Deck 12: Divorce and Remarriage

Question 1

What percentage of children in the United States will live in a divorced home at some point in their lives?

A) 20%
B) 40%
C) 60%
D) 80%

Answer 1

40%

Question 2

Approximately what proportion of divorced women eventually remarry?

A) one third
B) one half
C) two thirds
D) three quarters

Answer 2

two thirds

Question 3

Around which year did the Christian church outlaw all divorce?

A) 400 BCE
B) 400 CE
C) 1200 CE
D) 1600 CE

Answer 3

1200 CE

Question 4

Jurisdictions to which people travel to obtain divorces easily are known as ______.

A) divorce cities
B) divorce mills
C) divorce sanctuaries
D) divorce factories

Question 5

Approximately what percentage of first marriages end in divorce?

A) 25%
B) 45%
C) 65%
D) 85%

Question 6

With a(n) ______ either spouse can leave the marriage without having to justify their decision or prove the other spouse was a bad person.

A) irreconcilable divorce
B) mutual exclusion divorce
C) agreed expungement divorce
D) no-fault divorce

Question 7

Divorced men who have an equitable amount of time with their children are more likely to ______.

A) pay their child support obligations
B) remarry the children's mother
C) remain unmarried
D) live near their children

Question 8

The peak periods for divorce are ______.

A) within the first 2 years of marriage and after the first child is born
B) within the first 2 years of marriage and after the second child is born
C) within the first 2 years of marriage and at the empty nest stage
D) after the first child is born and at the empty nest stage

Question 9

Which psychological task characterizes the emotional station of divorce?

A) feeling sad, angry, and lonely
B) filing court papers for divorce
C) becoming psychologically separate from the spouse
D) forming new friendships and connections

Question 10

Divorced people who tend to improve their lives after divorce are referred to as ______.

A) enhancers
B) goodenoughs
C) seekers
D) swingers

Question 11

Divorced people who are anxious to remarry immediately are referred to as ______.

A) enhancers
B) goodenoughs
C) seekers
D) swingers

Question 12

Divorced people who decide that they do not want to remarry are referred to as ______.

A) enhancers
B) goodenoughs
C) competent loners
D) defeateds

Question 13

What proportion of single mothers in the United States live in poverty?

A) approximately 10%
B) approximately 25%
C) over one third
D) over one half

Question 14

Compared with women's reaction to divorce, men's reaction can be characterized as ______.

A) better both psychologically and financially
B) worse both psychologically and financially
C) better psychologically and worse financially
D) worse psychologically and better financially

Question 15

Very young children who go through divorce tend to experience ______.

A) a decline in academic performance
B) depression and anxiety
C) fear of rejection by their parents
D) anger toward their parents

Question 16

Young adults whose parents have been divorced tend to experience ______.

A) doubts about their ability to form a stable relationship
B) depression and anxiety
C) fear of rejection by their parents
D) violence toward their parents

Question 17

According to the theory of ______, people with similar challenges in personality, antisocial behavior, impulsivity, and poor relationship skills find each other and marry, increasing the risk for divorce and poor outcomes in their children.

A) dissociative attached
B) assortative mating
C) non-normative attached
D) dysphoric mating

Question 18

Which statement about remarriage after divorce is INCORRECT?

A) Remarriage rates for college-educated women have declined in recent years.
B) Older women tend to divorce only if they feel emotionally prepared for remarriage.
C) The person who initiated the divorce is more likely to remarry than the person who was left.
D) African Americans and Hispanics are less likely to remarry than are European Americans.

Question 19

Which statement about second marriages and stepfamilies is INCORRECT?

A) It typically takes between 5 and 7 years for a stepfamily to feel like a real family.
B) Second marriages are often characterized by a withdrawn communication pattern.
C) Stepchildren have fewer behavioral problems and adjustment troubles than biological children.
D) Second marriages tend to allow for high levels of autonomy in each partner.

Question 20

The great majority of stepfamilies consist of ______.

A) a father, his biological children, and a stepmother
B) both stepsiblings and half-siblings
C) two parents, each with biological children
D) a mother, her biological children, and a stepfather

Question 21

After a divorce, many men remain stable and confident in their identity or masculinity.

Question 22

Divorced fathers often feel confused about their new roles.

Question 23

Today, it's very common for men to slow their career trajectories to spend more time with their children after divorce.

Question 24

Research suggests that custodial mothers do better than custodial fathers in maintaining authority over children after divorce, because they do not attempt to befriend their children, as men do.

Question 25

Parenting coordination officers are professionals who consult with parents regarding their children's needs before, during, and after divorce.

Question 26

Couples coping enhancement training locates psychologists to serve as special masters to assist parents in custody problems.

Question 27

A blended family is a remarried family wherein each partner has children he or she brings to the partnership.

Question 28

In the past three decades, women with higher levels of education were less likely to marry and remarry but this trend has very recently reversed.

Question 29

Stepparent-stepchild relationships are not nearly as conflicted as biological relationships.

Question 30

The sociobiological perspective is a viewpoint wherein a stepparent is treated like an acquaintance, instead of a family member, in terms of his or her relationship with stepchildren.

Question 31

The sociobiological perspective is a viewpoint that argues that evolutionarily, we are inclined to care for our biological kin in order to continue our gene pool; we are less likely to love or care for children with whom we share no genes in common.

Question 32

The stranger model is a viewpoint which assumes that a stepchild was financially dependent on a co-resident stepparent and so stepparents have rights and responsibilities for their stepchildren.

Question 33

Remarriage rates vary widely based on variables like divorce initiation status, ethnicity, age, education, and cultural context.

Question 34

Emancipation is the contemporary legal standard whereby all decisions made in divorces and custody rulings include individualized decisions regarding what would benefit the children most.

Question 35

Many children gain important strengths after recovering from the effects of divorce.

Question 36

Regardless of child support laws, 60% of mothers who don't receive sufficient child support payments report that their ex-husbands simply cannot afford to make the payments.

Question 37

One historical trend shows that ______ divorced quite readily, and women were allowed to remarry numerous times without scorn.

Question 38

______ is the practice of leaving one's hometown and traveling long distances to obtain a divorce.

Question 39

______ is a legal ruling allowing both divorced parents to have equal access to and responsibility for their children.

Question 40

______ is the actual practice of both divorced parents spending equal amounts of time and taking equal responsibility for their children.

Question 41

The 1970s ushered in the ______, which means a divorce can occur unilaterally, or without the consent of a second party.

Question 42

A ______ is a document that outlines custody, visitation, and bill-paying schedules, among other things.

Question 43

Today, ______ initiate most divorces.

Question 44

The most consistently reported effect of divorce on women is the sharp decline they experience in their ______.

Question 45

______ marriages involve nagging, hostility, and backbiting by wives.

Question 46

In ______, couples live independent lives in the same house; have few interests in common and different sets of friends; don't fight but don't engage in positive ways.

Question 47

How can macrosystem factors such as the state of the economy affect divorce rates? Give at least one example.

Question 48

Describe the general pattern of psychological pain and healing that most people go through after a divorce.

Question 49

Explain why extensive research, carried out over many years, has yielded no clear consensus on the effects of divorce on children.

Question 50

Should parents stay together for the sake of the children? What does research suggest about the answer to this question?