HIV/AIDS is ____________.

increasing

When persons think in terms of seeking primarily personal—as opposed to communal or group—happiness and goals, this reflects which orientation?

individualistic

Confidence, assertiveness, and ambition can be classified as __________ character traits.

instramental

The process by which family identity, traditions, and commitment emerge through interaction within a particular family, is an important part of which perspective?

interaction-constructionist

Transgender and _______ individuals challenge the existing classifications of gender.

intersex

The text concludes that the best way to make decisions about our personal lives is to make them

knowledgeably

The text points out that the social institutions of marriage and the family have become _________________ since the mid-twentieth century.

less predictable

If you wanted to make a knowledgeable decision about choosing which class to take,

look through the catalog at all the possibilities, consider what will benefit you in the future, and register early to get the class you consider best.

Which of the following is NOT listed by your text as a major family function?

meeting sexual desires

Children are __________ likely than the general population or the elderly to be living in poverty.

more

Actual practice among conservative Christian couples appears ____________.

more egalitarian than formal doctrine would suggest

The likelihood of divorce declines with _________.

more years of education

The climate, soil, plants, and animals are all part of the __________ environment.

natural physical-biological

In __________________ the researcher spends extensive time with respondents and carefully records their activities, conversations, gestures, and other aspects of everyday life

naturalistic observation

The family ecology perspective believes every family is embedded in a set of _________, which exist outside of the family and influence it.

nested structures

Today's family ecologists stress the interdependence of all the world's families, not only with one another but also with our fragile __________ environment.

physical -biological

Particularly among college educated women, parenthood is _________.

postponed

Within exchange theory, the _________ refers to the relationship between committment to the relationship and power in the relationship.

principle of least interest

According to the interaction-constructionist theoretical perspective, ______________ is how family members adapt culturally understood roles to their own situations and preferences.

role-making

Parents, siblings and other relatives are usually highly influential in developing a child's _____________, or that child's sense of worth and value.

self-concept

From the 1970s on, parents have reported treating their sons and daughters

similarly

The text points out that school-age boys have a greater incidence of all but which of the following problems?

stress-related illnesses

Which is the phrase used to describe economic and social forces which limit personal choices?

structural constraints

The __________ perspective once argued for the functionality of specialized gender roles.

structure-functional

Cohabitation has emerged as a lifestyle

that can be an alternative to marriage.

According to the text, human beings are sexual beings__________

throughout their entire lives

While part of being a scientist is having objectivity, in reality

total neutrality is impossible for anyone.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines a family as

two or more persons sharing a household and who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption.

A majority of children live in __________ households.

two-parent

The conflict and feminist perspectives call attention to __________ within groups—including families—and within the larger society.

unequal power

Theoretical perspectives are ways of

viewing reality; or ways an observer may view, organize and interpret reality.

Images of men as instrumental and women as expressive are based on

white, middle-class, heterosexuals.

After various factors associated with earnings are taken into account, research finds a varying, but perhaps as much as a _______ differential in earnings that is usually attributed to discrimination.

22 percent

Individuals living alone constitute about ______ percent of American households.

26

How many new cases of HIV are diagnosed each year in the U.S.?

56,000

According to the text, employed women earned __________ percent of what employed men did

82