Chapter 6 Flashcards
(71 cards)
1
Q
Moral perspectives on behavior
A
Morality of sexual behavior judged by the relationship within which it occurs
2
Q
Traditional perspective
A
- Main purpose of sex is procreation
- Non-marital and sex acts that cannot lead to pregnancy are morally suspect
3
Q
Relational perspective
A
- Sex outside marriage is morally acceptable if the relationship is committed
- Extramarital and casual sex not acceptable
4
Q
Recreational perspective
A
- Main purpose of sex is pleasure
- Most types of consensual sex morally acceptable
5
Q
Percent of people with each moral perspective
A
- Traditional: 30.6%
- Relational: 44.3%
- Recreational: 25.1%
6
Q
Percent of men and women that think premarital sex is wrong
A
- Men: 24%
- Women: 30%
7
Q
Views of premarital sex for older and younger individuals
A
More older individuals tend to find premarital sex wrong than younger individuals
8
Q
Views of premarital sex for more and less educated individuals
A
The percentage of individuals thinking premarital sex is wrong decreases the more educated they are
9
Q
Views of premarital sex in different parts of the country
A
Premarital sex is seen as more okay in northern parts of the US
10
Q
Changing views of premarital sex
A
Fewer people believe that premarital sex is “always wrong”
11
Q
Changing views of extramarital sex
A
More people in 2018 believe that extramarital sex is wrong than in 1973
12
Q
Changing views of gay sex
A
Gay sex is “always wrong” = 80% in 1980s to 33% in 2018
13
Q
Sociosexuality
A
- Interest in or engagement in sex without commitment
14
Q
Clark and Hatfield study - “would you go out with me tonight?”
A
- 55% female
- 50% male
15
Q
Clark and Hatfield study - “would you come over to my apartment tonight?”
A
- 5% female
- 70% male
16
Q
Clark and Hatfield study - “would you go to bed with me tonight?”
A
- 0% female
- 75% male
17
Q
Hookup culture
A
Can involve anything from kissing to sexual intercourse, typically unplanned, arise when young people hang out, especially when alcohol is involved
- More common now than a couple decades ago
- However, most college students have sex within monogamous relationships
- In 2016, the National College Health Association found that in the past 12 months, the median number of partners students had oral, vaginal, or anal sex with was 1
18
Q
Do women have great sex in a hookup?
A
Only 10% of women have an orgasm during first time hookup
- Could be caused by anxiety, guilt, men typically pay little attention to women’s sexual pleasure during casual encounters
19
Q
Is there a link between casual sex and psychological problems?
A
- Mixed results in research
- Those who engage in casual sex more likely to suffer mental health problems before becoming sexually active and even more likely to have problems afterward
- Other research shows that those who had casual sex had no difference in mental health
- Regret about hookup frequent in both men and women
20
Q
Gay male community and casual sex
A
- Casual sex is more acceptable in the gay male community
- Many gay men have monogamous relationships
21
Q
Do gay or straight men have more sex partners?
A
Men who have sex with men have more sex partners than straight men
- In past year 3.1 vs. 1.8
22
Q
Cruising
A
Looking for casual sex in public
23
Q
Lesbian casual sex
A
- There is a small segment of the lesbian culture that practices casual sex and polyamory, but most things indicate that many lesbians settle into monogamous relationships
- There is very little research on lesbian relationships
24
Q
Flirting
A
Women flirt by smiling, arching their brows, looking down and to the side, and placing their hands near their mouths and laughing
25
Detecting when people are flirting with you
Many people do not realize when others flirt with them
- They think others are flirting only when they themselves are flirting
26
Are computers better at detecting flirting than humans?
Accuracy:
- Women = 62%
- Men = 56%
- Computer = 71%
27
Essential components of love
- Intimacy
- Commitment
- Passion
28
Intimacy
- Emotional component
- Feelings of close bonding, connectedness
- Mutual sharing, support, valuing partner
29
Commitment
- Cognitive component
- Decision that you love your partner and commitment to maintaining relationship
30
Passion
- Romantic attraction and sexual desire
- Psychological arousal, longing to be together both physical and psychological
31
Sternberg's triangular model of love
- Liking: intimacy
- Empty love: commitment
- Infatuation: passion
- Romantic love: intimacy and passion
- Companionate love: intimacy and commitment
- Fatuous love: passion and commitment
- Consummate love: all three
32
How do men and women differ in their style of love?
- Women score higher than men on intimacy and commitment
- Older individuals score higher on commitment than younger people
- Couples less happy when there is a mismatch in their styles
33
Importance of romantic love for getting married
- Less than 5% of American or Japanese would
- ~50% of Pakistanis and Indians would
34
Countries that love positively/negatively
- Italians and Americans view romantic love as positive
- Chinese do not
35
Are love marriages or arranged marriages happier?
Regan et al. assessed Indian Americans who either had a love match or arranged marriage
- No differences in relationship satisfaction, commitment, love
36
Who thinks about sex more?
Fisher et al.
- Men report thinking about sex 34 times a day (median = 19)
- Women report thinking about sex 19 times a day (median = 10)
- Small sex difference
- Men think about sleep and food more too
37
Anger on happiness in relationships
Gottman has video of married couples interacting during a disagreement and found that:
- Expressing anger may make relationships unhappy over the short term, but they open up topics for communication
38
What causes the most damage to relationships?
