Deck 12: Divorce and Remarriage

Question 1

Research indicates that the relationship between divorce and income is

A) positive and linear.
B) curvilinear.
C) insignificant.
D) inverse.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

There are no significant differences in the divorce rate across racial and ethnic groups in the
United States.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Among Arab-Americans,

A) the divorce rate is higher for the first generation.
B) the divorce rate stays about the same for the first three generations.
C) over 80% of U.S.-born Arabs have non-Arab spouses.
D) the divorce rate is higher than the U.S. population in general.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The probability of divorce is negatively correlated with income.

Question 5

Since the early 1980s,the U.S.divorce rate

A) has declined.
B) has increased.
C) has stabilized at pre-World War II rates.
D) is unpredictable.

Question 6

Among industrial nations,the United States has both a high marriage rate and a high divorce rate.

Question 7

Girls tend to respond better than boys in a stepfather family.

Question 8

During the Iraq War,the divorce rate among U.S.Army personnel

A) declined, as couples pulled together to the face the challenge.
B) stayed the same.
C) went up among enlisted personnel and down among officers.
D) went up among enlisted personnel and officers.

Question 9

A leading predictor of divorce within the first five years of marriage is

A) the presence of children.
B) educational attainment of spouses.
C) age at first marriage.
D) religiosity.

Question 10

In terms of family characteristics and divorce,research has found that

A) in general, marriages with children are more stable than marriages without children.
B) the presence of children born prior to the marriage increases the likelihood of divorce.
C) the presence of stepchildren increases the probability of divorce in second marriages.
D) all of the above

Question 11

According to the text,the most realistic method of measuring the divorce rate is to

A) count the number of divorces per thousand marriages in a given year.
B) divide the number of divorces in a year by the number of existing marriages.
C) compare the number of marriages in a given year to the number of divorces in the same year.
D) All of the above methods produce the same results.

Question 12

A very important predictor of divorce during the early years of marriage is the age of the partners.

Question 13

Which of the following is an observable historical trend in the U.S.divorce rate?

A) There are generally increases in the divorce rate during recessions and depression.
B) The divorce rate began rising steadily around 1960.
C) Contemporary U.S. divorce rates are lower than those of other nations that report divorce data.
D) Divorce rates have increased after U.S. involvement in wars.

Question 14

Divorced men remarry at a higher rate than divorced women.

Question 15

The 2005 divorce rate is nearly double the divorce rate of the 1860s.

Question 16

The younger children are when their parents divorce,the more likely they are to have adjustment problems.

Question 17

An explanation for the high divorce rate among young couples offered in the text is

A) sexual dysfunction.
B) premarital pregnancy as the precipitator of marriage.
C) infidelity.
D) poor cooking ability among wives.

Question 18

Children appear to adjust better after divorce when they live with a same-sex parent.

Question 19

A plausible explanation for the relationship between family size and marital stability is

A) couples with many children have extra help with stressful domestic chores.
B) solo children often cause parents to take sides against each other in arguments.
C) unhappy couples may decide to stay together while children are in the home.
D) all of the above

Question 20

Divorce rates increased during the economic problems of 2007 and 2009.

Question 21

In states where same-sex marriage is not legal,same-sex couples who decide to end their relationship

A) have the same property rights as a married couple who divorces.
B) have the same right to spousal support as a legally-divorced couple.
C) have the same child custody rights as a married couple who divorces.
D) none of the above

Question 22

Which of the following factors allows for the prediction of a higher divorce rate in the future?

A) cultural acceptance for divorce
B) the long-term consequences of increased life expectancy
C) structural transformation of the economy
D) all of the above

Question 23

Which of the following explains this relationship: the older a woman is at the time of divorce,the lower her chances of remarriage.

A) Men have shorter life expectancies, so the pool of eligible men shrinks as women age.
B) As women age, they are viewed as much less desirable partners.
C) Divorced men tend to marry women several years younger than themselves.
D) all of the above

Question 24

Divorce in binational marriages

A) is now relatively easy because of similar laws in most countries.
B) can be expensive and legally complicated.
C) is settled at the International Court at the Hague.
D) is still very rare.

Question 25

Which of the following does not describe patterns of remarriage?

A) The more money a divorced man has, the more likely he is to remarry.
B) The more money a divorced woman has, the more likely she is to remarry.
C) Whites remarry sooner than Blacks.
D) Catholics are likely to delay remarriage.

