Marriage & Family Chapter 7 – Flashcards

Over 5 million unmarried couples lived together; there has been a dramatic rise since 1970

Cohabitation is often a testing ground for marriage but does not avoid similar problems to marriage

The two most important items were that his wife understood and listened to him and was a great mother to their children

Given the emphasis men tend to place on sexual attraction in relationships, it should not come as a surprise that when choosing a life-partner men tend to emphasize physical attractiveness

exchange refers to the process in which both parties seek to maximize rewards and minimize costs by determining what each partner will contribute to the relationship and for what tasks they will be responsible

Assortative mating refers to the idea that the choice of a life-partner is based on homogeneous qualities found in the person we select. In other words, we mate with people most similar to ourselves

A marriage between two people who are very similar in many respects is referred to as homogamy

Men's age, on the average, is about two years older than that of women at the time of marriage.

While homogamy in race was not only the norm but the law historically in America, since the 1980s interracial marriages have increased

Almost 4% of all marriages are interracial

Research on marriage homogamy suggests that people tend to marry within their own religion.

ducational homogamy is found in a little over one-half of all marriages.

People tend to select others similar to themselves; thus people who struggle with emotional issues, divorce, and obesity tend to marry others who deal with the same struggles.

people choose a life-partner with similar leisure interests, as well as the same love and attachment styles.

people tend to select someone who is close at hand and with whom they come into contact often.

John Start Mill said that those who calculate the odds of winding up in a happy union would not even risk trying. In other words, he felt the odds of winding up in a happy union were against you.

Having a sense that one is prepared to commit to marriage, the age at marriage, and the general readiness for the challenges of marriage are all strong predictors of a stable marriage, all of which are related to the maturity of the individual.

In the study of over 2,500 young adults, Holman and Li concluded that when a person has support from friends and family for their chosen partner, the individual feels that he/she is ready to marry.

the best indicator of how well a couple will communicate after marriage is how well they communicate before marriage.

Scores on the PREPARE instrument have accurately predicted which couples were happily married, separated, or divorced