Deck 11: Families and Intimate Relationships

Question 1

Members of the Native American Standing Rock Sioux tribe share history and bonds based on a common lineage of blood relatives. This form of relationship is also known as:

A) cohabitation.
B) a household.
C) kinship.
D) a village.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A form of marriage in which each married partner is allowed only one spouse at any given time is called:

A) monogamy.
B) polygamy.
C) polygyny.
D) polyandry.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Betty Friedan is an icon in the second American women's movement. In her widely read book, The Feminine Mystique, she refers to "the problem with no name." What is this phrase referring to?

A) the isolation and boredom that grips many suburban American women
B) the fear of divorce, especially after couples have been together for more than five years
C) adultery, which is especially common among closeted homosexuals
D) domestic abuse, which usually goes unreported

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Alisha learns the American norms of politeness from her parents. This learning is associated with which function of the family discussed by Talcott Parsons?

A) primary socialization
B) personality stabilization
C) affective socialization
D) instrumental stabilization

Question 5

Suzanne has two biological sons that she raised from birth. Her two sons are members of her:

A) family of orientation.
B) family of procreation.
C) chosen family.
D) adopted family.

Question 6

A ________ is a group in which the individuals are related to one another by blood ties, marriage, or adoption and form an economic unit in which the adult members are responsible for the upbringing of children.

A) family
B) household
C) kinship network
D) village

Question 7

Which general perspective has been most concerned with the domestic division of labor, unequal power relationships, and caring activities in the family?

A) functionalism
B) Marxism
C) feminism
D) symbolic interactionism

Question 8

Which of the following statements characterizes the American workweek in this time of rapid technological innovation?

A) Thanks, in large part, to new technologies, the American workweek is much shorter than it was fifty years ago.
B) With more women in the workforce, it is easier for men to take longer vacations away from the office.
C) Despite technological advancements, Americans are spending more time at work and less time on vacation.
D) While Americans are decreasing the number of hours spent at work, many Europeans are increasing the time they spend working.

Question 9

Amir has two biological brothers that he grew up with. His two brothers are members of his:

A) family of orientation.
B) family of procreation.
C) chosen family.
D) adopted family.

Question 10

Which sociological perspective sees the family as performing important tasks that contribute to society's basic needs and helping to perpetuate the existence of major social institutions and practices?

A) functionalism
B) Marxism
C) symbolic interactionism
D) feminism

Question 11

A socially and legally acknowledged and approved sexual union between two adult individuals is called:

A) cohabitation.
B) a marriage.
C) kinship.
D) a family.

Question 12

Which of the following best describes the changes in household size throughout the history of the United States?

A) Family size has shrunk dramatically from the early farming years to the current urban setting.
B) The family in the United States today consists predominantly of small nuclear families; for the first two hundred years of U.S. history, the family was a large extended family.
C) Households in the United States have always included grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other members of the extended family.
D) The nuclear family seems to have long been preeminent, with household sizes shrinking only modestly over the past few centuries.

Question 13

________ has grown less common over time, due to multiple social and economic conditions, including increasing levels of democracy, a declining acceptance of arranged marriage, an increase in marriages based on a desire for love and companionship, and strides in the education and human rights protections afforded to women.

A) Polygyny
B) Belief in romantic love
C) Polyandry
D) Monogamy

Question 14

Which type of society would Talcott Parsons consider the conventional family most suitable for?

A) hunting and gathering
B) agrarian
C) postmodern
D) industrial

Question 15

Vincent lives with his parents and both sets of grandparents in the same house. His uncle's family lives next door. The members of his house and his uncle's family have a close and continuous relationship with one another. This type of arrangement is an example of a(n):

A) nuclear family.
B) extended family.
C) nonfamily household.
D) single-parent family.

Question 16

Jim and Joan are two adults who live together in a household with their two biological children and one adopted child. This kind of group is an example of a(n):

A) nuclear family.
B) extended family.
C) nonfamily household.
D) single-parent family.

Question 17

Which theoretical perspective is most likely to agree with the following statement: "Contemporary couples are seeking to be more symmetrical, but in reality men do not perform their share of the housework."

A) functionalism
B) postmodernism
C) feminism
D) Marxism

Question 18

It was common in Ladakhi society for brothers to share one wife. This type of marriage is an example of:

A) monogamy.
B) polygyny.
C) polyandry.
D) patrilocality.

