quiz 3: chapter 9 - adolescent development

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 The prevalence of involvement in romantic relationships increases gradually over the course of adolescence.

 In national surveys, the percentage of American adolescents reporting that they have been or currently are in a romantic relationship rises from 20% at ages 13–14, to 44% at ages 15–17, to 64% at ages 18–19.

 Experiencing romantic feelings, however, is far more/far less common.

 One study of early adolescents (mean age of 13) found that 56% reported currently having a “__” on an other-sex peer (Bowker et al., 2012).

far more.

sex-crush.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 What leads adolescents to enter into a romantic relationship?

 Their reasons include the following:

1. __: impressing others by having a relationship with a high-status partner

2. __: sharing enjoyable activities with another person

3. __: becoming more skilled at romantic interactions

4. __: establishing a close emotional relationship with another person

5. __: sharing sexual experiences with another person

1. Status

2. Companionship

3. Learning

4. Intimacy

5. Sexuality

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 What adolescents look for in a romantic partner changes with age, at least for boys/girls.

 During middle adolescence, boys mention ? prominently as a quality they prefer, whereas girls emphasize ? such as support and intimacy.

 By late __, however, both boys and girls emphasize interpersonal qualities, and what they seek is highly similar: support, intimacy, communication, commitment, and sexuality.

boys.

physical attractiveness. interpersonal qualities.

adolescence.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 Although adolescent __ have become a lot more assertive over the past decades in their relationships with boys, this does not mean that the old standards have expired entirely.

 Evidence indicates that __, the cognitive models that guide interactions in adolescents’ love relationships, are still highly influenced by ?, with the power mostly on the side of the boys.

↪ In general, boys still follow a proactive/reactive script, and girls a proactive/reactive script.

↪ The script for boys includes __ the love relationship—calling or texting the girl, suggesting they do something together, deciding where they will go, controlling the public domain (driving the car), and initiating sexual contact.

↪ The script for girls focuses on the __ (spending considerable time on dress and grooming), responding to the boy’s gestures in the public domain (being picked up at her home), and responding to his sexual initiatives.

↪ Most adolescent girls and emerging adult women are wanting/reluctant to be the initiator of romance or sexual contact, although they are more likely to do so than in past generations.

girls.

dating scripts. gender.

proactive. reactive.

initiating.

private domain.

reluctant.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 What distinguishes a friendship from a romantic relationship?

 T/F: Adolescents see romantic relationships as different from friendships in positive as well as negative ways.

 Friendship/Romantic relationships tend to involve more intense emotions, including positive feelings of love and happiness as well as feelings of anxiety and discomfort.

 Romantic relationships are also more likely to involve __ activity, although sex sometimes spills into adolescent friendships, as described later in the chapter.

TRUE.

Romantic.

sexual.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 Having a __ relationship is also valued for the feeling of being cared for by the romantic partner and for having a social companion in leisure activities.

 On the other hand, adolescents see romantic relationships as constraining their ?, as making them emotionally ?, and as more likely than friendships to involve ?.

 T/F: Frequently, the boundary between friendship and romantic relationship is clear, with one adolescent seeing it as a friendship and the other as a romantic relationship, with misunderstandings and hurt feelings as a result.

romantic.

social freedom. vulnerable. conflict.

FALSE! Frequently, the boundary between friendship and romantic relationship is not clear, with one adolescent seeing it as a friendship and the other as a romantic relationship, with misunderstandings and hurt feelings as a result.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 Romantic experiences are associated with both positive and negative outcomes in adolescence.

 Adolescents who have a romantic relationship tend to be less/more popular and have a less/more positive self-image.

 However, this association with positive qualities depends partly on the __ of the adolescents.

 T/F: In particular, for early adolescent girls, participating in mixed-gender group activities such as parties and dances may be positive, but a serious love relationship tends to be related to positive outcomes outcomes such as happy mood.

