Meaning and Characteristics of Marriage

Definition of Marriage:

Marriage is one of the universal social institutions. It is established by the human society to control and regulate the sex life of man. It is closely connected with the institution of family. In fact, family and marriage are complementary to each other. As Gillin and Gillin have said, "Marriage is a socially approved way of establishing a family of procreation".

As Westermarck has remarked, "Marriage is rooted in the family rather than the family in the marriage". Marriage is an institution of society which can have very different implications in different cultures. Its purposes, functions and forms may differ from society to society, but it is present everywhere as an institution.

There is no definition which adequately covers all types of human marriage. It has given a number of definitions and explanations among which the following may be noted.

(i) Edward Westermarck in his "History of Human Marriage" defines marriage as "the more or less durable connection between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after the birth of offspring".

(ii) Malinowski says that marriage is a "contract for the production and maintenance of chil­dren".

(iii) According to Robert H. Lowie, "Marriage is a relatively permanent bond between permis­sible mates".

(iv) Broadly speaking, however, marriage may be defined as "a socially sanctioned sex rela­tionship involving two or more people of the opposite sex, whose relationship is expected to endure beyond the time required for gestation and the birth of children".-Duncan Mitchell's "A dictionary of Sociology".

(v) Alfred McClung Lee writes, "Marriage is the public joining together, under socially speci­fied regulations of a man and woman as husband and wife".

Characteristics of Marriage:

 

1. Universality

Marriage is more or less a universal institution. It is found among the pre-literate as well as literate peoples. It is enforced as a social rule in some of the societies.

Examples:
In Japan, celibacy is publicly condemned. In Korea, unmarried individuals are called 'half persons. Among the Hindus, marriage is a sacrament which is regarded as more or less obligatory. The Todas of Nilagiri refuse to perform funeral rites for a girl if she dies before her marriage. But they do perform it after completing some sort of marriage ceremony for the corpse.

According to the Chi­nese philosopher Confucius, an individual who remains unmarried throughout his life commits a great crime. As Levi-Strauss has observed that the unmarried primitives of Central Brazil are made to lead a miserable life.

2. Relationship between Man and Woman:

Marriage is a union of man and woman. It indicates relationship between one or more men to one or more women. Who should marry whom? One should marry how many?-are the questions which represent social rules regarding marriage which differ significantly.

3. Marriage Bond is enduring:

Marriage indicates a long lasting bond between the husband and wife. Hence it is not coextensive with sex life. It excludes relationships with prostitutes or any other sexual relationship which is viewed as casual and not sanctioned by custom, law or church.

Marital relationship between man and woman lasts even after the sexual satisfaction is obtained. The Hindus, for example, believe that marriage is a sacred bond between the husband and wife which even the death cannot break.

4. Marriage Requires Social Approval:

A union of man and woman becomes a marital bond only when the society gives its approval. When marriage is given the hallmark of social approval, it becomes a legal contract.

5. Marriage is Associated with Some Civil or Religious Ceremony:

Marriage gets its social recognition through some ceremony. This ceremony may have its own rites, rituals, customs, for­malities, etc. It means marriage has to be concluded in a public and solemn manner.

Sometimes it receives as a sacrament the blessings of religion. Marriage among the Hindus, for example, is re­garded as a sacrament. It is connected with rituals such as - Homa, Saptapadi, Panigrahana, Mangalya- Dharana, etc.

6. Marriage Creates Mutual Obligations:

Marriage imposes certain rights and duties on both the husband and wife. Both are required to support each other and their children.

Learning: Definition

The term 'learning' is one of those concepts whose meaning is crystal clear until one has to put it in actual words. "Learning is when you learn something". "Learning is learning how to do something". A more useful definition is as follows: Learning is any  relatively permanent change in behaviour brought about by experience or practice.

What does "relatively permanent" mean? The "relatively permanent" part of the definition refers to the fact that, when people learn things, some part of the brain is physically changed to record what they have learned. This is actually a process of memory. Without the ability to remember things, learning process will not take place effectively or people cannot learn anything. Although there is no conclusive proof as yet, researches suggest strongly that once people learn something, it is always present somewhere in the memory. They may be unable to get to it or retrieve it, but it is there somewhere stored in the memory.

