Developmental Psychology

Key Terms
Chapter 10: Psychosocial Development in Middle Childhood

THE DEVELOPING SELF

Self-Concept Development: Representational Systems

● Representational systems:​ In neo-Piagetian terminology, the third stage in development

of self-definition, characterized by breadth, balance, and the integration and assessment
of various aspects of the self.
● Real self:​ Your knowledge of who you really are.
● Ideal self:​ Knowledge of who you would like to be or think you should be.
● Global self-worth: ​Liking yourself as a person.

Industry Versus Inferiority

● Industry vs. inferiority:​ Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development in which

children must learn the productive skills their culture requires or else face feelings of
inferiority.
● Competence:​ A view of the self as able to master skills and complete tasks.

Emotional Growth and Prosocial Behavior

THE CHILD IN THE FAMILY

Family Atmosphere

● Internalizing behaviors:​ Behaviors in which emotional problems are turned inward; for
example, anxiety or depression.
● Externalizing behaviors:​ Behaviors by which a child "acts out" emotional difficulties;
for example, aggression or hostility.

Parenting Issues: From Control to Co-regulation

● Co-regulation:​ Transitional stage in the control of behavior in which parents exercise

general supervision and children exercise moment-to-moment self-regulation.

Effects of Parents’ Work

Poverty and Parenting
Family Structure

When Parents Divorce

Adjusting to Divorce
Custody, Visitation, and Co-parenting
● Joint custody:​ Custody of a minor child shared by both parents.

Long-Term Effects
Living in a One-Parent Family
Living in a Cohabiting Family
Living in a Stepfamily
Living with Gay or Lesbian Parents
Adoptive Families
● Open adoption:​ Type of adoption in which the parties share information or have
direct contact.

Sibling Relationships

THE CHILD IN THE PEER GROUP

Positive and Negative Effects of Peer Relations

● Prejudice:​ Unfavorable attitude toward members of certain groups outside one’s own,
especially racial or ethnic groups.

Popularity

● Sociometric popularity: ​Determined by asking children which peers they like most and
least.
● Popular:​ One of five peer status groups, these are youngsters who receive many positive
nominations in sociometric popularity studies.

Friendship

Aggression and Bullying

● Instrumental aggression:​ Aggression aimed at achieving an objective.

● Hostile aggression:​ Aggression aimed at hurting its target.
● Direct aggression:​ aggression that is overt and more easily observed.
● Indirect or social aggression:​ aggression that is more covert or relational.
Types of Aggression and Social Information-Processing

● Proactive aggression:​ Another term for instrumental aggression.

● Reactive aggressor:​ Another term for hostile aggression on the part of an individual.
● Hostile attribution bias:​ When a child sees other children as trying to hurt them and
strikes out angrily in retaliation or self-defense.

Does Electronic Media Violence Stimulate Aggression?

Bullies and Victims

● Bullying:​ Aggression deliberately and persistently directed against a particular target or

victim, typically one who is weak, vulnerable, and defenseless.

MENTAL HEALTH

● Mental health:​ The emotional health of a person.

Common Emotional Disorders

● Disruptive conduct disorders:​ Disorders having to do with undesirable behavior such as

aggression or defiance, stealing, and other antisocial behavior.
● Anxiety disorders:​ Disorders having to do with excessive fear or anxiety.
● Mood disorders:​ Disorders having to do with emotional imbalances, such as sadness or
depression.

Disruptive Behavior Disorders

● Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD):​ Pattern of behavior, persisting into middle

childhood, marked by negativity, hostility, and defiance.
● Conduct disorder (CD):​ Repetitive, persistent pattern of aggressive, antisocial behavior
violating societal norms or the rights of others.

School Phobia and Other Anxiety Disorders

● School phobia:​ Unrealistic fear of going to school; may be a form of ​separation anxiety
disorder ​or ​social phobia.​
● Separation anxiety disorder:​ Condition involving excessive, prolonged anxiety
concerning separation from home or from people to whom a child is attached.
● Social phobia:​ Extreme fear and/or avoidance of social situations.
● Generalized anxiety disorder:​ Anxiety not focused on any single target.
● Obsessive-compulsive disorder:​ Anxiety aroused by repetitive, intrusive thoughts,
images or impulses, often leading to compulsive ritual behaviors.
Childhood Depression

● Childhood depression:​ Mood disorder characterized by such symptoms as a prolonged

sense of friendlessness, inability to have fun or concentrate, fatigue, extreme activity or
apathy, feelings of worthlessness, weight change, physical complaints, and thoughts of
death or suicide.

