Deck 13: The Dissolution and Loss of Relationships

Question 1

When women are financially independent of men:

A) rates of cohabitation tend to be lower.
B) divorce rates tend to be higher.
C) divorce rates tend to be lower.
D) rates of teen pregnancy tend to be lower.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to Levinger's barrier model,all of the following factors influence break-ups EXCEPT which one?

A) Attraction
B) Alternatives
C) Barriers
D) Attachment

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Cohabitation is related to divorce in all of the following ways EXCEPT which one?

A) Cohabitation, in general, increases the risk of divorce.
B) Short cohabitation periods after becoming engaged increase risk of divorce.
C) Cohabitation with more than one partner increases the risk of later divorce.
D) People who cohabitate before becoming engaged have a greater chance of later divorce.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

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 5

Which model suggests that problematic behavior that destroys a couple begins after marriage?

A) Enduring dynamics model
B) Emergent distress model
C) Disillusionment model
D) Reactive stress model

Question 6

Many Americans ask more of their spouses than ever before because:

A) Americans are less connected to their communities than past generations.
B) more and more women stay at home and rely heavily on their husbands' support.
C) of the collective nature of Western societies.
D) of the prevalent negative perceptions of divorce.

Question 7

Which of the following is true of children of divorce?

A) They are less likely to get divorced themselves.
B) They are more likely to divorce when they become adults.
C) They have more favorable views of marriage.
D) They have higher quality marriages.

Question 8

Research has found that marital satisfaction in United States _____ over the last 25 years.

A) increased
B) stayed about the same
C) declined
D) increased among younger couples but decreased among older couples

Question 9

The number of married adults in the United States:

A) is about the same today as in 1960.
B) is at an all-time high.
C) is at an all-time low.
D) dropped from 1960 to 1980 and has climbed steadily since then.

Question 10

At their wedding the Westons were one of the happiest couples their wedding guests had ever seen.The couple was sure they had a romance that would endure forever and expected a life together that would be wonderful.During their first year,they discovered that marriage was hard work and they both doubted their relationship.Their experience goes along with the:

A) enduring dynamics model.
B) emergent distress model.
C) disillusionment model.
D) reactive stress model.

Question 11

Which of the following theories says that an unhappily married couple would stay together because the barriers for getting a divorce are high and the alternatives are few?

A) Seligman's positive psychology model
B) Ekman's model of facial understanding and facial mismatches
C) Whitehead's social expectation model of divorce
D) Levinger's barrier model

Question 12

Which of the following perceived barriers to divorce actually distinguishes couples who divorce from those who do not?

A) Religious norms
B) Fear of financial ruin
C) Threat of losing one's children
D) Worry that children will suffer

Question 13

Divorce has become more socially acceptable because:

A) we like to blame people for wrongdoings.
B) no-fault divorces became legal.
C) fewer people today want to be coupled off.
D) fewer people are having children.

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true of divorce?

A) The divorce rate is three times higher than in 1960.
B) More than half of couples will divorce before their twenty-first anniversary.
C) The median age that men divorce is about 31 years old.
D) All of these.

Question 15

The divorce rate in the United States is:

A) lower than that in most countries.
B) about the same as in most countries.
C) similar to that of Canada and Mexico, but lower than most European countries.
D) higher than most other countries in the world.

Question 16

Researchers have found that separation rates for spouses is _____ than it is for gay and lesbian couples and _____.

A) higher; for cohabitating heterosexual couples separation is higher
B) lower; gay and lesbian couples with civil unions have similar separation rates to married heterosexual couples
C) lower; gay and lesbian couples with civil unions show even greater separation rates than married heterosexual couples
D) higher; cohabitating couples fall in between these two groups

Question 17

According to the Framingham Heart Study,people who have a friend or relative who divorces are _____ more likely to divorce themselves.

A) 75%
B) 33%
C) slightly
D) no

Question 18

Which of the following countries has the highest divorce rate?

A) United States
B) England
C) Sweden
D) Mexico

Question 19

How has individualism likely influenced the divorce rate in the United States?

A) We demand more of our spouses than in the past.
B) We are less connected to social norms that might discourage divorce.
C) We have less social support from friends and family than in the past.
D) All of these.

Question 20

Craig has a bad day at the office.He comes home and yells at his wife,causing discord in their marriage.This is an example of:

A) enduring vulnerabilities.
B) poor adaptation.
C) stress spillover.
D) resilience.

Question 21

A(n)_____,or story that explains one's experience,is often shaped by a person's perceptions rather than the "truth" of the event.

A) monologue
B) explication
C) narrative
D) reenactment

Question 22

The researchers of the Early Years of Marriage (EYM)Project are primarily interested in how _____ affect marital outcomes.

A) genetics
B) social conditions
C) attachment styles
D) enduring vulnerabilities

Question 23

When romantic partners break up,then reconcile and get back together,this is known as:

A) churning.
B) transition.
C) resilience.
D) adjustment.

Question 24

Announcing one's dissatisfaction with a relationship but opening things up for discussion and negotiation is an example of a(n)_____ strategy.

A) direct, other-oriented
B) indirect, other-oriented
C) direct, self-oriented
D) indirect, self-oriented

Question 25

Which two models did Huston and his colleagues find fit the outcomes of the marriages they followed in their PAIR project?