Question 19

During the 1970s and 1980s, feminist perspectives dominated most debates and research on families. According to the textbook, on what did they largely focus?

A) family structures
B) historical development of the nuclear and extended family
C) the importance of kinship ties
D) the experiences of women in the domestic sphere

Question 20

Which of the following statements best represents a feminist understanding of the family?

A) Men continue to bear the main responsibility for domestic tasks.
B) The best way to structure a family is to have one parent responsible for the nurturing duties and another responsible for providing for the family economically.
C) Women invest large amounts of emotional labor in maintaining personal relationships.
D) Jobs that involve caring, such as child-care worker, nanny, or elderly companion, are among the highest paid of all occupations.

Question 21

Which of the following best explains the global trend toward later marriages in the last several decades?

A) the resurgence of social conservatism
B) increases in post-secondary school enrollment
C) increased economic standing of men who are fearful of economically dependent women
D) an increase in shotgun marriages due to the increased sexual activity of young adults

Question 22

About what percent of American adults in their mid-fifties are or have previously been married?

A) 35 percent
B) 51 percent
C) 65 percent
D) 90 percent

Question 23

Which of the following statements best describes American families in the colonial era?

A) Compared with contemporary standards, the average duration of marriages was much longer.
B) More than half of all children saw the death of at least one parent by the time they were twenty-one years old.
C) Spouses spent much more time together in the colonial era compared with today, considering the currently high level of women's employment.
D) The colonial family was peaceful and harmonious, unlike most contemporary families.

Question 24

What is the relationship between income and post-divorce situations?

A) Both men's and women's incomes tend to increase.
B) Both men's and women's incomes tend to decrease.
C) Men's incomes tend to increase, while women's incomes tend to decrease.
D) Men's incomes tend to decrease, while women's incomes tend to increase.

Question 25

Which of the following is a change related to the creation of a worldwide movement toward the predominance of the nuclear family and the breakdown of extended-family systems and other types of kinship groups?

A) the spread of the idea of romantic love
B) the power and influence of the antiabortion movement
C) large-scale migration from urban to rural areas
D) the resurgence of fundamentalist religious groups

Question 26

Erica recently married Jermain. Jermain has a seventeen-year-old daughter named Arabia from a previous marriage. Erica considers herself progressive while Arabia considers herself conservative, and they often disagree over politics. How might a sociologist understand this dynamic?

A) Women of different ages have a difficult time getting along.
B) Liberal-identifying women are statistically more likely to have a difficult time with stepchildren, because they care less about family values.
C) Arabia is young, so her relationship with Erica will likely improve over time.
D) Most stepchildren belong to two households, so the possibilities of ideological clashes are considerable.

Question 27

Which of the following factors decreases the likelihood that a person will get a divorce?

A) being married at a young age (under age twenty-one)
B) having less than a college degree
C) having a child before marrying
D) being of a similar social class background as a partner

Question 28

Which group has the highest rate of intermarriage?

A) Asian Americans
B) Native Americans
C) Hispanic Americans
D) African Americans

Question 29

Which of the following is a finding from the research of Judith Wallerstein and colleagues on children of divorced parents?

A) Few children experienced intense emotional disturbance at the time of the divorce.
B) Children of divorced parents are less likely to divorce when they get married because the experience of divorce was so traumatic for them.
C) As they entered adulthood, almost all were optimistic, high achieving, and confident.
D) In the ten to fifteen years following the study, nearly half of the then-young adults reported difficulty in their romantic relationships.

Question 30

According to Andrew Cherlin, which of the following statements is true with respect to divorce and children?

A) Almost all children experience an initial period of intense emotional upset after their parents separate.
B) The experience of watching their parents' divorce reduces the chances of their own marriages ending in divorce.
C) Most children blame themselves for the divorce even decades after their parents separated.
D) Most children experience long-term problems because of the breakup that may persist into adulthood.

Question 31

In 2015, the average age for first marriage was ________ for men and ________ for women.

A) 16; 14
B) 22; 20
C) 29; 27
D) 35; 33

Question 32

In 2016, Janet Jackson became pregnant for the first time at the age of fifty. Which sociological trend does her pregnancy fit into?

A) The average age of first pregnancy is rapidly decreasing.
B) Women are more likely to wait until they are married to get pregnant.
C) The birth rate has decreased sharply since World War II.
D) The number of births to women over thirty has increased dramatically.

