Social Net Users’ Behavior as a Forming Factor of Social Representations about Spouse

The present research traced the connection between the behavior of social net users and 1) the content they view devoted to romantic relationships and 2) their social representations about their prospective spouse. The survey involved 525 respondents and an authentic questionnaire of three blocks. The first block of questions was based on a content analysis of young people's essays and social net entries. It featured social representations about romantic relationships and marriage. The second block was connected with socio-demographic characteristics. The third block analyzed the use of social networks and other communication channels. The study revealed a link between one’s behavior in social networks and social representations about a romantic partner, married life, and family relations. Users that frequently viewed social media posts about relationships between men and women were not marriage-oriented and did not seek long-term romantic relationships. They viewed romantic relationships as an exciting adventure and they entertained a possibility of having different partners at different life stages. Such elements in social representations may lead to a more tolerant attitude to such phenomena as unregistered marriage, divorce, and serial monogamy.

Monogamy as Public Policy for STD Prevention: In Theory and in Practice

Monogamy is current public policy for preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). To evaluate whether monogamy is serving its intended purposes, the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) definition of monogamy is considered. This definition does not convey to the public the fact that monogamy must be practiced very strictly to be effective and implies that serial monogamy is a safe practice. Benefits and drawbacks of employing (different versions of) monogamy to reduce STD transmission are considered. Although certain forms of monogamy are efficacious in reducing STDs, these versions of monogamy have not been adopted by the public and widely practiced forms of monogamy are not effective in practice. Finally, this review considers whether the public policy of monogamy helps society achieve its sexual health goals, explicating strengths and weaknesses of monogamy advice versus other tactics that might be utilized to curb STDs.

TRANSGENERATIONAL MODELS OF MARRIAGE: EXPERIENCE WITH GENOGRAMS

Our experiment included 72 genograms of women aged 27-34, who participated in the practical course aimed at work with generic scenarios. We analyzed women`s genograms and identified transgenerational models of marriage. Transgenerational models of marriage can be reflected in each of 3-4 generations or have some influence through generation. It should be noted that transgenerational models of marriage have the following characteristics: the structure of marriage (family hierarchy, distribution of family roles), stages of family development (divorce, move, giving birth, remarriage), the level of satisfaction with the marriage. We identified 4 transgenerational models of marriage that were frequently seen in the study sample. The 1st model “Patriarchal marriage” (14 genograms) is characterized by a significant role of a father and/or a grandfather, idealized and seen as a desired image of a man. The studied women with this family model showed some discontent with their husbands because they do not meet the expectations. The 2nd model “Matriarchal marriage” (14 genograms) is connected with strong female images (grandmother and/or great-grandmother), who were forced to take primary responsibility for the family because the man was a weak figure: he might have drunk, been sick, cheated, had problems with the law. Such relationships are very consistently reproduced in the families of female descendants. The 3rd model “Serial monogamy” (10 genograms) is characterized by the common features of two marriages from previous generations. Most often the 1st of them is described as unconscious and early, and the 2nd marriage as a more successful one. One of the options is that there are children in one marriage, and the other couple has problems with fertility. The 4th model “Misalliance” is an alliance of people with a consciously different social, educational and material status. The fact of the partners’ inconsistencies is emphasized and passed as a family mythology. This misalliance is reproduced in the generations of the descendants. Recommendations are offered for marital psychotherapy, taking into account the influence of the transgenerational model of marriage on the interactions of couples.

From romantic jealousy to sympathetic joy: Monogamy, polyamory, and beyond

This paper explores how the extension of contemplative qualities to intimate relationships can transform human sexual/emotional responses and relationship choices. The paper reviews contemporary findings from the field of evolutionary psychology on the twin origins of jealousy and monogamy, argues for the possibility to transform jealousy into sympathetic joy (or compersion), addresses the common objections against polyamory (or nonmonogamy), and challenges the culturally prevalent belief that the only spiritually correct sexual options are either celibacy or (lifelong or serial) monogamy. To conclude, it is suggested that the cultivation of sympathetic joy in intimate bonds can pave the way to overcome the problematic dichotomy between monogamy and polyamory, grounding individuals in a radical openness to the dynamic unfolding of life that eludes any fixed relational identity or structure.

