Deck 9: The Marital System

Question 1

With recent increases in female labor-force participation, most men now share equally in housework and childcare with women.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Evidence from six large national surveys confirmed that women who work outside the home are happier and more satisfied than are women who do not.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Prior to the late nineteenth century, couples embarked on extended honeymoon trips.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Although married women perform the majority of household labor, relatively few women feel that this arrangement is unfair.

Question 5

In general, a wife's power in the marriage increases when she is employed outside the home.

Question 6

Findings consistently indicate that couples with high rates of self-disclosure experience greater marital satisfaction.

Question 7

Tichenor contends that the theory of resources breaks down when wives earn more than husbands, suggesting that marital power is more closely related to gender than to income or status.

Question 8

Steil concludes that a wife's dominance in decision making, while rare, is associated with a low level of satisfaction for both persons.

Question 9

Jessie Bernard reported that more wives than husbands were dissatisfied and considered their marriages unhappy.

Question 10

Social support from in-laws, other relatives, and friends was found to increase marital success and the quality of a marital relationship.

Question 11

Over time, the role of homemaker has been viewed as a high-status position.

Question 12

Scholars from the conflict perspective, argue that men's reluctance to do family work is because they associate it with "women's work" and thus is inconsistent with their identities as men and a threat to their masculinity.

Question 13

Increases in husbands' resources correlate negatively with husbands influence, suggesting that as they gain income and occupational prestige, they are more likely to be egalitarian regarding spousal relations.

Question 14

The big wedding of the Middle Ages was more for the benefit of the community than for the couple.

Question 15

Authority refers to power that is prescribed and legitimate within a social/cultural setting.

Question 16

Karen Pyke contends that the employment of women is not considered a resource in some marriages and hence does not have a positive effect on marital power.

Question 17

Wives have more power in marriages with extended family structures than in those with nuclear family structures.

Question 18

Evidence suggests that personal happiness and higher level of marital satisfaction occurs among spouses who perceive equity in their relationship.

Question 19

John Scanzoni suggests that the absence of marital conflict is a key positive factor in assessing the quality of the marriage.

Question 20

The middle of the twentieth century saw a change in the nature of the honeymoon with more couples staying in resorts where their needs were provided rather than practicing domestic roles in natural locations.

Question 21

Evidence suggests that coital frequency in marriage increases with the amount of education of the wife and is highest among career-motivated women.

Question 22

As more women enter the labor force, what has happened to the gender differences in time spent in housework?

A) The time has equalized with men dramatically increasing their contributions.
B) The time spent has become even more unequal with women increasing their time spent in housework.
C) The time difference has diminished mostly due to women spending fewer hours in housework.
D) Both men and women have decreased the time spent doing housework.

Question 23

Power involves the crucial dimensions of

A) male dominance and female submissiveness.
B) wealth and property.
C) authority and influence.
D) caste and class.

Question 24

In comparing two generations of marriage cohorts in 1980 and 1992, Rogers and Amato found the younger cohort to report higher levels of marital conflict and marital problems than the older cohort.

Question 25

Catholic women under age 45 are as likely to use contraceptives as are non-Catholic women.

Question 26

As of 1980, the group of women least likely to favor housework was

A) older wives with low levels of education.
B) older wives with high levels of education.
C) younger wives with low levels of education.
D) younger wives with high levels of education.

Question 27

In Japan, men have considerable sexual freedom compared to U.S. and European men.

Question 28

When commitment to a relationship is high, individuals tend to ignore alternatives and are willing to absorb costs without leaving.

Question 29

Several studies suggest that if a cohort type of analysis is used, evidence fails to support the belief that marriages improve at midterm and the later years.

Question 30

Mary Rogers makes several points about power. Which statement is true?

A) Power is inherent in a person.
B) Power is the exercise or acting out of the ability to influence others.
C) Power is linked to specific social systems and the positions occupied within that system.
D) Power involves all of the above three, that is, A, B, and C are true.

Question 31

For women, the likelihood of sexual infidelity decreases with marital duration, but for men, it is U-shaped (decreasing for about eighteen years then increasing).

Question 32

People from the lower social classes are less sexually inhibited than those from the middle and upper classes.

Question 33

Studies that have attempted to show how marital quality changes over the life course suggest that quality declines rapidly in the first year or two, but among marriages that survive, tends to increase sharply after the third year.

