Courtship: seeking affection from an individual or establishing contractual terms, usually with the intent of forming a long-term relationship.
Homogony: marrying or establishing a relationship with someone with similar social and economic characteristics.
Propinquity: individuals tend to marry someone in close geographic proximity.
Cohabitation: a residential pattern in which a couple lives together without the benefit of legal marriage.
Serial monogamy: a marriage pattern in which one person has multiple spouses but not at the same time.
1 in 9 Americans have been in a polyamorous relationship.
Polygyny: a legally sanctioned or illegal marital relationship in which one man has multiple wives.
Polyandry: a legally sanctioned or illegal marital relationship in which one woman has multiple husbands.
Covenant marriages: legally binding marriages requiring pre-marital counseling and more limited grounds for divorce.
Endogamy: marrying or establishing a relationship within ones own social group or category, as required by law; seen in Indian caste system.
Exogamy: marrying or establishing a relationship outside ones social group or category.
Levirate: when a widow marries her brother-in-law; practiced in many Native American cultures.
Sororate: when a widower marries his sister-in-law.
In some cultures, engaged individuals can still marry their dead fiances.
Family of orientation: family in which you were raised and socialized due to birth, adoption, or a blended family.
Family of procreation: the family you choose to create through marriage, agreed-upon relationships, or the birth or adoption of children.
Kinship: a social relationship pattern based on blood marriage, or adoption; extended or nuclear.
Blended families: families in which one or both spouses have children from previous relationships. 16% of children live in blended family households.
Neolocal: a living pattern in which a couple establishes their own residence independent of their parents.
Matrilocal: a living pattern in which a couple resides with or near the wife parents.
Patrilocal: a living pattern in which a couple resides with or near the husband parents.
DINKS: Double Income, No Kids couples
Childless: people who are unable to have children, rather than choosing not to have children like childfree parents.
Authoritarian parents: attempt to maintain strict control over the lives of their children.
Permissive parents give the child extensive freedom to make choices with little input from the parent.
Authoritative parents offer a middle-ground combination of control and freedom.
Neglectful parents have low involvement in the life of their children.
Helicopter parent: well-meaning, overprotective, and overly involved parent that does not promote the characteristic of independence. Absolute obedience from the child is not required.
Free-range parenting: a style of parenting that deemphasizes scheduling and supervision and emphasizes extreme independence.
Gentle parenting: empathy, respect, understanding, and boundaries. Instead of punishing and rewarding, it aims to improve self-awareness.
No-fault divorces: marriages that can be dissolved without evidence of wrongdoing.