CHAPTER 10

NOTES AND TEST

Relationships in Adulthood

Relathionships

1.  Friendships

a.  Levinson’s stages of frienship:

1.      acquaintanceship

2.     buildup

3.     continuation

4.     deterioration

5.     ending

b.  Young adults tend to have more friendships than any other period

       of life

c.     Friendships are an important factor for maintaining life satisfaction across adulthood

d.     Themes that underlie adult friendships:

1.     effective or emotional basis

2.     shared or communal nature

3.     sociability and compatibility

e.      Men tend to have fewer close friends and base the friendship on shared activities, such as sports

f.       Women tend to have more close friends and base the friendship on intimate and emotional sharing

g.     Gender differences in same-sex friendships may be an explanation of the difficulties men and women have forming cross-gender friendships

Love Relationships

a.      Key components of love are passion, intimacy and commitment.  A combination of these form seven types of love relationships:

1.     liking

2.     infatuation

3.     empty love

4.     romantic love

5.     fatuous love

6.     companionate love

7.     consummate love

b.     Styles of love change with age, but the priorities within relationships remain the same

c.     The theory of assortive mating, suggests that individuals select mates based on their similarity to each other

d.     The relationship of a couple may progress is stages: stimulus, values and role

e.      Research has found that adults recreate in partnership relationships the same kinds of attachments they had as children to important adults in their life

f.       Men are more romantic earlier in relationships, whereas women are more cautious and pragmatic

g.     There are cross-cultural differences in the way individuals choose which are the ideal characteristics of a mate

The dark side of relationships: Violence

a.      Levels of aggressive behavior range from:

1.     verbal aggression

2.     physical aggression

3.     murdering one’s partner

b.     As the level of aggression increases, the causes of aggressive behavior become more complex

c.     Some of the reasons individuals remain in abusive relationships include: low self-esteem and beliefs that they are not able to leave

2.Lifestyles

Singlehood

a.      There is an increasing number of adults that decide to remain single

b.     Women that are single feel ambivalent about being single.  Fewer men than women remain single.  African Americans are twice as likely to be single when compared to European Americans

c.     Dealing with other people’s expectations that they should marry is often difficult for individuals

Cohabitation

a.      In the U.S. a large number of young adults live together before getting married.

b.     Research has shown that couples who cohabitated before getting married have a higher divorce rate.  Recently this negative relationship between cohabitating and marriage may be weakening

Gay Male and Lesbian Couples

a.      Lesbian couples are more likely to remain together and are more egalitarian than gay male couples

b.     Research has shown that the frequency of sexual expression is different across gay male, lesbian and heterosexual couples

c.     Gay male and lesbian relationships are similar to marriages in that they face the same relationship issues

Marriage

a.      Factors in creating stable marriages include: creating a stable sense of identity as a foundation for intimacy, similarity of values and interests and contribution of unique skills by each partner

b.     Marital satisfaction for couples with children tends to decline until the children leave home, although there are exceptions

c.     The majority of long-term marriages are happy

d.     In order for a marriage to be happy, partners must be flexible, adaptable, and communicate well with each other

3.The Family Life Cycle

Family Life Cycle Stages

a.      In Western societies the nuclear family is the most common form of family.  Around the world the most common form is extended family

b.     Families experience a series of predictable changes which are called the family life cycle.  This provides a framework for understanding changes a family goes through as their children reach maturity

The Parental Role

a.      The timing of parenthood is important and plays a role in how  involved parents are in their families versus their careers

b.     Single parents face a number of unique problems, especially if they are women and are divorced, with the main problem being reduced financial resources

c.     An issue for adoptive, foster and stepparents is how strongly the child will bond with them

d.     Gay male and lesbian parents also face a number of unique problems, but usually prove to be good parents

4.Divorce and Remarriage

Divorce

a.Today the odds are that 50-50 a marriage will end up in divorce

b.Covenant marriage is an approach that has been adopted to keep a marriage from failing

c.Recovery from a divorce is different for men and women, with men having a tougher time in the short run and women having a tougher time in the long run mainly due to financial reasons

d.Between divorced parents issues include visitation rights and child support

e.Disruptions in the divorced parent’s relationships occur whether the children are young or they are adults themselves

Remarriage

a.Most divorced individuals remarry

b.Second marriages are vulnerable to stress especially if spouses have to adjust to having stepchildren