Exam 11: Marriage

A new view of early human origins suggests that the emergence of a pair bond between male and female would have allowed humans to recognize their relatives.

A cross-cultural study that systematically compared romantic love in many cultures found

What is the term that anthropologists use to identify ego's socially recognized father?

What are some of the differences between endogamy and exogamy, and how absolute is the distinction implied by these terms? Use examples to illustrate your argument.

All cultures have taboos against ________, sexual relations with someone considered to be a close relative, although precisely what constitutes a close relative varies across cultures.

Does the practice of paying a dowry necessarily imply gender inequality?

Early anthropologists explained incest taboos as a reflection of "instinctive horror" of mating with close relatives. However, this explanation for incest taboos has been rejected because formal incest restrictions would be unnecessary if humans really do have an instinctive aversion to incest.

Exogamy is the practice of seeking out a mate within one's own social group.

One theory regarding the universality of the incest taboo argues that by forcing people to marry outside their immediate kin group, peaceful alliances between people would extend to include a greater number of individuals.

What is the name of the custom by which a widower marries the sister of his deceased wife?

In a study among the Hopi of northeastern Arizona, more than a third of the women of this community had been divorced at least once, which correlates with the fact that these women were socially and economically insecure.

With unilineal descent, sex with cross-cousins is proper, but sex with parallel cousins is considered incestuous. Why?

What is the term for the marital exchange in which the bride's family or kin group provides substantial gifts when their daughter marries?

"A person can have multiple spouses without ever getting divorced." Using the concepts you have learned in this chapter, explain this seemingly contradictory statement.

Polygynous marriages often serve important economic and political functions, with the number of wives a man has serving as an indicator of his wealth, prestige, and status.

Using what you know about cross-cultural comparisons of marital practices, discuss the following statement: Serial monogamy is the result of a cultural emphasis on individualism, whereas polygamy is the result of a cultural emphasis on social responsibility.

If John marries his deceased brother's widow, this arrangement is called a levirate marriage.

Which of the following statements about polygynous marriages is true?

Discuss some of the social functions of levirate and sororate marriage and bridewealth, and identify the sociocultural context of these customs.

Which of the following statements about polyandry is most likely true?