Treatment Techniques

● Individual psychotherapy:​ Psychological treatment in which a therapist sees a troubled

person one on one.
● Family therapy:​ Psychological treatment in which a therapist sees the whole family
together to analyze patterns of family functioning.
● Behavior therapy:​ Therapeutic approach using principles of learning theory to
encourage desired behaviors or eliminate undesired ones; also called​ behavior
modification.
● Art therapy:​ Therapeutic approach that allows a child to express troubled feelings
without words, using a variety of art materials and media.
● Play therapy:​ Therapeutic approach in which a child plays freely while a therapist
observes and occasionally comments, asks questions, or makes suggestions.
● Drug therapy:​ Administration of drugs to treat emotional disorders.
● Serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs):​ Drugs shown to be effective in treating
obsessive-compulsive, depressive, and anxiety disorders.

Stress and Resilience

Stresses of Modern Life

Coping with Stress: The Resilient Child

● Resilient children:​ Children who weather adverse circumstances, function well despite
challenges or threats, or bounce back from traumatic events.
● Protective factors:​ Influences that reduce the impact of early stress and tend to predict
positive outcomes.
● Family relationships:​ A factor that, when positive, can be a protective influence in
helping children and adolescents overcome stress.
● Cognitive functioning:​ A factor that, when at a high level, can be a protective influence in
helping children and adolescents overcome stress.
● The child’s temperament or personality:​ An adaptable, friendly, and competent
personality can be a positive influence in dealing with stress.
● Compensating experiences:​ Referring to a supportive school environment or successful
experiences in areas such as studies, sports, music, or with other persons, which can help
make up for a destructive home life.
 ● Reduced risk:​ Referring to exposure of the child to only one risk factor, such as poverty
or mental illness, which allows a child to better overcome stress.

Chapter 11: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

ADOLESCENCE: A DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITION

● Adolescence:​ Developmental transition between childhood and adulthood entailing major

physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes.
● Puberty:​ Process by which a person attains sexual maturity and the ability to reproduce.
● Pubescence:​ Term meaning puberty.

Adolescence as a Social Construction

Adolescence: A Time of Opportunities and Risks

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

PUBERTY

How Puberty Begins: Hormonal Changes

● Adrenarche:​ Maturing of the adrenal glands.

● Gonadarche:​ Maturing of the sex organs and the appearance of more obvious pubertal changes.
● Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA):​ An androgen secreted by the adrenal glands which plays a part
in the growth of pubic, axillary, and facial hair, as well as in faster body growth, oilier skin, and
the development of body odor.

Timing, Signs and Sequence of Puberty and Sexual Maturity

Primary and Secondary Sex Characteristics

● Primary sex characteristics: ​Organs directly related to reproduction, which enlarge and mature
during adolescence.
● Secondary sex characteristics: ​Physiological signs of sexual maturation (such as breast
development and growth of body hair) that do not involve the sex organs.

Signs of Puberty

● Areolae:​ The pigmented areas surrounding the nipples, which enlarge during puberty.

The Adolescent Growth Spurt

● Adolescent growth spurt:​ Sharp increase in height and weight that precedes sexual maturity.
Signs of Sexual Maturity: Sperm Production and Menstruation

● Spermarche:​ Boy’s first ejaculation.

● Nocturnal emission:​ An involuntary ejaculation of semen (commonly referred to as a ​wet dream​)
that happens at night in males.
● Menstruation:​ The monthly shedding of tissue from the lining of the womb.
● Menarche:​ Girl’s first menstruation.
Influences on and Effects of Timing of Puberty
● Secular trend:​ Trend that can be seen only by observing several generations, such as the trend
toward earlier attainment of adult height and sexual maturity, which began a century ago.

THE ADOLESCENT BRAIN

● Socio-emotional network: T​ he part of the brain that responds to social and emotional stimuli.
● Cognitive-control network: ​The part of the brain that regulates responses to stimuli.

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH

Sleep Needs and Problems

● Melatonin:​ A hormone secreted by the pineal gland that promotes sleep.

