The transition to Marriage and Cohabitation

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The transition to Marriage and Cohabitation
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Arranged vs. Autonomous

• What is an arranged marriage?
• Factors used in arranging a marriage
• Autonomous marriages
• Autonomy as severely limited

3
Endogamy vs. Exogamy

• Endogamy the socially acceptable pool
• Exogamy- outside certain prohibited groups
• Filtering process in autonomous mate selection

4
Scripts within a marriage

• A script as a set of acceptable social behaviours
  within a relationship.
• Legal, cultural and personal scripts
• Joint scripts

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Weddings

• A religious wedding?
• Clergy is acting agents of the state
• Marriage law under provincial jurisdiction
• The requirements

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Marriage cont

• Marriage as public NOT private?
• Common-law unions
• Cohabitation leading to marriage
• Gender differences in cohabitation

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The conditions of marriage

• Support of each other financially
• Property accumulated through marriage
• Marriage laws as benefitting the state
• 1. Spouses must care for one another
• 2. Parents are responsible for children and their
  identity

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Functions of marriage

• Marriage for love, sex, and enjoyment of one
  another
• Marriage as a new civil status
• A law of persons

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Entering into marriage

• Marriage as institutionally supported
• Legal definition of marriage
• Consent of marriage and marriage as voluntary
• Factors precluding to marriage

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Factors to marriage

• 1. AGE
• 2. CONSANGUINITY
• 3. MENTAL CAPACITY
• 4. NO PREVIOUS MARRIAGE

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Cohabitation and the law

• A common law union as mutually agreed upon
• Cases of support in cohabitation and property
  settlements
• Child support cases

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Domestic Contracts

• The domestic contract
• Minimizes the need for expensive litigation
• Allows for overrides of legislation
• Directing education

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Domestic contracts cont

• Two reasons for prenuptial agreements
• 1. Abdicating future claims
• 2. Domestic equality
• Domestic contracts include financial
  arrangements, work, expectations regarding sex

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The transition to marriage

• Various forms of transition to marriage
• Engagement Large Wedding
• Cohabitation Small Wedding
• Differences in marriage for cohabitors and
  non-cohabitors

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Leaving the single life

• Involves a significant transition
• Transition from independence to interdependence
• 1. Economics
• 2. Leisure
• 3. Relationships
• 4. Children

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Transition to marriage cont

• Men not transitioning to parenthood
• Other transitions eating habits, time schedules,
  preferences, idiosyncracies
• Marriage bonding two individuals from repeated
  and long-term interactions.

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Developmental Tasks in Marriage

• The developmental approach
• A developmental task
• Eight developmental tasks of marriage
• 1. Finding and furnishing a home
• 2. Establishing support
• 3. Allocating responsibilities

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Developmental tasks cont

• 4. Building foundations
• 5. Family Planning
• 6. Starting a family
• 7. Interacting with family
• 8. Maintaining motivation and morale
• The most important is role making

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Marital status and well-being

• Research on marriage and individual happiness
• Married or Single people who is happier?
• Two major explanations of marriage and
  well-being.

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Differential effects gender

• Effects on men
• Effects on women
• The implication of his and her marriages