Deck 13: The Dissolution and Loss of Relationships

Question 1

Which of the following statements is true of divorce statistics in the U.S.?

A) The number of children living in single-parent homes is three times higher than it was in 1965.
B) More than half of married couples will divorce before their twenty-first anniversary.
C) The median age at which men encounter their first divorce is about 31.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 1

All of the answers are correct.

Question 2

According to a study by Finkel et al., compared to their great-grandparents, young individuals today are more likely to see marriage as primarily a means to:

A) achieve personal fulfillment.
B) raise children.
C) pay bills.
D) lead a routine, practical life with a romantic partner.

Answer 2

achieve personal fulfillment.

Question 3

According to research done by Fitch and Ruggles, which of the following is true of the correlation between the proportion of American women employed outside the home and divorce rates in the United States?

A) The two factors are negatively correlated.
B) The two factors are positively correlated.
C) The two factors have no correlation.
D) The two factors are positively correlated only in low-income families.

Answer 3

The two factors are positively correlated.

Question 4

According to a study by Amato, compared to marriages with traditional gender roles, which of the following is true of heterosexual marriages with an equitable division of household responsibilities?

A) Both men and women are a lot happier.
B) Couples experience more troubles.
C) Women are much happier, but men are less happy.
D) Couples are happy at the beginning, but women soon begin to regret their loss of control over the house.

Question 5

According to a study by Jose, which of the following is true of the relationship between cohabitation and the probability of divorce?

A) People who cohabit before marriage tend to have fewer problems in their marriage compared to those who do not cohabit.
B) People who cohabit before they become engaged are more likely to divorce later compared to those who do not cohabit.
C) People who cohabit for longer periods of time have better marriages than those who cohabit for brief periods.
D) People who cohabit before they become engaged have better marriages than those who cohabit with their fiancé.

Question 6

Shauna and Brent got married in June. They both have little education, Shauna's parents had a bad marriage, and Brent's social skills are not very good. According to Karney and Bradbury's vulnerability-stress-adaptation model, Shauna and Brent's marriage:

A) is doomed no matter what happens.
B) may make it if they do not encounter too many difficulties in life.
C) should be fine as long as they don't have many alternatives to their relationship.
D) has a high likelihood of succeeding no matter what happens.

Question 7

In Karney and Bradbury's vulnerability-stress-adaptation model, a long period of unemployment that a couple experiences may be described as:

A) a stressor.
B) an enduring vulnerability.
C) an adaptive process.
D) an alternative.

Question 8

In the context of the Processes of Adaptation in Intimate Relationships (or PAIR) project, which of the following models suggests that marriages that are headed for divorce are weaker than others from the very beginning?

A) The disillusionment model
B) The emergent distress model
C) The enduring dynamics model
D) The vulnerability-stress-adaptation model

Question 9

In the context of the Processes of Adaptation in Intimate Relationships (PAIR) project, which of the following models will most likely recommend premarital interventions to reduce the risk of divorce?

A) The disillusionment model
B) The emergent distress model
C) The enduring dynamics model
D) The vulnerability-stress-adaptation model

Question 10

In their long-term study of married couples in the Processes of Adaptation in Intimate Relationships (PAIR) project, Huston and his colleagues found that the best predictor of which couples would divorce was the:

A) disillusionment model.
B) emergent distress model.
C) enduring dynamics model.
D) vulnerability-stress-adaptation model.

Question 11

The Processes of Adaptation in Intimate Relationships (PAIR) project revealed that the speed of a divorce is influenced by all of the following factors EXCEPT which one?

A) Degree of changes in a romance
B) Speed of disillusionment in a romance
C) Problems that couples bring to the marriage
D) The wedding experience and the blending of extended families

Question 12

With regard to the findings of the Marital Instability Over the Life Course Project, which of the following factors are divorced couples most likely to acknowledge as having played a part in their decision to divorce?

A) Socioeconomic status
B) Age of marriage
C) Social networks
D) Incompatibility

Question 13

In predicting how they would feel after a breakup, young adults:

A) correctly predicted their distress would fade with time but underestimated the initial pain they would feel when the breakup occurred.
B) correctly predicted their distress would fade with time but overestimated the initial pain they would feel when the breakup occurred.
C) were incorrect in predicting that their distress would fade with time but correctly estimated the initial pain they would feel when the breakup occurred.
D) were incorrect in both predicting that their distress would fade with time and in the amount of pain they would feel when the breakup occurred.

Question 14

With regard to the research study by Ahrons on the relationship between ex-spouses, in which category of post-marital relationship are former spouses not good friends but are civil and pleasant to each other?

A) Angry Associates
B) Concerned Compatriots
C) Perfect Pals
D) Cooperative Colleagues