Nutrition and Eating Disorders

Obesity
Body Image and Eating Disorders

● Body image: ​Descriptive and evaluative beliefs about one’s appearance.

Anorexia Nervosa

● Anorexia nervosa:​ Eating disorder characterized by self-starvation.

Bulimia Nervosa

● Bulimia nervosa:​ Eating disorder in which a person regularly eats huge quantities of food and
then purges the body by laxatives, induced vomiting, fasting, or excessive exercise.
● Binge eating disorder:​ Frequent binging without subsequent fasting, exercise, or vomiting.

Treatment and Outcomes of Anorexia and Bulimia

Use and Abuse of Drugs

● Substance abuse: ​Harmful use of alcohol or other drugs.

● Substance dependence: ​Physiological or psychological addiction, or both.

Trends in Drug Use

Risk Factors for Drug Abuse
 o Difficult temperament
o Poor impulse control and a tendency to seek out sensation
o Family influences
o Early and persistent behavior problems, particularly aggression
o Academic failure and lack of commitment to education
o Peer rejection
o Associating with drug users
o Alienation and rebelliousness
o Favorable attitudes toward drug use
o Early initiation into drug use
Alcohol, Marijuana, and Tobacco
● Binge drinking: Consuming five or more drinks on one occasion.

Depression

Death in Adolescence

Deaths from Vehicle Accidents and Firearms

Suicide

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

ASPECTS OF COGNITIVE MATURATION

Piaget’s Stage of Formal Operations

● Formal operations:​ Piaget’s final stage of cognitive development, characterized by the ability to
think abstractly.

Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning

● Hypothetical-deductive reasoning:​ Ability, believed by Piaget to accompany the state of formal

operations, to develop, consider, and test hypotheses.

Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

● Metacognition:​ Awareness and monitoring of one’s own mental processes and strategies.

Changes in Information-Processing in Adolescence

Structural Change

● Structural changes:​ Changes in information-processing capacity and the increasing​ ​amount of

knowledge stored in long-term memory.
● Declarative knowledge: ​Acquired factual knowledge stored in long-term memory.
● Procedural knowledge: ​Acquired skills stored in long-term memory.
● Conceptual knowledge: ​Acquired interpretive understandings stored in long-term memory.

Functional Change

● Functional changes:​ Changes in the processes for obtaining, handling, and retaining
information such as learning, remembering, and reasoning.

Language Development

● Social perspective-taking:​ The ability to understand another person’s point of view and
level of knowledge and to speak accordingly.

● ​ he social dialect of puberty or adolescent speech.

Pubilect: T

Moral Reasoning: Kohlberg’s Theory

Heinz's Dilemma
Kohlberg’s Levels and Stages

o Level I: ​Preconventional morality:​ First level of Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning in which
control is external.

o Level II: ​Conventional morality (or morality of conventional role conformity):​ Second level
of Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning in which standards of authority figures are internalized.

o Level III: ​Postconventional morality (or morality of autonomous moral principles):​ Third
level of Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning in which people follow internally held moral
principles and can decide among conflicting moral standards.

Evaluating Kohlberg’s Theory

Influence of Parents, Peers, and Culture

An Ethic of Care: Gilligan’s Theory

Prosocial Behavior and Volunteer Activity

EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL ISSUES

Influences on School Achievement

Student Motivation and Self-Efficacy

● Self-efficacy:​ Belief in one’s own mastery of situations, such as mastery of academic material.

Gender

Parenting Styles, Ethnicity, and Peer Influence

● Authoritative parents:​ Those who are warm, involved, and encourage their adolescents to be
independent while maintaining reasonable control and discipline.
● Authoritarian parents:​ Those who are controlling, rigid, overly punitive, and discourage inquiry.
● Permissive parents:​ Those who seem not to care about adolescent grades, make no rules, and are
relatively uninvolved with their adolescents.

The School

Dropping Out of High School

● Active engagement​: Involvement in schooling.

Preparing for Higher Education and Vocations

Influences on Students’ Aspirations

Guiding Students N​ ot​ Bound for College
Adolescents in the Workplace

Chapter 12: Psychosocial Development in Adolescence

THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

● Identity:​ According to Erikson, a coherent conception of the self made up of goals,

values, and beliefs to which a person is solidly committed.

