Deck 8: Commitments: Women and Close Relationships

Question 1

Which of the following is a characteristic of traditional marriages?

A) The wife's job is less important than the husband's.
B) The husband's leisure activities take place apart from his wife.
C) The wife has veto power over the husband's decision-making responsibility.
D) The spouses have a "senior partner-junior partner" relationship.

Answer 1

The husband's leisure activities take place apart from his wife.

Question 2

The biggest difference across cultures in mate selection was due to a cluster of characteristics reflecting

A) gender differences.
B) traditional values.
C) both gender differences and traditional values.
D) intelligence.

Answer 2

traditional values.

Question 3

Which of the following is a theory that proposes that the partner who brings greater outside resources to a relationship will have the greater influence in it?

A) the equity theory
B) the social exchange theory
C) the attachment theory
D) the sex-role spillover theory

Answer 3

the social exchange theory

Question 4

Which of the following is a reason for American women to marry later than they used to?

A) Goals besides being a wife and mother are more acceptable than earlier.
B) Advances in contraception have made premarital sex less risky.
C) There is a shortage of marriageable men for some women.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 5

Which of the following is a characteristic of egalitarian marriages?

A) equivalent power and authority between husband and wife
B) "separate but equal" work around the house (tasks divided along gender roles)
C) putting the children ahead of the marriage relationship
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 6

In the United States, the median age of a first-time bride

A) has increased in recent years.
B) has decreased in recent years.
C) has increased in the U.S. but decreased in Europe.
D) has increased among Blacks but not among White women.

Question 7

Which of the following is a way in which women justified marital inequality instead of challenging husbands or admitting the relationship was unequal?

A) They minimized conflict or blamed themselves when conflicts happened.
B) They used distancing and vague, hypothetical terms when talking about equality.
C) They made positive comparisons between their own husbands and other people's husbands.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 8

Who do wives and husbands most often turn to when confiding their deepest secrets?

A) Husbands turn to male friends or relatives; wives turn to female relatives.
B) Wives turn to husbands; husbands turn to wives.
C) Wives turn to female relatives or friends; husbands turn to wives.
D) Husbands turn to male friends or relatives; wives turn to husbands.

Question 9

Which of the following is a likely cause of American women's rising average age at first marriage?

A) advances in contraception
B) feminism's emphasis on choices for women
C) a shortage of men in some ethnic groups
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 10

Studies of marital satisfaction show that a decline in happiness often occurs after

A) the first two months.
B) the second child is born.
C) the first child is born.
D) two years.

Question 11

Which of the following is a characteristic of modern marriages?

A) Partners share responsibilities equally irrespective of gender roles.
B) The wife's job is less important than the husband's job by mutual agreement.
C) The wife is always a full-time homemaker with no decision-making responsibility.
D) The husband's leisure activities take place apart from his wife.

Question 12

Which of the following is a reason many women feel more negative about their marriages after they have children?

A) The division of household chores becomes increasingly lopsided.
B) They resent the burden of the increased workload at home.
C) They are disappointed that their husbands do less household work/child care than they expected.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 13

Modern marriages involve

A) equality of power between the wife and husband.
B) a valuing of togetherness in leisure time.
C) more importance being given to the wife's employment than to the husband's.
D) modern love.

Question 14

In the context of greater male power in marriage, which of the following statements is true of the social exchange theory?

A) It focuses on the symbolic value of gender roles.
B) It states that women should make the financial decision of a family.
C) It proposes that the partner who has less to offer in terms of status, money, or knowledge should take a back seat.
D) It greatly values the capacity of women to act as provider.

Question 15

Which of these factors is present in egalitarian marriages?

A) Both members have equal power and authority.
B) Both members share responsibilities equally.
C) Both members choose to spend a lot of time together.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

In Buss et al.'s (1990) cross-cultural study, ________ were more similar in their mate preferences than were ________.

A) men and women from the same culture; men from different cultures
B) men and women from the same culture; men and women from different cultures
C) men from different cultures; men and women from the same culture
D) women from different cultures; women from the same culture

Question 17

In the context of power in marriage, when couples refuse to acknowledge the way gender socialization and social forces have steered them toward traditional roles, they construct

A) a myth of equality.
B) role conflict.
C) patriarchal terrorism.
D) role overload.