Meaning and Definitions of Macro Economics

Introduction 

The term ‘macro’ was first used in economics by Ragner Frisch in 1933. But as a methodological approach to economic problems, it originated with the mercantilists in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were concerned with the economic system as a whole. From the 18th century physiocrats to modern economists have contributed to the development of macro economic analysis. But credit goes to Keynes who finally developed a general theory of income, output and employment in the wake of the great depression.

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Meaning and Definition of Economics

People’s economic wants are of a very large number and they are also diverse in character. Biologically humans need only air, water, food, clothing and shelter. But in contemporary society we also seek many goods and services associated with comfortable or affluent standard of living. 

Fortunately, society is blessed with productive resources-labour and managerial talent, tools and machinery, land and mineral deposits-that are used to produce goods and services. This production satisfies many of our economic wants and occurs through the organizational mechanism called the economic system, or, more simply, the economy. 

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Introduction and Definitions of Psychology

Main Contributors to Psychology

The word Psychology was derived from two Greek words, ‘Psyche’ and ‘Logos’. Psyche means soul and Logos means discourse or science. 

1. Psychology is the Study of Soul:

About 2000 years ago the literal meaning of the term Psychology was given as soul. As the concept of soul was purely abstract and metaphysical in nature, this definition was vague hence it was discarded. 

2. Psychology is the Study of Mind:

Later on the term soul was replaced as mind by Plato and it was defined as “Psychology is the study of mind”. This definition was continued or appreciated up to the last century but it was discarded later, on the basis that the term mind was also equally vague and metaphysical in nature.

3. Psychology is the Science of Study of Conscious Experience:

After the rejection of above two definitions, William Wundth the founder of the Psychology Laboratory in 1879, has defined Psychology as “The science of study of conscious experience”. This definition was more tangible than above two, but it does not fully express all that is implied in the term psychology. Eg. Psychology does not confine its study to only conscious mental process but it also studies unconscious process such as dreams, hallucinations, delusions, phobias and other mental aberrations.

4. Psychology is the Study of Objective Behavior by Subjective Experience:

Another psychologist who belongs to School of Introspections has defined Psychology as “The study of objective behavior by subjective experience”. According to this definition, the individual who is confronted with a particular situation will have a better experience of it and hence he can understand and predict the experience of another person who is subjected to similar or the same situation. Eg. If a person has experienced the danger of electric shock, he can understand and predict the experience of another person. Though this definition appears to be reasonable, it is limited in its application, because the experience of different individuals who are exposed to the same situation might not be the same. It may differ either in the degree or kind or in both. Hence this definition was also rejected.

5. Psychology Should Improve the Knowledge of Human Nature:

According to Mc. Doughall the founder of Hormic School, the subject matter of Psychology should be such that “It should render or improve our knowledge of human nature more exactly and systematically. So that we may control ourselves more wisely and influence our men more effectively”. Even this definition had its own limitations as it refers to only human beings and not animals.

6. Psychology is the Science of Behavior:

Another psychologist has defined Psychology as “The science of behavior”. Though the term behavior is used by layman in a somewhat narrower sense, in Psychology it includes not only motor behavior such as walking, running, eating, talking etc. But it also includes the cognitive activities like perceiving, remembering, learning etc. in addition, it also includes motives which determine direct and overt behavior. In other words this definition covers both the external activities and the internal experiences, along with psychological activities such as thinking, reasoning, etc. Though this definition fairly acceptable, in reality it is not a complete one as it does not cover animal behavior.

7. Psychology is the Science of Activities of an Individual:

After a long gap from the above definition Woodworth and Marquis have defined Psychology as “The science of activities of an individual”. In the context the term activities has a broad sense. It includes motor activities like walking, speaking etc. Cognitive activities like perceiving, remembering, thinking, etc. And emotional activities like laughing, crying, sadness, jealousy etc. These activities may appear to be passive yet they are activities for they depend upon the life of the organism. Though this definition seems to be more comprehensive it is narrow because it does not include the behavior of animals.

8. Psychology is the Science of Experience and Behavior:

Munn has defined Psychology as “The science of experience and behavior”. Experience is internal, hence it can be understood only by the individual who lives through that, where as behavior is overt and objective and hence it is observable and verifiable by others.

All these definitions have contributed to the subject matter of Psychology in their own way. Noting down all the advantages and limitations Psychology can be defined as the science of study of the cognitive and affective behaviors of men and animals which are conscious or unconscious.