Erikson: Identity Vs. Identity Confusion

● Identity vs. identity confusion:​ Erikson’s fifth crisis of psychosocial development in

which an adolescent seeks to develop a coherent sense of self, including the role she or he
is to play in society. Also called​ identity vs. role confusion.
● Psychological moratorium:​ In Erikson’s theory, a “time-out” period that is provided by
adolescence.
● Fidelity:​ In Erikson’s theory, the virtue attained in the fifth crisis, involving sustained
loyalty, faith, and/or a sense of belonging to loved ones.

Marcia: Identity Status—Crisis and Commitment

● Identity statuses:​ Marcia’s term for states of ego development that depends on the
presence or absence of crisis and commitment.
● Identity-status interviews:​ Semi-structured interviews, lasting approximately 30 minutes,
during which a person’s identity status is determined.
● Crisis:​ Marcia’s term for period of conscious decision making related to identity
formation.
● Commitment: ​Marcia’s term for personal investment in an occupation or system of
beliefs.
● Identity achievement:​ Identity status, described by Marcia, which is characterized by a
commitment to choices made following a crisis, a period spent in exploring alternatives.
● Foreclosure:​ Identity status, described by Marcia, in which a person who has not spent
time considering alternatives (that is, has not been in crisis) is committed to other
people’s plans for his or her life.
● Moratorium: ​Identity status, described by Marcia, in which a person is currently
considering alternatives (in crisis) and seems headed for commitment.
● Identity diffusion:​ Identity status, described by Marcia, which is characterized by
absence of commitment and lack of serious consideration of alternatives.

Gender Differences in Identity Formation

Ethnic Factors in Identity Formation

Four Stages of Ethnic Identity:

​ ittle or no exploration of ethnic identity, no clear understanding of issues

1. Diffuse: L
involved.
2. Foreclosed: L ​ ittle or no exploration of ethnic identity, but has positive or negative
feelings about it from attitudes absorbed at home.
3. Moratorium: H ​ as begun to explore ethnic identity but is confused about what it means.
4. Achieved: ​Has explored ethnic identity and understands and accepts it.

● Cultural socialization:​ Practices that teach children about their racial or ethnic
heritage, promote cultural customs and traditions, and promote racial/ethnic and
cultural
pride.
 SEXUALITY

● Sexual identity: ​Achieved by seeing oneself as a sexual being, recognizing one's sexual
orientation, coming to terms with sexual stirrings, and forming romantic or sexual
attachments.

Sexual Orientation and Identity

● Sexual orientation:​ Focus of consistent sexual, romantic, and affectionate interest, either
heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.
● Heterosexual:​ Attracted to persons of the opposite sex.
● Homosexual: A ​ ttracted to persons of the same sex.
● Bisexual:​ Attracted to persons of either sex.

Origins of Sexual Orientation

Homosexual and Bisexual Identity Development

Sexual Behavior

Sexual Risk-Taking
Use of Contraceptives
Where Do Teenagers Get Information about Sex?

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

● Sexually transmitted infections (STIs): ​Infections spread by sexual

contact.

Outcomes of Teenage Pregnancy

Preventing Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy and Childbearing

RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILY, PEERS, AND ADULT SOCIETY

Is Adolescent Rebellion a Myth?

● Adolescent rebellion:​ Pattern of emotional turmoil, characteristic of a minority

of adolescents, which may involve conflict with family, alienation from adult
society, reckless behavior, and rejection of adult values.
Changing Time Use and Changing Relationships

Adolescents and Parents

Individuation and Family Conflict

● Individuation:​ Adolescent's struggle for autonomy and differentiation, or personal

identity.

Parenting Styles and Parental Authority

● Behavioral control:​ Control over a child's conduct.

● Psychological control:​ Control over a child's feelings, beliefs, and sense of self.
● Psychological autonomy:​ One's rights to one's own thoughts and feelings.

Parental Monitoring and Adolescent's Self-Disclosure

Family Structure and Family Atmosphere

Mother's Employment and Economic Stress

Adolescents and Siblings

Adolescents and Peers

● Dyadic: O​ ne-to-one interaction.

● Cliques:​ Structured groups of friends who do things together.
● Crowds:​ A larger type of grouping, based on reputation, image, or identity.