Question 33

Which of the following statements concerning black and white families is true?

A) Blacks have lower rates of childbearing outside of marriage than whites.
B) Blacks are less likely ever to marry than whites.
C) Blacks are more likely to marry after having a nonmarital birth than whites.
D) Black families are less likely than white families to be female headed.

Question 34

Which of the following statements best describes the changes that are occurring in the family globally?

A) Clans and other kin groups are increasing in influence.
B) Religious backlash has resulted in more restrictions on sexuality.
C) Women's and children's rights are more widely recognized.
D) Birth rates are increasing.

Question 35

Sociologist Dr. Stone studies differences between black and white family formations. What might be one problem with this kind of research model?

A) It draws attention away from diversity within racial and ethnic groups.
B) Sociologists have found that race makes no difference in family formation.
C) Socioeconomic status tends to make more of a difference than race.
D) Black and white families have nearly identical formations.

Question 36

Tanya, a twenty-five-year-old woman, is currently not married. According to sociologists, why might Tanya be likely to stay unmarried for the rest of her life?

A) Many of today's young adults will choose to remain single for life.
B) Women who are not married by the age of twenty-five have trouble finding a husband.
C) Tanya is likely not heterosexual and therefore does not seek marriage.
D) People now receive tax breaks for remaining unmarried.

Question 37

From which country can Hispanics easily enter the United States because it is a commonwealth of the United States?

A) Mexico
B) Puerto Rico
C) Cuba
D) El Salvador

Question 38

One conclusion we can draw from recent research on online dating is that:

A) the Internet makes it easier to accept interracial relationships.
B) working-class white male users have a harder time finding potential partners.
C) most users tend to date people of the same ethnic/racial background.
D) women of all races are equally successful when using apps to find partners.

Question 39

Among the Hispanic groups listed below, which is the most prosperous?

A) Mexican Americans
B) Puerto Rican Americans
C) Cuban Americans
D) Dominican Americans

Question 40

Which of the following statements concerning divorce is true?

A) About one-half of children born in 1980 became members of a one-parent family at some stage in their lives.
B) Most men and women who are divorced never remarry.
C) Most children are traumatized by divorce even decades after their parents separate.
D) The economic well-being of women increases after divorce due to liberal alimony laws.

Question 41

Although it is most common for young people to leave home to begin independent lives, in previous generations, young people typically left home:

A) to get away from the endless farmwork required of children.
B) to avoid domestic violence.
C) because their parents evicted them.
D) to get married.

Question 42

A family in which at least one partner has children from a previous marriage is known as a:

A) nuclear family.
B) step-family.
C) postmodern family.
D) single-parent family.

Question 43

The most common type of child abuse is:

A) neglect.
B) physical abuse.
C) emotional maltreatment.
D) sexual abuse.

Question 44

In 2016, a New York family court guaranteed married lesbian couples the right to participate in second-parent adoptions. What does this mean?

A) One parent adopts a child and the partner applies to be second or co-parent.
B) Adopted children can have two sets of parents: birth parents and adoptive parents.
C) Lesbian couples can apply to have a man legally serve as father to their adopted child.
D) Children are able to choose if they want one or two adoptive parents, regardless of the parent's sexual orientation.

Question 45

Describe Talcott Parsons's view of the family in one to three sentences. What are two criticisms of his approach?

Question 46

Nellie was worried about her mother living on her own after she divorced Nellie's father. How might Eric Klinenberg's research help assuage Nellie's fears?

A) He found that people living alone actually have more, rather than less, social interaction than their married counterparts.
B) Klinenberg's respondents reported higher-than-average IQs, possibly because people who live alone spend more time reading.
C) People who live alone reported experiencing moderate anxiety, but that feeling dissipated within one year.
D) People who live alone tend to be more financially stable than those who live with someone else.

Question 47

The Blog of the Institute for Family Studies recently reported that young people are cautious about marriage but not cohabitation. Based on what you've read about cohabitation in this Chapter, why might that be?

A) The United States has lost touch with family values and very few people desire marriage.
B) Cohabitation is considered edgy and boundary-breaking, which is why many young people do it.
C) Cohabitors have unease about the meanings associated with marriage and about what marriage does to the relationship.
D) Most cohabitors treat cohabitation as a step toward marriage and usually become engaged before cohabitating.