Question 34

Studies have consistently demonstrated that the presence of children in the family increases the marital happiness of the parents.

Question 35

Scott South found that over the past thirty years, wives' employment

A) has increased in its effect on marital dissolution.
B) has decreased in its effect on marital dissolution.
C) has had no effect on marital dissolution.
D) has been unchanged in its effect on marital dissolution.

Question 36

From a feminist perspective, the unequal division of household labor is best explained by

A) unequal opportunities for men and women and patriarchal gender ideologies.
B) men's lack of empathy for their overworked wives.
C) women's unwillingness to surrender power in the private sphere.
D) None of the above three is correct.

Question 37

Donnelly found that sexually inactive married couples were less happy and stable than sexually active married couples.

Question 38

The relationships of same sex couples are very similar to those of heterosexuals.

Question 39

Jessie Bernard stated that in comparing the experiences of husbands and wives,

A) "her" marriage was better than "his" marriage.
B) "his" marriage was better than "her" marriage.
C) "her" marriage and "his" marriage were evaluated equally.
D) the comparison varied based on the educational level of the husband.

Question 40

Research results from Swiss couples between the ages of 60 and 80 reveal that the majority had little interest in sexual activity.

Question 41

Hyman Rodman refined the resource theory of conjugal power relationships by adding an emphasis on

A) hormonal differences between men and women.
B) physical strength advantages favoring men.
C) the cultural context in which decision making take place.
D) in-born personality differences reflected in greater male aggression.

Question 42

Various components of Spanier's dyadic adjustment scale were described. The one not included was

A) dyadic satisfaction.
B) dyadic cohesion.
C) dyadic consensus.
D) dyadic complementarity.

Question 43

Regarding the relationship between sexual adjustment and martial adjustment, it appears that

A) no one knows the relationship between the two.
B) there is no relationship between the two.
C) a good sex life will maintain an otherwise poor relationship.
D) sexually inactive marriages are less happy than those that are sexually active.

Question 44

In studying conjugal power, Mark Rank found that

A) increments in wives' resources correlate positively with wives' influence, thus supporting the theory of resources argument.
B) there is very little credibility for the theory of resources argument.
C) increments in husbands' resources correlates positively with husbands' influence, thus supporting the greater resources leading to greater influence and power argument.
D) as husbands and wives gain resources, men become less economically dependent upon their spouses.

Question 45

Research suggests that female coital frequency in marriage

A) decreases with the amount of education of the wife.
B) is negatively related to the effectiveness of contraception.
C) increases with length of time married.
D) is highest among career motivated women in paid employment.

Question 46

Most researchers agree that, in the United States, the frequency of marital coitus

A) increases with age and length of time married.
B) decreases with age and length of time married.
C) shows tremendous variability with age and time with increases among those with higher income levels and decreases among those with lower income levels.
D) is impossible to study since people will not divulge this kind of information.

Question 47

The concept that generally refers to the achievement of one or more goals, such as permanence, companionship, and fulfilling the expectations of the community, is

A) marital happiness.
B) marital success.
C) marital bliss.
D) marital adjustment.

Question 48

The desire to stay in a relationship because it is highly rewarding is known as __________ commitment.

A) structural
B) moral
C) personal
D) social

Question 49

Studies suggest that marital/family satisfaction over the life course tends to

A) change very little as it depends on each marriage.
B) increase gradually with time as love grows.
C) decrease gradually with time as routineness and familiarity set in.
D) decrease continually through the childrearing years and then increase in the launching, middle and later years.

Question 50

The effect of children on the marital happiness of parents is

A) highly inconsistent, with no clear effects emerging.
B) to increase their happiness.
C) to decrease their happiness in the launching years as they depart from the parental home.
D) to decrease their happiness generally.

Question 51

The type of analysis that calls into question the belief that marriages tend to improve during later years is

A) cohort.
B) cross-sectional.
C) functional.
D) None of the above questions this belief.

Question 52

Wives will have more power in societies

A) where the marriages are based in nuclear rather than extended family structures.
B) with matrilateral rather than patrilateral customs of residence and descent.
C) with neither nuclear or matrilateral forms of organization.
D) with both nuclear or matrilateral forms of organization.