Question 18

In recent studies of power in dual-career marriages, ________.

A) over 70 percent of wives say when there's a really important decision on which the spouses disagree, both have equal power
B) about 35 percent of wives say when there's an important decision on which the spouses disagree, the wife has the final say
C) there is a consistent pattern of inequality of power in favor of husbands
D) male dominance is endorsed as much as it is in traditional marriages

Question 19

Marriages in which the partners have moved beyond gender to define their roles are referred to as

A) equalitarian marriages.
B) modern marriages.
C) post gender relationships.
D) privileged relationships.

Question 20

Which of the following characterizes modern marriages?

A) a "second shift" for the wife
B) a "near-peer" or "senior partner-junior partner" relationship
C) the wife working outside the home
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 21

Lesbians who are "out" to significant others in their lives

A) report less satisfaction with their partners.
B) often have a small group of close friends with whom they associate.
C) report increased satisfaction with their partners.
D) report no satisfaction at all.

Question 22

________ remains highly correlated with divorce.

A) Intelligence
B) Sexual creativity
C) Marrying young
D) Female unemployment

Question 23

The United States has the highest divorce rate of any industrialized nation. More recently, the divorce rate in the United States

A) has begun to level off.
B) has increased at an alarming rate.
C) has doubled.
D) has decreased considerably.

Question 24

Which of the following statements accurately describes lesbian relationships?

A) Few lesbian couples mimic "husband" and "wife" roles in their lives together.
B) Most same-sex couples believe both partners should work for pay.
C) The importance of the work or career interests of each partner is likely to be fairly equal.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 25

In contrast to heterosexual couples, lesbian and gay couples

A) are in solo-income or solo-career relationships.
B) stress relationship dominance that is unlinked to social class.
C) tend to share more leisure activities.
D) lack faith in the institution of marriage.

Question 26

Research on cohabitation and later marital satisfaction indicates that

A) people who cohabit and later marry are more likely to divorce.
B) the "trial marriage" approach to cohabitation leads to better marital adjustment.
C) couples who cohabit and later marry usually manage to avoid conflicts.
D) cohabitating couples rarely marry.

Question 27

One contributor to the rising divorce rates is that many women

A) have become more argumentative as they have become more liberated.
B) find that men will not tolerate their desire for equality in the relationship.
C) have alternatives for economic survival other than dependence on a husband's income.
D) are marrying at an older age than in previous generations.

Question 28

The career interest of each person is more likely to be fairly equal in lesbian or bisexual couples than in heterosexual couples because

A) lesbians and bisexuals consider their careers more important than their relationships.
B) same-sex couples cannot assign the breadwinner role based on sex.
C) lesbians and bisexual women tend to value independence in their relationships.
D) same-sex couples cannot assign the breadwinner role based on sex, and lesbians and bisexual women tend to value independence in their relationships.

Question 29

Women seem to adjust better to divorce than men because

A) they tend to receive custody of the children.
B) they focus on building and maintaining networks of supportive friends and family.
C) they typically receive spousal support.
D) they only have to do housework for themselves again.

Question 30

Which of the following statements about happiness and marriage is true?

A) Men and women are both equally happy.
B) Women are happier than men.
C) Men are happier than women.
D) Women and men are both fairly unhappy.

Question 31

In the U.S., over 40-50 percent of first marriages end within ________ years.

A) 2
B) 5
C) 7
D) 15

Question 32

Which of the following is a reason for power differences in a lesbian relationship?

A) having greater resources of money than the other
B) having greater resources of education than the other
C) being more committed than the other
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 33

Which of the following is a reason why lesbians share more leisure time than heterosexual couples?

A) Only lesbians can find a same-gender friend and a spouse in the same person.
B) Most people need a same-gender "best friend."
C) Women are socialized to have more common interests with other women than with men.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 34

Which of the following is a factor that has been shown to help African American women adjust to divorce better than White women?

A) They remarry quickly after a divorce.
B) They cope effectively with psychological distress.
C) They are efficient at managing finances.
D) They live in multigenerational households.