- Withdrawal
- Defensiveness
- Criticism
- Contempt
39
What is related to good outcomes in relationships?
- Marriages that are stable have 5x as many positive interactions as negative ones
- "Starting up" a conversation with something positive is better than starting with something negative
40
Criticisms of Gottman
- One well-designed longitudinal study shows that there is not much connection between communication and marital satisfaction - and that it may happen the opposite of Gottman
- Fix things that go wrong, do not let problems fester
41
Link between sexual and relationship satisfaction
- Sex helps establish and maintain intimacy and attachment
- Couples who were sexually satisfied after 3 years together: had more frequent sex, received more oral sex, had more orgasms, engage in a wider variety of sex acts, created a sexy mood, and talked more with their partner about their sex life
- Sexual and relationship satisfaction are related
42
Esther Perel's beliefs on extramarital affairs
- Not solely as a betrayal, but as a complex issue that often reveals deeper relationship dynamics and unmet needs
- While affairs are painful, they can also be a catalyst for growth and understanding within a relationship, rather than simply being a sign of failed marriage
43
Cohabitation
Live-in sexual relationship between two people who are unmarried
44
How common is cohabitation
- Increasingly common
- By 3 years after moving in together 27% have broken up, 32% still cohabitating, 40% married
- 70% of couples live together before marriage
45
In 2010, what percent of couples lived together before marriage?
28%
46
When is cohabitation more/less common?
- More common among young adults
- Less common among people with higher levels of education, older age groups, and in certain religious or cultural contexts
47
How has the rate of cohabitation changed?
Increasing
48
Is it legal to cohabit?
- Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of "familial status" which pertains to the presence of children under age 18, but is silent on marital status
- Michigan and Mississippi have enforceable anti-cohabitation laws on their books
- Couples cohabitating may do so as a way to keep their relationships less formal, preserve independence, and make it easier to break up
- Breaking up could be "messy" if they share assets or children
- Less legal protections
49
Why cohabit?
- Alternative to marriage
- Preserve financial independence
- Easier to break up
- Cheaper to live together
- "Trial marriage" to test compatibility
50
Are cohabitating couples likely to get a divorce?
- For couples who married since 1990s, little differences in divorce rates for those that did and did not cohabit
- Selection effect: those who choose to cohabit are different in other ways that make divorce more likely to happen
51
Median age at first marriage
- Men = 30.1
- Women = 28.2
- Approximately 14 years between puberty and marriage
52
Is marriage important?
Between 2001-2022, marriage rate fell
- 34% of people older than 15 never married
- Declined more among less-educated people
- Black women less likely to be married or cohabitating than other groups
- Black women who are single mothers are strengthened by the presence of other family members
53
Domestic partnership
Legal arrangement that confers some of the same rights and obligations of marriage
54
Civil unions
Legal arrangement that confers most or all of the same rights and obligations of marriage except name
- Gay and lesbian
55
When did same-sex marriage become legal?
2015
56
How companionate marriage affects happiness
- Form of marriage in which couples are expected to be emotionally intimate and engage in activities together
- Demands intimacy and affection
- Some people cannot sustain this with one other person for a lifetime
- Implies equivalence among husband and wife
57
How ease of divorce affects marriage happiness
Makes marriage a lesser commitment
58
Is married sex frequent?
- Married women less likely to have sex more than twice per week
- Frequency of sex declines with increasing duration of marriage and with age
59
Is married sex better?
Married couples generally are happier with their sex life than expected by frequency of their sexual activities
60
What factors increase sexual satisfaction among married partners?
- Good sexual communication
- Try new things
- Set the mood for romance
61
How does age affect frequency of sex?
As age increases, frequency decreases
62
What percent of marriages end in divorce?
45%
- 1 in 5 marriages ends within 5 years
- 1 in 3 ends within 10 years
63
What factors impact divorce rates?
- race/ethnicity
- Age at marriage
- Level of education
- Marriages between more dissimilar people = more divorce
- Infidelity increases divorce
- Infertility
64
Negative effects of divorce
- Less happy
- Less sexually happy
- More socially isolated
- Decline in SES
- Children of divorce
65
Positive effects of divorce
- Escape from an unhappy relationship
- May bring new life to a person
- About half people remarried within 5 years
66
Consensual non-monogamy
There are different types of non-monogamous relationships
- 4-6% of individuals report currently being in a CNM relationship
- 20% at some point in life
67
Polyamory
- Formation of non-transient sexual relationship in groups of 3 or more
- Catchall term for a variety of non-types of non-monogamous relationships
- "Consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy"
68
Swingers
- Couples who agree to engage in casual sexual contexts with others
- Both partners aware and happy with what they are doing
- Way to avoid extramarital affairs
69
Group marriage
Polyfidelity
- Stable, sexually linked group of 3 or more people who live together as a family
70
Problems with non-monogamous relationships
Jealousy
- Must foster pleasure in the knowledge that their partners are enjoying sexual relationships with others
71
Benefits of CNM relationships
- May help people meet more of their fundamental needs
- Primary and secondary relationships may fulfill different needs