Question 53

In their research involving conjugal power and decision making, Blood and Wolfe determined the area to be predominantly the wife's province was

A) food expenditures.
B) where to go on vacation.
C) which doctor to see when someone is sick.
D) what car to buy.

Question 54

Tichenor, who examined marriages where the wives earned more than their husbands, contends that

A) the wife's power in the relationship generally increases.
B) the husband yields to the wife in money decision making matters.
C) power is more closely related to gender than to income or status.
D) both A and B above are true.

Question 55

Compared to the working and lower classes, people from the middle and upper classes

A) are less likely to engage in oral/genital contact.
B) are more likely to enjoy their first sexual experiences.
C) are less likely to react positively to masturbation.
D) are not likely to do any of the above. All three are false.

Question 56

Blood and Wolfe concluded that power in a marriage seems to be primarily related to

A) religious intensity.
B) resource availability.
C) love and/or sex.
D) strength.

Question 57

The frequency of sexual intercourse appears to be highest for

A) those married more than ten years.
B) those in their first year of marriage.
C) cohabitors.
D) the unmarried, but in committed relationships.

Question 58

Of all the factors Kinsey examined, the factor that affected the incidence of extramarital coitus more than any other, particularly for females, was

A) sexual deprivation.
B) their sexual script.
C) religious devoutness.
D) sexual satisfaction in marriage.

Question 59

Scanzoni, in writing about marital conflict, argues that

A) equilibrium or stability is a necessary ideal.
B) conflict is by nature, bad and unhealthy within marriage.
C) conflict brings issues considered unjust into the open, thus is a positive force.
D) marital conflict is an indication the marriage is in trouble.

Question 60

The highest levels of marital satisfaction appear to be when

A) an egalitarian ethic exists.
B) both husbands and wives hold traditional views regarding role performance.
C) women recognize they hold most power in a relationship.
D) husbands and wives both believe they are contributing more than the other to the relationship.

Question 61

In general, sexual activity ___________ over the life course.

Question 62

Compare and contrast the processes by which couples transitioned to marriage in the past and in current times.

Question 63

Family researcher __________ referred to the different experiences of husbands and wives as "his" marriage and "her" marriage.

Question 64

What did Jessie Bernard include as the three major dimensions of marital quality or adjustment? Explain each.

Question 65

Which of the following statements is TRUE of same sex couples?

A) They experience the same gender dynamics as heterosexual couples.
B) They have more social supports than heterosexual couples.
C) Same-sex couples are more likely to divide household chores equally than heterosexual couples.
D) Same-sex couples take on traditional male-female gender roles.

Question 66

Marital quality over the life course tends to follow the shape of a __________ trend.

Question 67

Sexual intercourse between a man and woman, at least one of whom is married to someone else, is called _______________.

Question 68

Spanier developed a __________ scale that focused on marital satisfaction, cohesion, consensus, and affectional expression.

Question 69

The most common justifications for extramarital relationships for women were

A) sexual dimensions.
B) emotional dimensions.
C) extrinsic dimensions.
D) none of the above were justifications for extramarital relationships for women.

Question 70

What does research suggest about intercourse and sexual activity (a) by age, generally, and (b) for those over age 60?

Question 71

What appears to be the change in marital quality over the life course? How might these changes be explained?

Question 72

Some precautionary notes are presented in regard to research that supports a curvilinear or U-shaped curve in marital adjustment over the life course. What are they? What is meant by a cohort effect?

Question 73

Scanzoni, who argues that marital __________ is a positive force, suggests the need to get rid of the notion that equilibrium or stability is a necessary idea for all marriages.

Question 74

Udry suggests that the dimension of marital __________ appears to be a better predictor of marital disruption than are measures of satisfaction, adjustment, or marital quality.

Question 75

Discuss the changes that have resulted in marriages and families as more women have entered the labor force.

Question 76

__________ theory contends that those who have these attributes or possessions will have more power.

Question 77

__________ is the ability of husband and wives to influence each other and affect their behavior.

Question 78

Discuss the relationship between equity in decision-making/family work and marital or relationship satisfaction. Is a feminist ideology of full equality compatible with marriage? Explain.

Question 79

Glenn argues that differences observed in marital success between midterm and long-term marriages are largely due to __________ effects.

Question 80

What is meant by the statement "marital alternatives appears to be a better predictor of marital disruption than are measures of satisfaction?"