Mary K. DeGenova
Philip F. Rice
| affinity | A relationship formed by marriage without ties of blood.
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| common-law marriage | A marriage by mutual consent, without a license, recognized as legal under certain conditions by some states.
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| compatibility | The capability of living together in harmony.
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| consanguinity | The state of being related by blood; having descent from a common ancestor.
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| equity theory | A subcategory of exchange theory, holding that people seek a fair and balanced exchange in which the partners can mutually give and take what is needed.
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| exchange theory | The theory that people choose relationships in which they can maximize their benefits and minimize their costs.
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| filtering process | A process by which mates are sorted by filtering out ineligibles according to various standards.
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| heterogamy | The selection of a partner who is different from oneself.
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| homogamy | The selection of a partner similar to oneself.
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| hypergamous union | Marriage in which the woman marries upward on the social ladder.
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| hypogamous union | Marriage in which the woman marries beneath herself on the social ladder.
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| ideal mate theory | A theory that people tend to marry someone who fulfills their fantasy of what an ideal mate should be like, based partly on early childhood experiences.
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| marriage gradient | Differences in age, social status, class, education, and financial assets between the spouses.
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| needs theory | Theories of mate selection proposing that we select partners who will fulfill our own needs-both complementary and instrumental.
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| parent image theory | A theory of mate selection that a person is likely to marry someone resembling his or her parent of the opposite sex.
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| propinquity | In mate selection, the tendency to choose someone who is geographically near.
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| rites of passage | Ceremonies by which people pass from one social status to another.
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| voidable marriage | A marriage that can be set aside by annulment under certain prescribed legal circumstances.
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| void marriage | A marriage considered invalid in the first place because it was illegal.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education