Question 26

The divorce rate among mixed-race couples is

A) lower than the national average.
B) higher than the rate for intraracial marriages.
C) elevated when the relationship involves a White woman married to a Black man.
D) approximately the same as the rate for racially homogamous marriages.

Question 27

According to the discussion of race and divorce in the text,

A) marital instability among Blacks is strongly related to economic difficulties faced by many Black couples.
B) the similarities between Hispanic and White patterns of divorce are stronger than those between Hispanics and Blacks.
C) divorce rates among Hispanic groups vary substantially.
D) all of the above

Question 28

Approximately what percentage of divorced men remarry?

A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 90%

Question 29

According to statistics,marital instability in the United States is most likely in which racial group?

A) Whites
B) Hispanics
C) African Americans
D) Asians

Question 30

The differences in Black-White divorce rates are best explained sociologically as a function of

A) cultural differences in the expectations of marriage across races.
B) significant differences in occupation and income across racial groups.
C) religious differences across groups.
D) all of the above

Question 31

Regarding the sources of financial support available for divorced women,the text observes that

A) alimony is rarely awarded in divorce cases.
B) White women are far more likely to be awarded child support than Black or Hispanic women.
C) women are at an economic disadvantage because women's wages are around 75% of men's wages.
D) all of the above

Question 32

Divorce is most likely in which of the following income groups?

A) high income
B) middle income
C) low income
D) The divorce rate is similar across income groups.

Question 33

According to the text,one of the factors predicting a lower divorce rate is

A) structural change in the U.S. economy.
B) a greater likelihood of understanding between couples that men should share domestic responsibilities.
C) the increasing immigration rate.
D) recent declines in women's labor force participation.

Question 34

The distribution of marital property in "no fault" divorce cases is biased because

A) the courts assume husbands and wives are equal at the time of the divorce.
B) wives are compensated for years of homemaking, while men are not compensated for their household labors, such as yard work and automobile maintenance.
C) the value of men's career assets compared to those of wives are generally overestimated.
D) all of the above

Question 35

Sociological research on remarriage suggests that

A) age is the most significant factor in the likelihood of men's remarriage.
B) most divorced men remarry older, well-educated women.
C) divorce rates in remarriages are slightly higher than those of first marriages.
D) Blacks tend to remarry earlier than either Whites or Hispanics.

Question 36

Allen Li argues the best way to look at the impact of divorce on children is to compare

A) children before and after divorce.
B) children soon after divorce and then much later after divorce.
C) children of divorced parents and children of non-divorced parents.
D) countries with different divorce rates.

Question 37

According to Hetherington's research,what percent of ex-spouses fall into the ʺdefeatedʺ category?

A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 20%
D) 25%

Question 38

The term "complex stepfamilies" refers to

A) a stepfamily in which the children are different genders.
B) a stepfamily in which the children are different races.
C) both adults in the remarriage have children from a previous marriage living with them.
D) a stepfamily in which the children are at least five years apart in age.

Question 39

The major problem that faces divorced women is

A) loss of freedom.
B) loss of identity and self-esteem.
C) decline of economic status.
D) loss of custody rights of children.

Question 40

In which of the following areas are the post-divorce experiences of men more negative than those of women?

A) financial
B) maintaining relationships with children
C) loss of social status
D) loss of marital friends

Question 41

What percent of remarriages have a child of their own within the first two years?

A) 15%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%

Question 42

Discuss the historical trends in divorce in the United States since 1860.What social and economic conditions account for the upward or downward swings in the divorce rate?

Question 43

How do rates and patterns of remarriage differ by gender?

Question 44

Discuss the relationship between each of the following factors and divorce: age at first marriage,circumstance of first birth,and income.How are these factors inter-related?

Question 45

Remarriages that involve children from previous marriages encounter many obstacles to stability.Discuss some of the challenges and difficulties faced by blended families.

Question 46

Discuss "his" and "her" divorce.How do the consequences of divorce differ for husbands and wives?

Question 47

An important factor in remarried couples' difficulties is

A) most remarried couples are not sufficiently committed to marriage.
B) society does not provide guidelines for managing the problems remarried couples face.
C) younger children are not willing to consider the stepparent a "real" parent.
D) none of the above