Chapter 8 Committing to Each Other Key Terms

arranged marriage Marriages arranged by the parents of prospective partners. Partners may not even meet their prospective spouse until the wedding day. free choice culture People freely choose their own mates.

cross-national marriage The future spouse comes to the United Staes to marry or travels to the home country for the wedding ceremony. courtly love Romantic love that flourished during the Middle Ages.

bride price Money or property that the future groom pays the future bride’s family so he can marry her. dowry A sum of money or property brought to the marriage by the family.

exchange theory Whether relationships form or continue depends on the rewards and costs they provide to the partners. marriage gradient The tendency for women to marry “up” with regard to age, education, occupation and even height.

pool of eligibles A group of individuals who are considered most likely to make compatible marriage partners. homogany Choosing a partner that is like oneself.

endogamy Marrying within one’s social group. exogamy Marrying outside one’s group.

heterogamy Marrying someone dissimilar in race, age, education, religion, or social class. status exchange hypothesis Agreement that an individual might change his or her socially defined superior racial/ethnic status for the economically or educationally superior status of a partner in a less-privileged racial/ethnic group.

blocking strategies Used to deflect negative response by screening, discrediting, or directly confronting the offending person or persons. transforming strategies Reinterpret negative responses to define them differently.

theory of complementary needs We are attracted to partners whose needs complement our own. assortive mating Gradually sorting out the pool of eligibles who would not make the best spouse that they could find.

getting together Courtship process in which groups of men and women congregate at a party or share an activity. date rape Being involved in a coercive sexual encounter with a date or acquaintance.