Friendships

Romantic Relationships
Dating Violence

Antisocial Behavior and Juvenile Delinquency

Becoming a Delinquent: Genetic and Neurological Factors

Becoming a Delinquent: How Family, Peer, and Community Influences Interact

● Collective efficacy:​ Strength of social connections within a neighborhood and the extent
to which residents monitor or supervise each other's children.

Long-Term Prospects

Preventing and Treating Delinquency

Chapter 13: Physical and Cognitive Development in Young Adulthood

EMERGING ADULTHOOD

● Emerging adulthood:​ A time when young people are no longer adolescents but have not
yet become fully adult.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Health Status and Health Issues

Genetic Influences on Health

Behavioral Influences on Health and Fitness

Diet and Nutrition

Obesity/Overweight
Eating Disorders
Physical Activity
Stress
Sleep
Smoking
Alcohol Use
Risky Drinking

Indirect Influences on Health and Fitness

Socioeconomic Status and Race/Ethnicity

Relationships and Health
● Social integration:​ Active engagement in a broad range of social relationships, activities,
and roles.
● Social support:​ Material, informational, and psychological resources derived from the
social network on which a person can rely for help in coping with stress.

Mental Health Problems

Alcoholism

● Alcoholism:​ Alcohol dependence, a physical condition characterized by

compulsive
drinking, which a person is unable to control.

Drug Use and Abuse

Depression

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE ISSUES

Sexual Behavior and Attitudes

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Menstrual Disorders

● Premenstrual syndrome (PMS): ​Disorder producing symptoms of physical discomfort

and emotional tension during the one to two weeks before a menstrual period.
● Dysmenorrhea:​ Painful menstruation with no apparent organic cause.

Infertility

● Infertility:​ Inability to conceive after 12 to 18 months of trying.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT COGNITION

Beyond Piaget: New Ways of Thinking in Adulthood

Reflective Thinking
● Reflective thinking:​ Type of logical thinking that may emerge in adulthood, involving
continuous, active evaluation of information and beliefs in the light of evidence and
implications.

Postformal Thought

● Postformal thought:​ Mature type of thinking that relies on subjective experience and
intuition as well as logic, useful in dealing with ambiguity, uncertainty, inconsistency,
contradiction, imperfection, and compromise.

Schaie: A Life-Span Model of Cognitive Development

1. Acquisitive stage
2. Achieving stage
3. Responsible stage
4. Executive stage
5. Reorganizational stage
6. Reintegrative stage
7. Legacy-creating stage

Sternberg: Insight and Know-How

● Tacit Knowledge: Sternberg’s term for knowledge that is not taught but is
necessary to get ahead

Emotional Intelligence

● Emotional intelligence:​ In Salovey’s and Mayer’s terminology, the ability to understand

and regulate emotions; an important component of effective, intelligent behavior.

MORAL REASONING

Culture and Moral Reasoning

Gender and Moral Reasoning

EDUCATION AND WORK

The College Transition

● Distance learning:​ A type of learning in which the instructor and student are separated by
space and, sometimes, time.
Gender, Socioeconomic Status, and Race/Ethnicity
Adjusting to College
Cognitive Growth in College

● Commitment within relativism:​ When a young adult is able to make his or her own
judgments and to choose his or her own beliefs and values despite uncertainty and the
recognition of other valid possibilities.
Completing College

Entering the World of Work

Combining Work and School

Cognitive Growth at Work

● Substantive complexity:​ Degree to which a person’s work requires thought and

independent judgment.
● Spillover hypothesis:​ Hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between
intellectuality of work and of leisure activities because of a carryover of learning from
work to leisure.

Smoothing the Transition to the Workplace

 Chapter 14: Psychosocial Development in Young Adulthood
EMERGING ADULTHOOD: PATTERNS AND TASKS

Varied Paths to Adulthood

Influences on Paths to Adulthood

● Ego development: ​A combination of the ability to understand oneself and one's world, to integrate
and synthesize what one perceives and knows, and to take charge of planning one's life course.

Identity Development in Emerging Adulthood

Recentering

● ​ rocess that underlies the shift to an adult identity.

Recentering:​ P

The Contemporary Moratorium

● Fidelity:​ Something larger than one's self to have faith in.

Racial/Ethnic Identity Exploration

Developing Adult Relationships with Parents

Influences on Relationships with Parents

Failure to Launch

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT: FOUR VIEWS

Normative-Stage Models

● Normative-stage models:​ Theoretical models that describe psychosocial development in terms

of a definite sequence of age-related changes.