Serial monogamy benefits both sexes in the biparental convict cichlid

Monogamy can be either long-term or serial, with new pairs formed with each breeding bout. Costs and benefits are associated with each strategy. Because biparental convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) typically switch mates, exhibiting serial monogamy, we tested for the costs associated with forcing individuals to remain with the same mate. Convict cichlids were observed over two successive breeding bouts, either with the same or a new, equally experienced, mate. Parental behavior did not differ between breeding bouts, nor did brood size. Surprisingly, fish that remained with their original partner for a second bout took significantly longer to produce a brood compared to fish that paired with new partners. New partners were also more likely to successfully produce a second brood than re-mated partners. This is in contrast to the majority of bird studies that show many benefits to staying with the same partner for multiple broods. In convict cichlids, there seems to be no benefit associated with remaining with the same partner and switching mates reduces duration between broods for both males and females, potentially increasing overall reproductive success.

Dating, Hooking Up, and Love

This chapter provides an overview of the modern context of emerging adult dating and cohabitation. Information is provided on the sexual activity, hooking-up, and dating behaviors of emerging adults, and modern trends in each of these areas are discussed. Relationships among emerging adults are more complex than in previous generations. Societal shifts in the acceptability of nonmarital sex and cohabitation have created a space where emerging adults can engage in long-term serial monogamy. The ways in which dating and cohabitation during emerging adulthood have changed in the past 50 years provide the historical context for many of the marriage paradoxes discussed in later chapters.

Infidelity

This chapter reviews recent data on the evolution of sexual strategies in humans and shows how, in the natural environment, the adaptive functions of sexual infidelity were substantially different in males and females. The meaning of technical terms used by evolutionary biologists to describe different behavioral strategies related to maximization of reproductive success are explained, including the Coolidge effect, good-gene sexual strategy, and serial monogamy. Biological analysis of motivations for sexual infidelity integrate evolutionary hypotheses with recent data from molecular genetic studies of personality showing that carriers of some genetic polymorphisms related to novelty seeking are more prone to sexual promiscuity. Finally, the chapter reports a clinical case showing how cultural prejudice can distort individual expectations about what is normal sexual desire.

Bypassing the ‘rapid-clearance-in-males-buffer’: A fourth mechanism to explain how concurrency enhances STI spread

A number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) persist for a considerably shorter period in the male urethra than the vagina. If the gap between sequential partnerships is longer than the duration of STI colonization in males, then this would protect future female partners from this STI in a setting of serial monogamy. If, however, males have more than one partner at a time (concurrency), then this would enable the STI to bypass this gap/buffer. We therefore propose bypassing the rapid-clearance-in-males-buffer as a fourth mechanism, whereby concurrency could enhance the spread of STIs.

I Feel the Earth Move

Singer-songwriters in the early 1970s played a key role in helping younger Americans define a different pattern of romance than their parents’ experiences, one focused around serial monogamy. Singer-songwriters helped to model these new patterns both with their songs and their publicly-lived lives.

Marriage Encounters

Chapter 3 considers the encounter between traditional indigenous practices and Christian marriage in colonial highland Mexico. The first section examines differing nuptial concepts and ceremonies of indigenous groups and Spaniards, and considers ecclesiastics’ attempts to promote indissoluble, monogamous Christian marriage as a cornerstone of the broader evangelization project. Special attention is given to how Spanish efforts to eradicate native practices of serial monogamy, polygyny, and divorce altered indigenous concepts and customs. The second part of the chapter examines how marriages were arranged and celebrated. It reconstructs indigenous weddings and traces the development of local native-Christian ceremonies, which incorporated some aspects of traditional rituals but significantly altered others. The chapter considers how the marriage encounter in colonial Mexico engendered conflict, compromise, and the creation of new practices.