Deck 9: Marriages and Families

Question 1

Adoption is an example of

A) dowry.
B) extended family.
C) taboos.
D) fictive kinship.

Answer 1

fictive kinship.

Question 2

Which of these statements about the incest taboo is FALSE?

A) Biomedical knowledge is the primary explanation for the incest taboo.
B) Incest taboos are cultural universals.
C) The specific relationships to which the taboos apply vary from people to people.
D) Some cultures encourage marriage between first cousins, while others disallow it.

Answer 2

Biomedical knowledge is the primary explanation for the incest taboo.

Question 3

Neolocal residence rules are found most commonly among which people groups?

A) Industrialized peoples
B) Pastoralists and horticulturalists
C) Foragers and pastoralists
D) Intensive agriculturalists and industrialized peoples

Answer 3

Industrialized peoples

Question 4

Cross-culturally, marriage

A) is generally based on romantic love.
B) unites two people, a man and a woman.
C) is not necessarily a matter of personal or individual choice.
D) requires cohabitation.

Question 5

Each of these explains why it is difficult to formulate a cross-culturally valid definition of marriage EXCEPT

A) in some societies, married men and women do not generally share the same house.
B) in some societies, such as among the Nuer and the Nandi, it is possible for women to "marry" other women.
C) among the Musuo of China, there is no marriage.
D) polygyny and polyandry are the dominant forms of marriage in the societies in which they are allowed.

Question 6

Which of these statements about marriage is FALSE?

A) Marriage is important for creating political alliances.
B) Marriage is always expected to last a lifetime.
C) Marriages sometimes continue even after death.
D) Individuals who have never met are sometimes married.

Question 7

In most societies, marriage is important because

A) it creates social relationships that provide for the needs of children.
B) monogamy is a dominant cultural value.
C) children require two parents for healthy development.
D) marriage is the backbone of society.

Question 8

Rules that prohibit marriage within a person's own group are called

A) endogamous.
B) a caste system.
C) exogamous.
D) polyandrous.

Question 9

____ means that a person is required to marry within his or her own social group.

A) Endogamy
B) Polygamy
C) Exogamy
D) Affinity

Question 10

What do castes in India provide an example of?

A) Endogamous groups
B) Exogamous groups
C) Hypogamous groups
D) Agamous groups

Question 11

The statistical data showing the increase of approval of same-sex relationships indicates that

A) marriage systems are dynamic, just like culture, and will continually change.
B) marriage systems demonstrate that culture is static.
C) same-sex relationships have always been acceptable throughout the majority of American opinion.
D) older people are generally more accepting of same-sex relationships than younger generations.

Question 12

What is the term for a marriage in which one man has multiple wives?

A) Polyandry
B) Polygyny
C) Monogamy
D) Endogamy

Question 13

The term for a marriage in which one woman has multiple husbands is

A) gyndogamy.
B) polyandry.
C) polygyny.
D) group marriage.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about polygyny is FALSE?

A) Usually only well-to-do men have more than one wife.
B) A wife may welcome co-wives as a way of easing her workload.
C) In some situations, polygyny ensures that all women are able to marry.
D) In groups in which polygyny is a cultural norm, it is the dominant form of marriage.

Question 15

What is the term for a marriage in which one man marries women who are sisters?

A) The levirate
B) Fraternal polygamy
C) Sororal polygyny
D) Fraternal polygyny

Question 16

What seems to be the best explanation for the practice of polyandrous marriage?

A) Grooms' families save money by only needing bridewealth once.
B) It increases population growth.
C) It keeps the family land holdings together.
D) It allows all women to marry.

Question 17

Which of these statements about polyandrous marriage is FALSE?

A) In places where it is permitted, it is not the primary form of marriage.
B) Responsibility for the wife and children is shared equally by all the brothers/husbands.
C) Polyandry has the effect of keeping population low.
D) Women in polyandrous marriages tend to have a higher standard of living than others.

Question 18

In the United States, many people marry, divorce, and re-marry. The term for this is

A) serial monogamy.
B) plural marriage.
C) polygamy.
D) continual marriage.

Question 19

Among the Yanomamo, "sisters" or female relatives are exchanged between groups. This example illustrates which function of marriage?