Question 35

Which of the following statements is true of lesbian couples?

A) They lack institutional and societal support.
B) They are more egalitarian than heterosexual couples.
C) They share more leisure activities than heterosexual couples.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 36

Which of the following is a reason most likely to be given by men for the breakup of their marriages?

A) poor communication
B) substance abuse
C) mental abuse
D) not meeting family obligations

Question 37

At the societal level, several factors have been correlated with rising divorce rates. Divorce rates rise along with

A) political and social unrest.
B) the unemployment rate.
C) women's participation in the paid workforce.
D) political and social unrest and the unemployment rate.

Question 38

Research on divorce indicates that

A) the United States has the highest divorce rate of any industrialized country.
B) people whose parents have been divorced are unlikely to divorce.
C) divorce rates continue to rise steeply.
D) women who work outside the home are no more likely to divorce than are homemakers.

Question 39

Which of the following is a reason people choose to cohabit?

A) have a "trial marriage" with a partner
B) show their independence from their parents
C) pay the rent more easily
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 40

Identify a true statement about cohabiting couples.

A) They have less disagreements, fights, and violence than married couples.
B) They have a division of labor similar to traditional marriages.
C) They are more sexually active and sexually experienced than married couples.
D) They have a conservative attitude about religion and gender roles.

Question 41

Discuss whether marriage is linked to the psychological well-being of the partners involved.

Question 42

Does the experience of divorce make second marriages better? Support your answer with evidence.

Question 43

Compare equality in lesbian relationships with equality in heterosexual relationships.

Question 44

Overall, cross-cultural differences in mate preference are greater than differences between men and women within the same culture. What does this statement mean?

Question 45

Which of the following is a strain on remarriages that may lead to divorce?

A) stress from complex family structures and dynamics
B) conflicts over how to allocate money to various household members
C) people being less inclined to stay in unsatisfying relationships, having already divorced once
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 46

Studies of divorce and remarriage suggest that second marriages are ________ than first marriages to end in divorce.

A) slightly less likely
B) equally as likely
C) much less likely
D) even more likely

Question 47

Janet, a 22-year-old secretary, and Ryan, her 30-year-old boss, have recently married. Discuss the type of marriage they could have (traditional, modern, egalitarian, dual earner). What factors will help determine which type they find themselves in? Which one do you think they are most likely to be in and why?

Question 48

There are various alternatives to heterosexual marriage (lesbian relationships, cohabitation, and divorce that may or may not lead to remarriage). Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of each for women.

Question 49

The text describes various types of marriages. Describe each of them, their structures, and the roles each partner plays in the different types of marriages.

Question 50

What does social exchange theory predict about equality in marriage? What are some of the problems with this theory?

Question 51

Why do some people choose to cohabit?

Question 52

What social and economic factors account for the current trend of marrying later in the United States and Western Europe?

Question 53

Is egalitarian marriage possible? Why or why not?

Question 54

How does egalitarian marriage differ from traditional and modern marriage? Why is it so rare?

Question 55

Suggest two or three factors accounting for the increased rate of divorce in the United States over the past 40 years.

Question 56

Describe the added strains on lesbian and bisexual women in committed relationships.

Question 57

What factors contribute to greater male power in marriage and dating relationships? In what ways are changes in women's lives affecting the traditional power balance?

Question 58

Why do women lose out financially in divorce?

A) A majority of state property laws assume property belongs to the spouse who earned it.
B) The economic value of the wife's unpaid labor is not considered in divorce proceedings.
C) Women's sense of guilt and failure may prevent them from asserting financial needs.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 59

It has been argued that marital satisfaction changes over the life cycle of a marriage. Explain what this statement means.

Question 60

The biggest asset for the large majority of couples is the husband's ________ at the time of a divorce and in the future.

A) pension benefits
B) education
C) earning power
D) property and assets

Question 61

Discuss the different forms of power found in marriages as described in the text.

Question 62

What are the factors responsible for women losing out financially with divorce?

Question 63

Discuss the possibility of second marriages being more successful than first marriages. What are the additional sources of stress in second marriages?

Question 64

Discuss the various causes and consequences of divorce.