Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122 ) Exam
Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122)
Exam Study Guide Questions and Answers 2024-
2025
Individuation is the process through which a person comes to think of himself or herself
as a distinct person despite being a member of a family. -Correct Answer ✔Children at
first identify entirely with the mores, norms, and values of their family; it is only after
prolonged exposure to other people outside the home that a child will begin to question
his or her upbringing and perhaps modify his or her belief system. A fully individualized
person is able to maintain a coherent personality without renouncing membership in a
family with which he or she may have some disagreement.
Agrarian societies are more likely to live with their extended families. -Correct Answer
✔An extended family is comprised of more than one adult couple. For instance, it might
include a man and a woman, their children, and their grandchildren. Agrarian societies
in which people tend the same land for their entire lives are more conducive to the
maintenance of the extended family. This is in part because it is more difficult for a large
group to move around together. In modern, industrial, urban, and nomadic societies, it is
more common for people to be grouped together in nuclear families (one adult couple
and their children)
Financial Stability is NOT necessary for a person to commit emotionally to a marriage. -
Correct Answer ✔Despite money being a main issue for divorce, it is more important for
partners to have good self-esteem, empathy, a feeling of permanence in the
relationship, and strong personal identities. Solid marriages weather the inevitable hard
times with a mixture of humor, empathy, and habit. The idea of empathy is particularly
important in marriage because it implies that each partner may not fully understand the
other. Nevertheless, a loving spouse with try to help whenever possible.
Having a child between the ages of 2 and 4 has little to no effect on job satisfaction. -
Correct Answer ✔Research suggests that parents often feel some strain as they occupy
multiple roles, but this is offset by the enjoyment they derive from their work. Having a
newborn, on the other hand, has a noticeably damaging effect on job satisfaction. The
demands of caring for a newborn, as well as the desire to spend as much time as
possible with this new child, make it unpleasant to be away from home for any reason.
Flexible scheduling, high wages, and intellectual challenge are all directly correlated
with job satisfaction.
Accepting that the marriage is over is the first step a person should take after divorce. -
Correct Answer ✔Psychologists estimate that it takes most people at least two years to
accept divorce entirely. Until this is reached, the divorcee should not initiate a new
relationship. The best way to complete the process of acceptance is to establish an
individual identity. This may include developing a balance between being single and
being a parent. It is appropriate to plan for the future, but people should be aware that it
Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122 ) Exam
,Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122 ) Exam
is impossible to predict what they will want once they have fully processed the finality of
the divorce.
Sibling rivalry is most pronounced in same-sex siblings within three years of age. -
Correct Answer ✔In the first eight to ten years of life, siblings tend to alternate between
cooperation and competition. As they grow older, they will often spend little time
together for a few years, but during adolescence will gradually develop empathy for one
another. Most research suggests that adult relationships between siblings simply
exaggerate the tone of the relationship of the youth; that is, good relationships get better
and bad relationships get worse.
Married women typically earn a lower wage than single women. -Correct Answer ✔This
is an exception to the general trend, which is that married people are healthier,
wealthier, and more content than their single counterparts. Married men are less likely
to abuse alcohol and drugs, and less likely to become depressed. Married women are
healthier and more likely to report satisfaction with their home lives. One reason why
married women may earn less money is that they are more likely to be raising children,
and therefore less focused on professional development. Despite reports about the
decline of marriage, an overwhelming majority of Americans will marry at least once
during their lives.
Accepting a stepparent is hardest for adolescent girls. -Correct Answer ✔The bond
between a stepparent, particularly a stepfather, and an adolescent girl takes the longest
to form. One possible reason for this phenomenon is that stepfathers tend to be less
engaged with stepdaughters than with stepsons. The effect of remarriage on children is
much the same as divorce because it involves a fundamental restructuring of the family
concept. Nevertheless, stepparents who work to engage with their stepchildren can
develop positive relationships over time.
Both the content and the style of family communication are important. -Correct Answer
✔The members of a family should work on communicating positively. The decisions
made by families tend to reinforce the status quo in the interest of conformity and
conflict avoidance. For reasons both genetic and environmental, the members of
families are likely to struggle with the same sorts of problems in life. Despite a general
tendency toward stability and consistency, families inevitably change in response to the
aging of each member and to pressures from the environment. Finally, it is a central
tenet of family science that it is impossible to understand a family member without
understanding the family as a whole.
According to John Gottman, humor is the best response to criticism by a spouse. -
Correct Answer ✔When the criticized partner responds to criticism by deflecting or
soothing the other person, tempers are quelled and the partnership remains strong.
Gottman's research suggests that there is a classic pattern of degenerating
communication in an unsuccessful relationship. The pattern begins with criticism that is
not directed at a certain behavior, but at the other person as a whole. In other words,
the criticism of unsuccessful couples tends to lean toward character assassination.
Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122 ) Exam
, Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122 ) Exam
Eventually, these negative interactions lead to contempt, in which one partner openly
disparages and disrespects the other. The inevitable response to contempt is
defensiveness, followed by stonewalling or a total lack of communication. When couples
stop communicating, the relationship is not likely to endure.
The greatest amount of variation between people of the same age is found during early
adolescence. -Correct Answer ✔The onset of puberty may occur at any time over the
span of five years, though it typically occurs earlier in females than in males. The
changes brought on by puberty are monumental and can cause rapid changes in
personality, physical development, and emotional maturity. Teachers need to be aware
of these changes, particularly when working with middle-school children. Family and
consumer science teachers may need to act as liaisons between parents and their
children, as family relationships can become strained during early adolescence.
When two children have a dispute and agree to settle it according to their mother's
opinion, they are engaging in arbitration. -Correct Answer ✔In arbitration, two conflicting
parties agree to rely on the advice of a supposedly impartial third party. Sometimes, the
parties will also establish guidelines for the way a decision is to be reached. In
parenting, it can be difficult to settle a dispute with arbitration, since children are unlikely
to honor a decision that goes against their interest. Conciliation is a method of settling
disputes in which the conflicting parties are simply asked to meet and converse, with the
idea that a resolution will naturally occur as a result of this meeting. In mediation, the
conflicting parties decide to enlist the aid of an impartial third party as they attempt to
settle their differences. The parties in mediation do not agree to follow the advice of the
third party. In negotiation, two parties try to agree on terms that are acceptable to both.
Negotiation in family life is a bit like compromise. A restorative justice system is where
the person who has been wronged gets some kind of compensation from the
wrongdoer. When the parents force one sibling to apologize to the other, they are
essentially using restorative justice.
In general, when a mother works, her children have more self-esteem. -Correct Answer
✔There is no one reason for this phenomenon, although one can speculate that girls
might be inspired by the positive example of a successful working mother. The
daughters of working mothers tend to be more independent, and they are likely to have
a more egalitarian view of gender relations. When the sons of working mothers are
unsupervised, their performance in school tends to decline. It is important for both
parents to have a positive attitude about maternal employment, and it is especially
important for husbands to support their wives in ways that can be perceived positively
by children.
During times of conflict, family members will take sides to consolidate power. -Correct
Answer ✔Although this process is natural, it can become problematic if the groups last
for too long or create a permanent imbalance of power. The idea that family life is a
series of actions and reactions is an assumption of Milan systematic family therapy.
This approach to family therapy emphasizes patterns of behavior that lock family
members into their roles, therefore inhibiting their personal growth. Behavioral family
Praxis Family and Consumer Sciences (5122 ) Exam