↪ An important reason for their depression appears to be that early adolescent girls in a serious relationship often find themselves under their boyfriends’ __ to participate in sexual activity before they feel ready.

more. more.

age.

FALSE! In particular, for early adolescent girls, participating in mixed-gender group activities such as parties and dances may be positive, but a serious love relationship tends to be related to negative outcomes such as depressed mood.

pressure.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 T/F: Longitudinal studies suggest that having romantic experiences may lead to mixed effects for other adolescents, too, not just early adolescent girls.

 One study surveyed 14- to 16-year-old Americans on the degree of their romantic experience, ranging from romantic interest to a serious relationship, then followed up with them 1 year later.

↪ More romantic experience was associated with more ? acceptance, ? competence, and ? competence.

↪ However, more romantic experience was also associated with greater ? use and more ? behavior.

↪ Furthermore, more romantic experience predicted increased substance use __ year later.

 Another longitudinal study followed adolescents for 10 years starting at age 13.

↪ Again, findings showed that extensive romantic involvement in early- to mid-adolescence was tied to later problems with excessive ? and substance use and illegal behaviors.

TRUE.

social. friendship. romantic.

substance. delinquent.

1.

alcohol.

The Developmental Course of Adolescent Love

 Based on these longitudinal findings, researchers have proposed that adolescents who become involved in romantic relationships fairly early are highly motivated by the appearance of ? and increase in ? that initially comes with having these relationships.

 T/F: However, by mid-adolescence the prestige of having a romantic relationship wears off.

 In turn, this leads these adolescents to pursue more and more __ behaviors, such as excess alcohol use and delinquency, in an effort to maintain status with at least a subset of their peers.

maturity. status.

TRUE.

extreme.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 Most adolescents’ romantic relationships last only a few weeks or months; few of their relationships last a year or longer, although their relationships tend to get longer as they get __.

 Some “high school sweethearts” continue their relationship long after high school, and even marry and stay together their whole lives.

↪ However, this is rare among adolescents, especially in the current generation.

 Today, when first marriages in developed countries typically takes place around age 30, it is only in the course of __ that people typically begin thinking about committing themselves to someone for years to come.

 ? and ?, then, are common times both for falling in love and breaking up.

older.

emerging adulthood.

Adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 What makes adolescents and emerging adults fall in love?

 Do “opposites attract,” or do “birds of a feather flock together”?

 The bird metaphor prevails for adolescents and emerging adults and throughout adulthood.

 Just as we have seen with friendships, people of all ages tend to be most likely to have romantic relationships with people who are __ to them in characteristics such as intelligence, social class, ethnic background, religious beliefs, personality, and physical attractiveness.

similar.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 Of course, sometimes opposites do attract, and partners fall in love even though (and perhaps because) they may differ widely in their characteristics.

 T/F: For the most part, people are attracted to others who are like themselves.

 Social scientists attribute this to __, meaning that people like to find in others an agreement, or consensus, with their own characteristics.

 Finding this consensus supports, or validates, their own way of looking at the __.

 This resembles the concept of __, discussed in the previous chapter, that is the basis of most friendships.

TRUE.

consensual validation.

world.

selective association.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 Falling in love and sharing similar qualities, however, does not prevent the dissolution of romantic relationships.

 Because most young people have a series of love relationships, most of them experience “__ up”.

 What is breaking up like for adolescents and emerging adults?

breaking.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 For adolescents, __ may contribute to the intensity of the unhappiness following a breakup.

 Egocentrism’s personal fable can contribute to adolescents’ feelings that their suffering in the aftermath of a breakup is something that __ has ever experienced as deeply as they are experiencing it and that the pain will never end.

↪ “I just feel like my life’s over, like there’s never going to be anything to smile about again”

 Few systematic studies of breaking up in adolescence have been done, but research that includes adolescence suggests that emotional pain and grief are common reactions.

egocentrism.

no one.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 Quite a few studies have been conducted on emerging adults’ experiences with breaking up.

