3.1 Chapter Reading Guide
Elizabeth B. Pearce
This chapter is all about the connections that people make, those intimate relationships that we expect to last for a long time, if not indefinitely. You’ll get more exposure to theories about love and community and a basic understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Romantic partnerships and breakups, including marriage and divorce, are big topics in family studies. You learned about your sociological imagination in Chapter 2; now it is time to practice using it.
The reading is designed to help you meet the following chapter objectives. You may also want to preview the key terms that follow. These terms will be bolded the first time they appear in the chapter. You can read the definitions here and also in the hyperlinks.
Chapter Learning Objectives
- Using a theory, describe the need for connection through community and intimate relationships.
- Explain the relationships between family, social support, and kinship groups.
- Explain the differences between sex, gender, and sexuality.
- Discuss the ways that changes in gender and sexuality affect intimate and family relationships.
- Describe the interpersonal and societal factors that influence union formations.
- Describe the most likely contributing factors to the increase in divorce from the 1960s forward.
- Analyze union formations and dissolutions from an equity perspective.
- Apply theoretical concepts related to choosing a partner(s) to your own observations and experiences.
Key Terms Preview
- Assortative mating: the tendency to choose intimate mates who are more like oneself.
- Binary: a social construct composed of two parts that are framed as absolute and unchanging opposites.
- Chosen families: nonbiological kinship bonds, whether legally recognized or not, deliberately chosen for the purpose of mutual support and love.
- Cisgender: a person who identifies in accordance with their gender assignment.
- Companionate marriage: in addition to economic stability, these marriages also have an expectation of love, affection, friendship, and sexual fidelity and satisfaction.
- Gender: a socially constructed expression of a person’s sexual identity which influences the status, roles, and norms for their behavior.
- Hierarchy of needs theories: a framework articulated by multiple Indigenous groups that emphasizes self-actualization not just of the individual but of the community as the most primary of needs.
- Homophobia: fear, hatred, or prejudice toward gay people.
- Individualized marriage: responsibilities and roles are more fluid and the enhancement of individual well-being and psychological growth is added to expectations.
- Intersex: a variation in sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals.
- Intimate relationships: characterized by mutual trust, caring, and acceptance and often imply a romantic or sexual relationship.
- Institutionalized marriage: a relationship in which roles are clearly defined between the man and the woman in the pursuit of economic and familial stability.
- Polyamory: having intimate relationships with more than one person at a time.
- Sexuality: the pattern of romantic and/or sexual attraction to others in relation to one’s own gender identity.
- Stigma: a negative or discriminatory attitude based on a social characteristic or behavior.
- Transgender people: individuals who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
- Union formation: an intimate relationship, in which two or more people commit to some kind of union, including marriage.
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Reading Guide
Open Content, Original
“Chapter Reading Guide” by Elizabeth B. Pearce. License: CC BY 4.0.
characterized by mutual trust, caring, and acceptance and often imply a romantic or sexual relationship.
a biological descriptor involving chromosomes and internal/external reproductive organs.
a socially constructed expression of a person’s sexual identity which influences the status, roles, and norms for their behavior.
the pattern of romantic and/or sexual attraction to others in relation to one’s own gender identity.
a structural framework, explanation, or tool that has been tested and evaluated over time.
the social structure that ties people together (whether by blood, marriage, legal processes, or other agreements) and includes family relationships.
ensuring that people have what they need in order to have a healthy, successful life that is equal to others. Different from equality in that some may receive more help than others in order to be at the same level of success.
