Chapter 3 - Finding a Significant Other Flashcards
What are the two types of mate selection?
Arranged marriage and self-chosen marriages.
What are the developmental tasks associated with mate selection?
First is the establishment of intimacy, in the sense of a close emotional relationship with another. The second is realigning a new relationship with each partner’s family and friends, creating a new social network.
Define: marriage
A socially, legally, and/or religiously recognized union of people who commit to one another, most people marry at some point in their lives.
Define: romantic love
Emotional attachment often including a mixture of sexual desire, tenderness, affection, and playfulness.
Define: mate selection
The process by which partners are selected.
What are the various ways that society encourages marriages?
Some ways include: family pressure, subtle hints in the media, in adulthood social life becomes organized around couples.
How does each of the sociological perspectives explain mate selection?
SF: mate selection, regardless of the method used, is necessary to maintain social order and perpetuate society Conflict: the norms of mate selection reproduce the existing class structure, involves exploitation and the exercise of power Feminist perspective: women often considered objects of exchange; mate selection reduces women to objects largely based on appearance and disregards their other statuses, ex. personal achievements SI: focuses on the communication that occurs between couples as they develop and maintain the relationship
What are the building blocks of intimacy?
Intimacy involves both people in a relationship feeling understood, cared for and valued by the other.
What are some examples to show that the acceptance of relationships that do not include marriage is growing?
The amount of couples cohabiting is increasing, a person no longer has to be married to have kids, acceptance and openness about homosexuality is growing.
Define/explain: complementary need hypothesis
Individuals feel most attracted to potential partners who complement them, opposites attract, ex. dominant to submissive, young female to rich older male.
Define/explain: social exchange theory
Individuals evaluate the potential success of a relationship based on a number of comparisons, ex. men show of material assets while dating, women show of physical attributes while dating. As long as both partners feel they are getting something positive from the relationship, they will stay together.
Define: field of eligibles
People who are considered acceptable as potential partners, both by the individual and by society, ex. an individual decision to pick someone with a university degree.
Define: incest taboo
A social norm that prohibits mating between closely related individuals.
What are some of the legal barriers to marriage?
Legal barriers to marriage can include laws against homosexuality, laws against bigamy (you can only be married to one person at a time) and laws against incest.
At what age are people more likely to engage in romantic relationships within their immediate social groups?
Adolescents are more likely to engage in romantic relationships within their immediate social groups, as opposed to searching for mates outside of their social circle.
Explain Freud’s theory of the link between romantic attraction and one’s parents.
Men are more likely to choose women whose personality resembles their mothers, and women are more likely to select men like their fathers.
Define: assortative mating
The process of choosing a mate on the basis of certain traits.
Define/explain: status-caste exchange theory
A theory proposed in the 1940s that blacks of low SES would hardly every marry whites, but high SES blacks would sometimes marry lower-status whites. Support for this theory was found in the US but not Canada.
True/False: Most people prefer to marry someone from their own racial group
True. Most people prefer to marry someone from their own racial group.
In couples with a substantial age difference, which sex spouse tends to be younger?
When there is a substantial age difference, women tend to be younger than their male partners.
Do homosexual or heterosexual people tend to serious courtship later?
Homosexual individuals often enter serious courtship later than heterosexual people.
Define: homogamy
The process of marrying someone similar to oneself.
Which people/groups are more likely to marry across racial and ethnic lines?
Members of second and third generations are more likely to marry across racial and ethnic lines, as well as those with more ethnically diverse friendships, and those who are Japanese.
When and why did the practice of dating begin?
After WW1 and by 1918 Canada had become an industrial nation. For the first time young men and women went out alone together without any particular intention of marrying each other.
What are the 4 main goals of dating?
- Intimacy: pursuit of committed, exclusive relationships that foster self-disclosure, emotional intimacy, interdependence, emotional attachment.
- Status: a way to enhance social status, social validation of the self.
- Sex: initiation into sexual experience and fulfillment.
- involves self-exploration and identity formation
Who are the main disadvantaged in love?
- People of size
- Those with visible physical differences
- Older people
Define: sexual double standard
The social principle that men are allowed more sexual freedom than women.
Define: polyamory
having more than one romantic relationship at a time
In what decade did attitudes towards premarital sex become the most permissive?
Attitudes towards premarital sex continued to become more permissive until the 1980s and leveled off since then.
