Chapter Review on Marriage Types

A collection of flashcards summarizing key concepts about marriage types from the lecture notes.

What is monogamy?

A marital form involving one male and one female, or various combinations such as male-male or female-female, but commonly one male and one female.

What is the most common form of monogamy observed in human societies?

One male, multiple female (polygyny) is the most common form, observed even in societies allowing other marital arrangements.

What is altricial birth?

A type of birth where offspring are born immature and require significant parental care and investment to grow and mature.

What is the obstetric dilemma?

The conflict between the need for bipedality and the increasing brain size of human infants, leading to early birth of underdeveloped babies.

Why is monogamy seen as a solution to the care of offspring?

Monogamy allows for increased male involvement in child-rearing, providing necessary resources and care for energetically expensive children.

What are serial monogamy and its characteristics?

Serial monogamy involves having multiple monogamous relationships over time, common in societies, with relationships often lasting around seven years.

What is polygamy?

A super category of marriage that includes both polygyny (one male, multiple females) and polyandry (one female, multiple males).

What is polygyny?

The marital practice of one male having multiple female partners, common in about 85% of societies studied.

What is polyandry?

The marital practice where one female takes multiple male partners, which is considerably rarer than polygyny.

What are fictive marriages?

Marriages in which a proxy is used to represent someone not physically present, for reasons such as lineage or social status.

What is the levirate custom?

A custom where a deceased man's brother or male kin marries his widow to preserve alliance and social ties.

What is ghost marriage?

A practice where a living person marries on behalf of a deceased individual to appease spirits and ensure lineage.

What is the benefit of serial monogamy in society?

It allows individuals to replace partners while maintaining a stable family structure to raise children effectively.

What impacts the likelihood of divorce in marriages?

Waiting until both partners are 26 or older and being economically stable reduces the likelihood of divorce significantly.

What is fixed-term marriage?

A marriage with a predetermined duration or specific goal, which ends once that goal or term is completed.

What is sororal polygyny?

A form of polygyny where a man marries multiple sisters, believed to improve co-wife relationships.

What is an example of a culture that practices polyandry?

Tibetan societies, where one woman may marry multiple brothers, often for resource management.