Question 1

Compulsory dowries have not been legal in India since the 1960s, nevertheless,

Accepted Answer

Despite being illegal, dowries are still common in India as a cultural practice for transferring rights and legitimizing alliances.

Question 2

The origins of the incest taboo are unclear, even after decades of careful study. One theory holds that the taboo is due to a fear of creating genetic defects in offspring. What is one argument against this theory?

Accepted Answer

C) The argument against the theory that the incest taboo is due to a fear of creating genetic defects in offspring is that incest taboos predate any scientific understanding of human genetics, indicating that the taboo could not have originated from knowledge that did not exist at the time.

Question 3

What is true about the incest taboo forbidding sexual relations with close relatives such as siblings and parents?

Accepted Answer

The incest taboo is found in virtually all cultures in the world, indicating that it is a universal human trait.

Answer: C
 Many anthropologists have posited that incest taboos stem from concerns about genetic abnormalities and the potential for degeneration resulting from inbreeding.

Answer: D
 In Western countries, the incest taboo is typically enforced by criminal law and is punishable by imprisonment.

Question 4

While the notion of a romantic marriage predominates thinking in the United States, what is another common reason for marriage prevalent in other countries?

Accepted Answer

In other cultures, marriages are often used as strategic alliances to strengthen familial, social, or economic ties. This is particularly true in societies that value collectivism or have arranged marriages.

Question 5

Which of the following types of marriage specifically involves the marital union of one man to two or more women?

Accepted Answer

Polygyny involves the marital union of one man to two or more women. Polyandry involves the marital union of one woman to two or more men. Monogamy involves the marital union of one man to one woman, and polyamory involves the practice of having multiple romantic and/or sexual partners, regardless of gender.

Question 6

Susan Kahn found that Jewish women in Israel are deeply compelled to reproduce their family, religion, and the nation. For women who get pregnant using new reproductive technologies, the ethnicity of a sperm donor is less of an issue than that of an egg donor. How do you classify the way they practice descent?

Accepted Answer

Matrilineal descent is a system in which individuals belong to their mother's lineage and inherit titles, property, and other rights through her. In this case, Jewish women in Israel are deeply compelled to reproduce their family, religion, and the nation. Therefore, their practice of descent is matrilineal. The fact that they prioritize the ethnicity of the egg donor over the sperm donor further supports matrilineal descent, as the child's identity is primarily tied to the mother's lineage.

Question 7

What is distinctive about new kinship groups created through affinal relationships?

Accepted Answer

New kinship groups created through affinal relationships are linked through an alliance between two individuals or families, not through shared biology or common descent.

Question 8

You attend a friend's wedding. At one point, the father of the groom hands a set of new car keys to the bride. What would you, as an anthropologist, call this?

Accepted Answer

Bridewealth is a practice where the family of the groom pays the family of the bride or the bride herself, often seen as a way to compensate the bride's family for the loss of her labor and to solidify the marriage agreement. The act of the groom's father giving a set of new car keys to the bride can be interpreted as a form of bridewealth, symbolizing a transfer of wealth from the groom's family to the bride's side as part of the marriage arrangement.

Question 9

With the exception of a few historical examples such as Incan, Hawaiian, and ancient Egyptian royalty, incest taboos universally prohibit sexual relations between which members of a group?

Accepted Answer

Incest taboos universally prohibit sexual relations between parents and children and siblings. Although cousin marriage is allowed in some cultures, first and second cousin marriages are also taboo in many societies. Half-siblings and parallel cousins are not universally prohibited from sexual relations.

Question 10

Cousins who are children of a father's brother or a mother's sister are considered which type of cousin?

Accepted Answer

Parallel cousins are the children of a father's brother or a mother's sister, sharing the same family lineage either paternally or maternally.

Question 11

Where are first-cousin marriages (between the children of two siblings) legally prohibited?

Accepted Answer

First-cousin marriages are legally prohibited in some states in the United States of America, but not all 50 states. They are also prohibited in some countries around the world, but not all. In Europe and North America, the laws vary by country or state.

Question 12

Marriage is often seen as a way to build an alliance and create new relationships between different groups. Sometimes this outcome is coincidental, but in many cases, it is accomplished intentionally through what kind of marriage?

Accepted Answer

Arranged marriages are intentionally organized by families or communities to form alliances and create new relationships between different groups.

Question 13

Nation-states draw heavily on ideas of ________ in order to create a sense of connection among very different people found within their national borders.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Nation-states draw heavily on ideas of ________...

Question 14

Which of the following types of marriage specifically involves the marital union of one woman to two or more men?

Accepted Answer

Polyandry is the type of marriage where one woman is married to multiple men at the same time. Monogamy refers to the marriage of two individuals, while polyamory is a relationship style with multiple partners that can include more than just marriage. Polygyny, on the other hand, is the type of marriage where one man is married to multiple women.

Question 15

How do humans build kinship ties between two people who are not their immediate biological kin?

Accepted Answer

Marriage is a socially recognized and sanctioned form of kinship tie that allows individuals to build relationships with people who are not their immediate biological kin. Marriage creates a legal bond between two individuals, often involving broader social and economic ties between their families and communities.

Question 16

In some parts of the world, when a marriage ends, the former spouses often remarry new partners soon afterward. What form of marriage is this?

Accepted Answer

This is serial monogamy, which refers to the practice of having multiple consecutive marriages with different partners over time.

Question 17

Which of the following is the practice of formalizing and legalizing a marriage through the exchange of gifts from the bride's family to the groom's family?

Accepted Answer

Dowry is the practice where the family of the bride transfers wealth to the groom's family as part of the marriage arrangement.

Question 18

In some cultures, including Chinese and Indian, there is a strong preference for male children. This preference has been highlighted by what particular development?

Accepted Answer

Reproductive technologies, such as ultrasound and sex-selective abortion, have enabled parents to determine the sex of their child before birth, leading to a preference for male children in some cultures.

Question 19

Something similar to marriage exists in every known culture. However, many anthropologists observe that:

Accepted Answer

While marriage exists in all cultures, its specific characteristics and practices vary widely. There is no single set of universal characteristics that define marriage, making it difficult to generalize across all cultures. Therefore, anthropologists would likely reject choice A and C, and as this statement doesn't address the need to change the definition of marriage, choice D is irrelevant.

Question 20

Bridewealth is prevalent in many African societies and parts of the Middle East and frequently means that the groom's family gives cattle, cash, or other goods to the family of the bride-to-be. What is the goal of bridewealth?

Accepted Answer

Bridewealth is meant to establish a mutual, vested interest between the groom's family and the family of the bride-to-be. This is meant to stabilize the marriage and ensure that both families have a stake in it. It is not meant to create a sense of obligation or force the bride to be a good homemaker. While it may help ensure the newlyweds' financial success, this is not the primary goal of bridewealth.

Quiz 9: Kinship, Family, and Marriage