 Emerging adults’ motives for ending their romantic relationships often revolve around the romantic partner not fulfilling their needs for ? and ?.

 Additionally, emerging adults break up when they feel unsupported in following their chosen ? and when they differ on their desire for ? formation.

 T/F: Women are more likely to initiate breakups.

 Breaking up in emerging adulthood is associated with emotional __.

 The emotions involved in love are intense, and breaking up often provokes sadness and a sense of __.

 Increased alcohol and drug use is also common following a __.

interdependence and intimacy.

career path. family.

TRUE.

pain.

loss.

breakup.

Falling in Love and Breaking Up

 Some studies have found that almost half of romantic relationship dissolutions among emerging adults are followed by __, either getting back together as a romantic couple or having sex with the ex.

 This breakup–reconcile pattern sometimes occurs repeatedly, and researchers refer to it as “__.”

 Relationship churning has been linked to __ conflict and abuse.

 T/F: One longitudinal study of almost 800 emerging adults found that “churners” were much more likely to report verbal and physical abuse in their relationship, compared to emerging adults who were either in stable relationships or who had broken up without subsequently reconciling.

reunions.

relationship churning.

relationship.

TRUE.

Cohabitation and Marriage

 Increasingly in Eastern/Western countries, marriage no longer marks the beginning of living with a romantic partner.

 In the US as well as in northern European countries, cohabitation before marriage is now experienced by at least __ of emerging adults.

 Cohabitation rates are particularly high in ?.

↪ In Sweden, for example, nearly all young people cohabit before marriage.

 Cohabitation tends to be relatively brief for young __.

↪ The average length of cohabiting among young people is about __ months.

 In contrast, cohabiting couples in European countries tend to stay together as long as __ couples.

Western.

two-thirds.

Scandinavia.

Americans.

18.

married.

Cohabitation and Marriage

 Young people choose to cohabit in part because they wish to enhance the likelihood that when they marry, it will __.

 In a national survey of American 18- to 29-year-olds, 63% agreed that couples who live together before marriage have a better chance of having a successful __.

 Emerging adults from divorced families are especially likely to cohabit before marriage because they are determined to avoid their __.

last.

marriage.

parents’ fate.

Cohabitation and Marriage

 Does cohabiting buffer against divorce? Only in the __ term.

↪ In the first year of marriage, couples who have cohabited have a higher/lower breakup rate than couples who have not cohabited.

↪ However, after the first year, the __ is true.

↪ Couples who cohabited before marriage end up having a higher/lower risk of divorce than couples who did not.

short.

lower.

reverse.

higher.

Cohabitation and Marriage

 This may be because cohabiting couples become used to living together while maintaining separate lives in many ways, especially __, so that they are unprepared for the compromises required by marriage.

 Even before cohabitation begins, emerging adults who cohabit tend to be different from emerging adults who do not, in ways that are related to higher risk of divorce: less religious, more skeptical of the institution of marriage, and more accepting of divorce.

 Another possibility is that cohabitation itself increases the risk of __ because it leads some couples who are not compatible to marry anyway, out of “the inertia of cohabitation.”

 The increase in cohabitation in young adulthood is not limited to the United States and Europe.

 In a variety of countries around the globe, cohabitation is becoming less/more common.

 This includes countries such as Chile, China, and Peru.

financially.

divorce.

more.

Choosing a Marriage Partner

 Whether or not it is preceded by cohabitation, __ remains the eventual destination for most adolescents and emerging adults worldwide.

 How do young people choose a marriage partner?

 In Chapter 5, we discussed the characteristics adolescents use to describe the “ideal man” and the “ideal woman.”

↪ The most important qualities considered ideal were personal qualities such as being kind and honest/having a lot of money and being popular, whereas qualities such as being kind and honest/having a lot of money and being popular ranked quite low.

 The same kinds of results have been found in studies that ask young people about the qualities they consider most important in the person they marry.

marriage.

being kind and honest. having a lot of money and being popular.

