Table of Contents
Definition of Affective Individualism
(noun) The formation of marriage through personal selection based on romantic and sexual attraction instead of custom or economic and political reasons.
Examples of Affective Individualism
- Meeting an individual through friends and then bonding over shared interests and mutual attraction, eventually getting married when both people feel comfortable.
- The relationship portrayed in the movie When Harry Met Sally.
Etymology of Affective Individualism
- Popularized in The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500–1800 (1977) by Lawrence Stone (1919–1999) and challenged by Alan Macfarlane (1941) in the Culture of Capitalism (1987).
Affective Individualism Pronunciation
Syllabification: af·fec·tive in·di·vid·u·al·ism
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /a-fEk-tiv in-duh-vIj-uh-wuh-liz-uhm/
- British English – /uh-fEk-tiv in-di-vIj-uuh-li-zuhm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /əˈfɛktɪv ˌɪndɪvɪˈduəˌlɪzəm/
- British English – /əˈfɛktɪv ˌɪndɪˈvɪdjʊəlɪz(ə)m/
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “affectation” and “individualism” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- alliance
- arranged marriage
- family
- family life cycle
- fictive kin
- marriage
- marriage gradient
- monogamy
- open marriage
- relationship
- singlehood
Cite the Definition of Affective Individualism
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “affective individualism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 18, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/affective-individualism/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
affective individualism. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/affective-individualism/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “affective individualism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 18, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/affective-individualism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“affective individualism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/affective-individualism/>.