A) The reactive stress and the disillusionment models
B) The emergent stress and the enduring dynamics models
C) The reactive stress and the emergent stress models
D) The enduring dynamics and the disillusionment models

Question 26

The Eastons had a rocky courtship.They broke up twice before getting engaged and married.There were a few differences that they didn't seem able to reconcile,but they hoped marriage would provide them with some stability.Several months into marriage they found themselves fighting about the same things again and on the road to divorce.Their experience goes along with the:

A) enduring dynamics model.
B) emergent distress model.
C) disillusionment model.
D) reactive stress model.

Question 27

When asked,"What caused your divorce?" women most commonly gave which response?

A) Infidelity
B) Incompatibility
C) Substance use (including drinking)
D) Personality problems

Question 28

People who are high in the personality trait of _____ are more likely to divorce.

A) openness
B) extraversion
C) conscientiousness
D) neuroticism

Question 29

Throughout the world,divorce rates are higher when the sex ratio is:

A) high.
B) low.
C) even.
D) not important.

Question 30

The most common situation leading to a break up is:

A) sudden onset of discontent.
B) shared desire between both partners to end the relationship.
C) gradual dissatisfaction.
D) the presence of repair attempts.

Question 31

No-fault divorce laws are an example of a _____ that undermines marital success.

A) personal context
B) relational context
C) cultural context
D) bias

Question 32

Mark knows his relationship with his partner will soon end.He is now talking with friends and family,telling them his side of the story,and garnering support.Mark is in the _____ of the dissolution of his relationship.

A) resurrection phase
B) personal phase
C) dyadic phase
D) social phase

Question 33

In the Marital Instability Over the Life Course project,when men were asked what caused their divorce,they were most likely to cite:

A) infidelity.
B) incompatibility.
C) substance use.
D) abuse.

Question 34

In Leslie Baxter's study of college student break ups,she found that:

A) people broke up about half the time by directly telling their partner and half the time using indirect strategies.
B) in most cases people ended their relationships by telling their partner they wanted to break up.
C) in most cases people tried to end the relationship without ever directly saying so.
D) although people wanted to use indirect strategies, they ended up using direct strategies to break up.

Question 35

In predicting how they would feel after a break up,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 36

The break up pattern most commonly found by Baxter in her study of college students was one labeled:

A) direct interference.
B) persevering indirectness.
C) continual discontent.
D) direct discontent.

Question 37

The most common pattern of interaction in the months after a break up is:

A) partners becoming more committed to each other than when they decide to quit their romance.
B) no change in partners' connection to each other.
C) partners starting out as friends, with their commitment to each other gradually fading away entirely.
D) a series of ups and downs as partners figure out a new pattern of fitting their lives together.

Question 38

People who divorce are generally:

A) unhappy for years before the divorce and they start feeling better after the divorce.
B) unhappy for years before the divorce and feel even worse after the divorce.
C) unhappy for years before the divorce and continue to feel just as unhappy after the divorce.
D) unhappy just before the divorce and start to feel more unhappy after the divorce.

Question 39

The stage that occurs first in the dissolution of most relationships is called the:

A) dyadic phase.
B) personal phase.
C) social phase.
D) grave-dressing phase.

Question 40

The 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 41

In a sample of divorced parents in the midwestern U.S.,_____ had amicable relationships and _____ had distressed relationships with ex-spouses.

A) 70%; 30%
B) 50%; 50%
C) 20%; 80%
D) 40%; 60%

Question 42

Which of the following factors accounts for the finding that children do worse following divorce if one parent moves some distance away?

A) Parental stress
B) Parental loss
C) Parental conflict
D) Economic hardship

Question 43

Children of divorce are less affected by divorce when:

A) their non-custodial parent does not interfere and visits rarely.
B) their custodial parent speaks well of the other parent, whether or not they ever see that other parent.
C) they continue to have meaningful contact with both parents.
D) their non-custodial parent visits occasionally but not too much (no more than once a week).

Question 44

According to the parental conflict model:

A) children are better off going though a divorce if their homes are full of conflict.
B) children are always better off staying in a home with two parents, no matter the level of conflict.
C) any time parents divorce it is better for the children because conflict is inevitably happening in those homes.
D) some level of parental conflict is helpful to children as a model for effective communication.

Question 45

Men's per capita income _____ after divorce,while women's per capita income _____.

A) decreases; increases
B) increases; decreases
C) stays the same; decreases
D) decreases; stays the same

Question 46

Which explanation for why divorce might detrimentally affect children has received the strongest,most consistent support?

A) Economic deprivation
B) Parental conflict
C) Parental loss
D) Parental stress

Question 47

Of those who get remarried after a divorce,most do so within:

A) a few months.
B) two years.
C) four years.
D) ten years.

Question 48

Greta has four children in her day-care class.Which one is most likely to have adjustment problems?

A) Amy, living with both of her biological parents who argue a great deal
B) Ken, living with his mother and stepfather who are happily married
C) Paul, living with his divorced mother who is still friends with her ex-spouse
D) Shelly, living with her father who has been widowed for several years

Question 49

Which title is appropriate for post-marital relationship in which former spouses are not good friends but are civil and pleasant to each other?

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

Question 50

After a divorce social networks usually:

A) increase greatly.
B) increase somewhat.
C) stay the same size.
D) decrease in size.