Choosing a Marriage Partner

 Psychologist David Buss (1989, 2013) carried out a study of over 10,000 young people in 37 countries on this question.

↪ The countries were from all over the world, including Africa, Asia, eastern and western Europe, and North and South America.

↪ The results showed impressive consistencies across countries and across genders.

↪ “__” ranked first among marriage criteria across countries, followed by “?,” “? and ?,” and “?.”

↪ Similarity in religious and political background ranked very high/low, which is surprising given that (as noted previously) people tend to marry others who are similar to them in these ways.

↪ “Good financial prospects” also ranked fairly high/low, as “having a lot of money” did in the studies of adolescents.

Mutual attraction—love. dependable character. emotional stability and maturity. pleasing disposition.

low.

low.

Choosing a Marriage Partner

 Although the cross-cultural similarities were strong and striking, some cross-cultural differences were also notable.

 The sharpest cross-cultural division was on the issue of __ (marrying someone who has never had sex before).

 In Eastern cultures (such as China, India, Indonesia) and Middle Eastern cultures (such as Iran, Palestinian Arabs in Israel), __ was rated as highly important.

 However, in the __ (e.g., Finland, France, Germany, Norway), chastity was generally considered unimportant.

chastity.

chastity.

West.

Choosing a Marriage Partner

 __—is a widespread ideal for mate selection, and feelings of passion inspired by such attraction appear to be a virtually universal characteristic of young people.

 An analysis of 186 traditional cultures found that young people fell passionately in love in all but __ of the cultures.

 However, this does not mean that young people in all cultures are allowed to act on their feelings of love.

 On the contrary, romantic love as the basis for marriage is a fairly new __ idea.

 In most cultures throughout most of history, marriages have been __ by parents, with little regard for the passionate desires of their adolescent children.

Mutual attraction—love.

one.

cultural.

arranged.

The Timing of First Intercourse

 The most researched topic on adolescent sexuality is the timing of adolescents’ first episode of __.

 T/F: Studies indicate that between 1925 and 1965, the proportion of high school students who reported having had intercourse at least once changed little.

↪ The reported rate was consistently 25% for boys/girls and 10% for boys/girls.

↪ However, rates increased dramatically between 1965 and the __.

↪ By the early 1990s, 54% of high school students reported having had __.

 Since the 1990s, there has been a steady increase/decline.

↪ Currently, about 38% of high school students report having had __.

↪ The average age of first intercourse in the United States is about __.

sexual intercourse.

TRUE.

boys. girls.

1990s.

sexual intercourse.

decline.

sexual intercourse.

18.

The Timing of First Intercourse

 T/F: Prevalence rates of intercourse increased for American college students in the 1960s and 1970s but have changed little in recent decades.

 For several decades before the 1960s, about 40% of college students reported having had intercourse at least once.

 A steep increase took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and by the mid-1970s 75% of college students reported having had intercourse.

 This proportion increased slightly to about 80% in the 1980s and has remained __ over the past 20 years.

TRUE.

stable.

The Timing of First Intercourse

 Patterns of first sexual intercourse in American society show differences between __ groups.

 According to national surveys by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of high school students in grades 9 to 12 who have had intercourse is lowest for White/Black adolescents (about 37%), with Hispanic adolescents somewhat higher (about 40%) and White/Black adolescents highest (about 46%).

 White/Black adolescents also report earlier ages of first intercourse.

 Research has indicated that __ are considerably less likely to engage in sexual activity in adolescence, compared with other major American ethnic groups.

ethnic.

White. Black.

Black.

Asian Americans.

The Timing of First Intercourse

 Having sexual intercourse once does not necessarily initiate a pattern of frequent intercourse from that point onward.

 The average length of a sexual relationship among American adolescents is ? months, and only one-third last more than ? months.

 In between relationships, adolescents may have periods when they are not sexually active.

 T/F: A national study found that one-third of the high school students who had ever had sexual intercourse HAD sex in the previous 3 months.