A) Providing for the enculturation of children
B) Reducing conflict over sexual access
C) Creating new social relationships for allies and trade
D) Establishing a division of household labor

Question 20

Traditionally, the Yanomamo of South America

A) formed marriage alliances for trading purposes with non-Yanomamo peoples living at their borders.
B) formed marriage alliances with other villages for political purposes.
C) were endogamous and therefore made no marriage alliances outside their group.
D) viewed individuals outside their kin groups as enemies and therefore not suitable for marriage.

Question 21

What is the term for a marriage between a woman and her dead husband's brother or another relative?

A) The levirate
B) The sororate
C) Fraternal polyandry
D) Primogeniture

Question 22

The purpose of sororate marriage is to

A) preserve endogamous relationships.
B) preserve ties between kin groups.
C) increase the likelihood of childbearing.
D) share domestic tasks.

Question 23

Among many African peoples, if a woman dies, her kin group is obliged to replace her with another woman with no additional bridewealth paid. This practice is termed

A) levirate.
B) sororate.
C) endogamy.
D) polysororal marriage.

Question 24

The most common form of all marital exchange throughout the world is

A) dowry.
B) bridewealth.
C) brideservice.
D) gift exchange.

Question 25

What is the term for the transfer of wealth from a prospective husband and his kin group to the kin group of his bride?

A) Dowry
B) Bridewealth
C) Gift exchange
D) Bride bestowal payments

Question 26

What is a Yanomamo son-in-law who hunts with his wife's parents doing?

A) Paying off his bridewealth
B) Doing brideservice
C) Just being nice
D) Doing penance for fathering an illegitimate child

Question 27

Why isn't dowry considered the opposite of bridewealth?

A) Dowry involves completely different exchange goods.
B) Bridewealth is illegal and dowry is not.
C) Dowry does not give the bride and her family marital rights over her husband.
D) Bridewealth is continuous throughout the marriage; dowry is a one-time payment.

Question 28

The most important influences on postmarital residence are

A) number of spouses and type of economic system.
B) polygyny vs. polyandry.
C) property right and inheritance forms.
D) presence of children and size of household.

Question 29

When women control or own important resources and their labor is also important, then the postmarital residence pattern is most likely to be

A) neolocal.
B) matrilocal.
C) patrilocal.
D) bilocal.

Question 30

When brothers live with their parents as well as with their own nuclear families, this is called

A) a stem family.
B) matrilocally extended family.
C) the levirate.
D) patrilocally extended family.

Question 31

The social boundaries of extended families are not clearly defined.

Question 32

When different family units live in separate houses, even if they are located on the same land, they are not considered of the same household.

Question 33

The inbreeding-avoidance theory explains the existence of an incest taboo in all cultures.

Question 34

An exception to the culturally universal incest taboo was among the ancient Hawaiians.

Question 35

All culturally legitimate marriages are between at least one man and one woman.

Question 36

Nearly all peoples have some institution that is recognizably "marriage."

Question 37

There is no universal form or type of marriage.

Question 38

Most cultures have prohibition against marrying multiple spouses.

Question 39

Polygynous marriage is very often beneficial for both men and women.

Question 40

The practice of female infanticide and a shortage of females is the best explanation for polyandrous marriage.

Question 41

Polygyny and polyandry are more widely permitted than actually practiced.

Question 42

In many societies, marital alliances are important for the survival of the entire group, not just for the persons being married.

Question 43

The transfer of pigs from a man and his relatives to the relatives of his bride that occurs among some peoples of the Pacific Islands would be considered a form of bridewealth.

Question 44

Along with all other aspects of culture, marriage patterns and practices are constantly changing.

Question 45

The neolocal postmarital residence pattern of Americans is the most common postmarital residence pattern globally.

Question 46

Two explanations for the incest taboo assume family members are attracted to each other, and two explanations assume that they are not. Describe these four explanations and the objections that exist for each.

Question 47

What are the advantages of polygyny for both men and women in sociocultural systems that permit plural wives? What strategies have these groups developed to reduce the potential for conflict among the co-wives?

Question 48

Define polyandry. Explain where it is practiced and the explanations for it.

Question 49

Give two examples from the text of how intermarriage is important for creating political alliances and other social bonds.

Question 50

Compare the North American custom of bridal showers and wedding gifts with other forms of marital exchange. How does our custom differ from other patterns? How does it fit with other elements of our sociocultural system?