ANT 2103 Study Guide - Final Guide: Pew Research Center, Online Dating Service, Nuclear Family
16 May 2018
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Question 1
Chapter 7 - March 06
A. Why are so many young adults postponing marriage, parenthood, and having fewer
children? What are the conclusion drawn of this for family life? (5)!
•Class Notes
•Theres a decline in families being seen !
•The definition of a family in this case is the mother, father and the children !
•Married couple homes went down 5% from 2001 to 2016. (70.5 -> 65.8%) - Canadian
families!
•Other family structures were increasing !
•(personal note) since the baby boomers were in a society where the nuclear family
was the norm, most young adults aimed to follow that tradition … in the present day
society, young adults are given more freedom socially such as divorce and the age for
marriage isn’t defined to be a young age interval and therefore why there are young
adults seen to be marrying at an older age !
•After finishing education, finding a job, becoming more stable and mentally ready
for a relationship !
•(personal note) children can be seen as a distraction from the main goal in life and
therefore having children was postponed or in some cases, may adults don't have
children due to the increased age and risks involved !
•Same sex couples - 0.9% of total number of couples !
•33.4% are married !
•Tripled from 2006 to 2016!
•Internet dating !
•According to 2015 - Pew Research Centre - online dating is increasing rapidly !
•2013 - 10% of young people have said they have used it !
•2015 - # has tripled to 27%!
•Since 2005 - 1/3 of the marriages in the states started off from online dating !
———————————!
•People are said to prefer online dating than traditional !
•Online dating is seen to have a massive database of potential mates!
•Dilemma - still believe in romantic love and the end up online dating !
———————————!
•Key services!
•Unprecedented access to potential dating partners !
•Ability to communicate using channels before determining to meet face to face !
•Option of being matched with romantic compatibility algorithms!
•Textbook
•(Heino et al. 2010) - dating profiles are designed to promote positive attributes, so
most users account for dishonesty by assuming that potential partners have
exaggerated or omitted pieces of information!
•161 - baby boomers (1946 - 1964) were born into a world where sexual expression
was more constrained, young people left relatively young to get married and have
children !
•Nuclear family was still the norm, men were the main breadwinners, and most
marriages lasted a lifetime!
•Courtship relationships - intimate relationship where people get to known each other
and then decide if there will be an engagement or other romantic arrangement - were
seen more often up until world war one… !
•162 - changes occurred on university campuses where young adults begin to
question this tradition … spread to high school and pop culture (how does this
affective delay of marriage?)
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Question 1
Chapter 7 - March 06
•Dating has stages: … marked with exchange or gift that symbolized seriousness of
relationship !
•Casual!
•Steady dating!
•Engagement !
•Marriage!
•… double standard was developed:!
•Men - pay for date, socialized to emphasize sex, initiate contact !
•Women - learned about love, romance ad marriage (How does this perception
affect Marriage age gap)
•Present day - traditional dating styles is seen as time consuming and inefficient !
•Modern technology and modifications in dating customs have also contributed to an
expansion of social network sites and chat rooms … dating services cover a wide
range of preferences and reflect shifting norms in dating behaviours and gender roles !
•170 - avoids the risk of divorce : if it doesn’t work out, its easy to dissolve the union,
since the coupe don't have to seek legal and religious … for same - sex couples the
choice to legally marry has only recently become an option !
•Research shows that too many young people don’t consciously plan to move in
together or choose between cohabitation and marriage!
•Studies suggest that cohabiting women experience unique stressors and issues in
these relationships because cohabitation is not a committed, “ formalized”
agreement identical to a legal marriage contract. Cohabiting men, tend to be less
committed t the relationship and their partners than married men, As a result,
some of these men remain in permanent state of availability and are still “playing
in the field,”which can leave women feeling insecure and vulnerable !
•172 - delay in marriage due to focusing on their careers, greater socioeconomic
resources generally slow down young adults’ formation intimate relationships … show
by the tendency for individuals from lower and middle - class families to marry earlier
than those from well - educated / privileged families!
•175 - role models provided by mothers in professional occupations may reduce
daughters’ interest in early marriage and increase their labour force attachment …
young adults from urban areas tend to marry later than those from rural regions and
ethnic/cultural factors influence the timing of marriage !
•181 - in a ethnographic study of poor families in the states, Edin and Kefalas explore
how girls from poor families conceptualize their active choices to have children while
they are young and unmarried. They note that middle - class beliefs about the right
way to start a family are conditioned y a social context that offers great economic
rewards for those who are willing to wait to have children. !
•182 - Concluded by authors: the centrality of children in this lower - class
worldview of what is important and meaningful in life stands in striking contrast to
their low priority in the view of more affluent teens and 20 - something youth, who
may want children at some point in the future, but only after educational, career,
and other life goals have been achieved. Putting motherhood first makes sense in
social context where the achievements that middle - class youth see as their
birthright are little more than pipe dreams: Children offer tangible source of
meaning, while other avenues for gaining self - esteem and personal satisfaction
appear vague and tenuous. !
•186 - delayed parenthood : maturity and improved economic resources !
•188 - delayed children / no children : social pressures / costs and benefits !
•Social pressure to reproduce - religion, government officials, the media, family,
friends and even strangers !
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Question 1
Chapter 7 - March 06
•Governments and community leaders see children as necessary because they
become future generation of taxpayers, voters, workers and consumers!
•Individuals may also perceive that children provide benefits such as reduced
stigma, companionship, and personal fulfillment !
•Economic conditions, education, and career factors are reported as important in
women’s decision to delay marriage and parenthood.!
•Inability to have children due to medical problems!
B. Discuss current trends in the formation of family units in relation to age, gender, race,
sexuality, religion and institutions. (5)!
•Class Notes
•Sexuality and desire are increasingly separate from marriage and family !
•What is a family and its functions? !
•Must ensure that society has an ongoing supply of new members and be a source
of socialization!
•Need to provide economic support for family members, such as food, clothing
and housing !
•Need to provide motional sport for family members by offering intimacy, warmth,
safety and protection!
•With arranged marriages, intimacy may be difficult to achieve due to the lack
of connection that is seen to be made more of in love marriages !
•Gender !
•According to Alcott Parsons (1902 - 1979) - husbands and wives should play certain
roles (nuclear family - husband, wife and children)!
•Men - the ones who provide for the family member (instrumental) - economical
power!
•Women emotional need to family member (expressive) - caring role!
•Social exchange theory - much of family life can be viewed on terms of costs and
benefits !
•Helped explain gender relations, household division of labour, and why people
decide to stay or leave in relationships - arranged marriages !
•Marital interaction - a bargaining process used by one member who wishes to
change family rules !
•Theory explains family dynamics because it is based on individuals rather than
one family needs !
•Textbook Notes
•162 - Modern technology and modifications in dating customs have also contributed
to an expansion of social network sites and chat rooms … dating services cover a
wide range of preferences and reflect shifting norms in dating behaviours and gender
roles !
•Example - Mark Penn documented the emergence of a new “micro trend” in
dating where women seek younger men. They were referred to as cougars …
number of websites appeared that were geared toward professional older women
who wanted to date younger men. Baker (2010) provides a discourse analysis
pertaining to the language use of the term “cougar” and concludes that it signifies
important changes in gender relations and identities.!
•As women become more economically independent and well educated, and
gain more power to chose potential mates, they begin to adopt traditionally
male dating behaviours, where dating partner is considerably younger and
less financially powerful in the relationship. Yet, at the same timeshare also
appears to be a growth of “dating” web sites such as Seeking arrangements. .
com ( a controversial websites reputed for facilitating encounters between rich
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