6. 7.

FALSE! A national study found that one-third of the high school students who had ever had sexual intercourse had not had sex in the previous 3 months.

The Timing of First Intercourse

 Most adolescent sexual activity takes place within the context of a __ relationship.

 For most American adolescents, their most recent sexual partner was also their __ partner.

 Many adolescents also have occasional episodes of __ sex, popularly known today as “hooking up” (a one-time sexual experience between uncommitted partners, which may or may not include intercourse).

 Sexual activity between friends sometimes serves as a bridge toward building a __ relationship.

romantic.

romantic.

recreational.

romantic.

Characteristics of Sexually Active Adolescents

 T/F: Even by grades 9 to 12, more than half of American adolescents have never had sexual intercourse, and others may have had sex once or twice but are not currently in a sexual relationship.

 What characteristics distinguish adolescents who are having sex from adolescents who are not, and what factors are related to the timing of adolescents’ first episodes of sexual intercourse?

TRUE.

Characteristics of Sexually Active Adolescents

 Adolescents who have their first episode of sexual intercourse relatively early in adolescence (age 15 or younger) differ from other adolescents in ways that indicate __.

 Adolescents who have early sexual intercourse are more likely than other adolescents to be early users of ? and alcohol.

 They are also more likely to be from __ families and to have grown up in poverty.

vulnerability.

drugs.

single-parent.

Characteristics of Sexually Active Adolescents

 At high school age, adolescents who remain virgins and adolescents who are nonvirgins are similar in some ways and different in others.

 The two groups have similar/different levels of self-esteem and overall life satisfaction.

 However, adolescents who remain virgins through high school are more likely than nonvirgins to be late maturing in the timing of their __ development, to report lower use of alcohol and drugs, to participate in religious activities, and to have friends who believe in delaying sexual intercourse.

 They are also more likely to have higher levels of ? performance and academic aspirations, have highly educated __, and to live with both biological parents.

similar.

pubertal.

academic. mothers.

Characteristics of Sexually Active Adolescents

 A review of adolescents’ sexual behavior across Western countries concluded that parental support and control are related to adolescents’ later sexual initiation and safer sex practices (especially contraceptive use).

 Also, __ monitoring—the extent to which parents know where their adolescents are and what they are doing—is related to later sexual initiation.

 However, research is mixed regarding the role that communication between parents and adolescents about sexual issues plays in the timing of adolescents’ first intercourse.

↪ According to some studies, girls whose mothers talk to them frequently about sex have their first sexual intercourse at a younger/later age than their peers do.

↪ Other studies report that adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ disapproval of sexual intercourse in the teen years is associated with younger/later age of first intercourse.

↪ Adolescents who have closer relationships with their mothers are more likely/less likely to report having sex, more likely to use contraception if they do have sex, and less likely to become pregnant.

parental.

younger.

later.

less likely.

Sexuality in Emerging Adulthood

 T/F: Adults in many societies view sexual activity (especially intercourse) among adolescents as a problem to be prohibited or at least minimized.

 This is true both among the general public and among researchers, who tend to include sex as a type of “__ behavior” among adolescents.

 This is partly because of the high rates of unintended pregnancy and STIs that accompany adolescent sex and partly because adults often believe that adolescents are not cognitively and emotionally __ enough for sex.

TRUE.

problem.

mature.

Sexuality in Emerging Adulthood

 With respect to emerging adults, however, __ is viewed more as “a normal part of life,” by adults generally and by emerging adults themselves.

 This does not mean that adults entirely accept or approve of sex among emerging adults.

↪ In fact, many American parents do/do not allow their emerging adult children to have a romantic partner spend the night in their household.

 However, parents are at least less/more opposed to sex among emerging adults than among adolescents.

 As for the emerging adults themselves, most of them have had sex at least once as adolescents and few of them expect to get married before at least their mid-20s, so they tend to see __ as a normal part of their lives during emerging adulthood.

sex.

do not.

less.

sex.