Learning Objectives

Following the completion of this chapter, students will be able to:

1. Describe the characteristics of adult friendships and explain the role of friendship in the lives of young, middle-aged, and older adults.
2. List and explain the components of Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love.
3. Discuss sexuality and the role that sexuality plays in relationships between young, middle-aged, and older adults.
4. Describe the characteristics of single adults and explanations for the increased number of never-married and divorced adults who remain single.
5. Discuss the characteristics of homosexual relationships in sexual behavior and domestic activity.
6. Define cohabitation and describe the characteristics of younger and older adults who cohabitate.
7. Discuss the characteristics of people who marry in relation to happiness, sexual behavior, and domestic activity.
8. List and describe the factors that contribute to divorce and remarriage.
9. Describe circumstances that follow divorce in the areas of economic adjustment, emotional adjustment, and remarriage.
10. List and describe factors that contribute to successful marriages.
11. Describe demographic trends in the structure of American families.
12. List and describe six changing trends in parenting.
13. Describe the developmental experience of parenthood and its influence on marital satisfaction across the lifespan.
14. Define empty nest and discuss the reaction that parents have to the experience.
15. Describe the factors that contribute to the decision not to have children and discuss the effects childlessness has on adults during their aging years.