Erikson: Intimacy Vs. Isolation

● Intimacy vs. isolation:​ According to Erikson, the sixth stage of psychosocial development in
which young adults either make commitments to others or face a possible sense of isolation and
consequent self-absorption.
● Love:​ In Erikson’s theory, the virtue of the sixth stage; a mutual devotion between partners who
have chosen to share their lives, have children, and help those children achieve their own healthy
development.
● Developmental tasks:​ In normative-stage theories, typical challenges that need to be mastered
for successful adaptation to each stage of life.
Timing-of-Events Model

● Timing-of-events model:​ Theoretical model that describes adult psychosocial development as a

response to the expected or unexpected occurrence and timing of important life events.
● Normative life events:​ In the timing-of-events model, commonly expected life experiences that
occur at customary times. Also called ​normative age-graded events.​
● Social clock:​ Set of cultural norms or expectations for the times of life when certain important
events, such as marriage, parenthood, entry into work, and retirement, should occur.

Trait Models: Costa and McCrae’s Five Factors

● Trait models:​ Theoretical models that focus on mental, emotional, temperamental, and
behavioral traits, or attributes.
● Five-factor model:​ Theoretical model, developed and tested by Costa and McCrae, based on the
“Big Five” factors underlying clusters of related personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion,
openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.
o Neuroticism:​ A cluster of six negative traits indicating emotional instability: anxiety, hostility,
depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability.
o Extraversion:​ A cluster of six facets: warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity,
excitement-seeking, and positive emotions.
o Open to experience:​ People high in this trait are willing to try new things and embrace new ideas.
o Conscientiousness:​ People high in this trait are achievers: competent, orderly, dutiful, deliberate,
and disciplined.
o Agreeableness:​ People who are trusting, straightforward, altruistic, compliant, modest, and easily
swayed.

Continuity and Change in the Five-Factor Model

Evaluating the Five-Factor Model

Typological Models

Typological models: ​Theoretical models that identify broad personality types or styles.
Typological approach: An approach to personality development that looks at personality as a
functioning whole that affects and reflects attitudes, values, behavior, and social interactions.
● Ego-resiliency: ​Adaptability under potential sources of stress.
● Ego-control:​ Self-control.
● Ego-resilient:​ Referring to people who are well adjusted, confident, and task-focused.
● Overcontrolled:​ Referring to people who are shy, quiet, and anxious and who withdraw from
conflict.
● Undercontrolled:​ Referring to people who are active, energetic, impulsive, stubborn, and
distractible.
● Trajectories:​ Long-term patterns of behavior.
 FOUNDATIONS OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS

● Self-disclosure:​ Revealing important information about oneself to another.

Friendship
Love

● Triangular theory of love:​ Sternberg’s theory that patterns of love hinge on the balance among
three elements: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
● ​ motional element of love, involving self-disclosure, which leads to connection,
Intimacy: E
warmth, and trust.
● Passion:​ Motivational element of love, based on inner drives that translate physiological arousal
into sexual desire.
● Commitment:​ The cognitive element of love, the decision to love and stay with the beloved.

MARITAL AND NONMARITAL LIFESTYLES

Single Life
Gay and Lesbian Relationships
Cohabitation

● Cohabitation:​ Status of a couple who lives together and maintains a sexual relationship without
being legally married.

Types of Cohabitation: International Comparisons

● Consensual or informal union:​ An unmarried couple living in a sexual relationship.

Cohabitation in the United States

Marriage

What Marriage Means to Emerging and Young Adults Today

Entering Matrimony
Sexual Activity After Marriage
Marital Satisfaction
Factors in Marital Success

● Rewards:​ In a marriage, benefits such as love, respect, trust, communication, compatibility, and
commitment to the partner.
● Barriers:​ In a marriage, circumstances that prevent one from leaving the marriage, such as
children, religious beliefs, financial interdependence, and commitment to the institution of
marriage.
PARENTHOOD

Parenthood as a Developmental Experience

Men’s and Women’s Involvement in Parenthood

How Parenthood Affects Marital Satisfaction

How Dual-Earner Families Cope

WHEN MARRIAGE ENDS

Divorce

Why Do Marriages Fail?

Adjusting to Divorce

Remarriage and Stepparenthood