Question 48

A 1985 study by Richard Gelles and Murray Straus found that ________ percent of married people reported at least one incident of intimate partner violence at some point in their marriage.

A) 5
B) 28
C) 56
D) 81

Question 49

Which of the following statements concerning single-parent households is true?

A) Most single-parent households are male headed.
B) For most single mothers, being a single mother was their first choice.
C) There is a high correlation between births outside marriage and indicators of poverty.
D) African American families have a low proportion of single-parent households.

Question 50

According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently more than ________ same-sex families in the United States.

A) 96,000
B) 300,000
C) 780,000
D) 3,000,000

Question 51

Which of the following statements is true regarding being single?

A) There are now fewer people who are classified as "never married" than in the past.
B) Most people in their mid-thirties have never been married.
C) Most single people over fifty are widowed.
D) The major reason most single people leave their parents' home is to get married.

Question 52

Crystal and Latoya, a lesbian couple, have lived together for a year. Based on what you read in the textbook, which of the following is a likely reason that Crystal and Latoya decided to cohabit?

A) They believed that their partner would be more likely to remain faithful.
B) They wanted to ensure compatibility before marriage.
C) They wanted to live together but keep their expenses separate.
D) They wanted the tax benefits that are associated with cohabitation.

Question 53

According to the textbook, the term used to describe two people living together in a sexual relationship of some permanence, without being married to one another, is:

A) hooking up.
B) friends with benefits.
C) engagement.
D) cohabitation.

Question 54

Joan shoved her husband Jack during a heated argument about buying a new car. The argument was not rooted in power or control. Michael Johnson would call this type of intimate partner violence:

A) patriarchal terrorism.
B) feminist terrorism.
C) common couple violence.
D) severe violence.

Question 55

Of people in a similar age group, who is most likely to get married?

A) LGBT people
B) men who have been married and divorced
C) women who have been married and divorced
D) people with incomes twice the poverty threshold

Question 56

Which of the following statements concerning child abuse is true?

A) Most studies of abuse are based on national surveys of child welfare professionals.
B) Almost all child deaths from abuse or neglect are recorded.
C) Child abuse occurs more frequently in high-income families.
D) The highest child victimization rates were for children in their teenage years.

Question 57

For young people, how does a cohabiting relationship usually begin?

A) Most young people who live together decided to do so after becoming engaged.
B) Most young people decide to move in together after calculated planning.
C) Most young people come to live together by drifting into it.
D) Most young people start living together after one person is forced out of a parent's house.

Question 58

Sociologists have identified seven important changes that characterize transformations in the global family structure over the past half century. In three to five sentences, name two of those changes that you find the most compelling and explain why.

Question 59

What might be one reason why researchers have difficulty calculating the rate of childlessness?

A) Blended families make it more difficult to discern who is a parent and who isn't.
B) People whose children have grown into adults sometimes consider themselves childless, which may inaccurately alter statistics.
C) Childlessness is highly stigmatized, so people are likely to misreport their status to survey researchers.
D) Women are having their first child at an older average age, making it difficult to decide at what point someone is childless.

Question 60

Which of the following is a trend related to cohabiting?

A) Decreasing numbers of people are cohabiting.
B) Most cohabitors eventually marry.
C) Young children are more likely than ever before to live with parents who are cohabiting.
D) Cohabitation as an alternative to marriage is a trend unique to the United States.

Question 61

List at least three explanations that account for the trend toward later marriages in the United States in recent decades. In a few sentences, explain which you find most compelling and why.

Question 62

In a short paragraph, please discuss the differences in family patterns between white and black families.

Question 63

In a short paragraph, explain the feminist critique of the "conventional" family.

Question 64

In the 2012 summer issue of Atlantic magazine, Anne-Marie Slaughter, who was the first female director of policy planning at the State Department, wrote an article titled "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." In the article, she argues that women today still struggle to balance a family and their career. In a couple of sentences, please explain how a feminist perspective on the family may help shed light on this issue.

Question 65

Isabelle and Antonio's parents divorced two years ago, and while Isabelle is generally happy and well adjusted, Antonio is having a harder time and often cannot concentrate in school. According to Andrew Cherlin, do both of these children fit the norm for children of divorced parents? Please explain your answer in two to four sentences.

Question 66

Does cohabitation lead to divorce? Please explain your answer in two to four sentences, using research from the textbook.