Influence of Culture Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 4 areas in which romantic relationships vary between cultures?

A

1) Arranged marriages
2) Individualism Vs collectivism
3) The importance of love
4) Continuity & discontinuity

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2
Q

Outline arranged marriages in Western cultures

A

Predominantly urban settings with relatively easy geographical and social mobility so larger pool of availables as voluntarily interact with a large number of people (Filter Theory) - so there tends to be a high degree of choice in relationships

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3
Q

What are the figures for arranged marriages in Western Cultures?

A

1063 reports of forced marriage in the UK in 2009
This is only 0.0017% of the population
85% of these were women/girls

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4
Q

Outline arranged marriages in non-Western cultures

A

Fewer urban centres so less geographical and social mobility so less choice about who they interact with on a daily basis - relationships frequently tied to other factors like family or economic resources

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5
Q

In which continent are arranged marriages more prevalent?

A

Asia

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6
Q

Name a country in which a lot of arranged marriages occur

A

India

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7
Q

What has happened to arranged marriages in China?

A

They have declined from 70% to 10% over the last 50 years

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8
Q

What is the rate of arranged marriages in India?

A

90% of all marriages are arranged

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9
Q

In terms of arranged marriages, what happens in Surma (Ethiopia)?

A

99% of marriages are arranged and in their culture, men pay cattle for the young girls and the amount of cattle paid is determined by the size of a clay ring in the woman’s lip

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10
Q

Outline Rockman (94)

A

In cultures practising arranged marriages, families often use similar criteria as to what individuals themselves would use if they had choice - this contradicts the assumption that those in arranged marriages are unhappy with the choice of partners and have no influence in the process

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11
Q

Name 2 studies associated with arranged marriages

A

1) Rockman (94)

2) Umadevi (92)

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12
Q

Outline Umadevi (92)

A

Looked at female student preferences for love marriages and arranged marriages in India - found arranged seen as positive as long as the 2 partners consented and also found love marriages positive as long as parental approval which demonstrates the importance of opinions of entire family in Indian society

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13
Q

Outline individualism Vs collectivism

A

Individualist tend to focus on the individual rather than the group and collectivist see the group as primary concern (interdependent not independent) - this tends to mean relationships in individualist are based on freedom of choice whereas those in collectivist tend to have more to do with the concerns of family or group

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14
Q

Name the 2 studies associated with individualism Vs collectivism

A

1) Li (06)

2) Heine (02)

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15
Q

Outline Li (06)

A

Compared attitudes towards various types of relationships for people from individualist societies like Canada and collectivist cultures like China & India - found very few differences between Canadians and Chinese but found more differences between Chinese and Indian results

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16
Q

What is a big disadvantage of Li (06)

A

The lack of cultural differences could be due to methodological issues

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17
Q

Outline Heine (02)

A

Suggested a ‘reference-group effect’ which means people tend to evaluate themselves by comparison with members of their reference group - individual members of a collectivist culture may think they are not particularly interdependent when comparing themselves to other more collectivist members of their culture

18
Q

What is the main study associated with the importance of love?

A

Levine (93)

19
Q

Outline Levine (93)

A

Asked young people from 11 countries if they would marry someone they didn’t love, provided they had all the qualities desired in a marriage partner - more people in collectivist than individualist cultures said yes - 49% of Indians said yes, 3.5% Americans and 7% of English which suggests people from traditionalist cultures marry for reasons other than romantic love, whilst Western cultures idea of marriage is that it is symbolic of love

20
Q

Outline the role of divorce in cultures for continuity & discontinuity

A

Almost all cultures have provision for divorce but there is greater stigma attached to divorce in cultures with traditional arranged marriages

21
Q

What is the divorce rate in the UK?

A

42% of marriages end in divorce (2013)

22
Q

What is the divorce rate in South Korea & Japan?

A

30-33% of marriages end in divorce

23
Q

What is the divorce rate in India?

A

About 1 in 1,000 marriages end in divorce

24
Q

Name 3 studies associated with the continuity & discontinuity

A

1) Betzig (89)
2) Mckenry & Price (95)
3) Huang (05)

25
Q

Outline Betzig (89)

A
Studied divorce in 160 countries and found the most common grounds of divorce were:
1) Infidelity
2) Sterility 
3) Cruelty/maltreatment 
But also found some culturally specific causes like:
Witchcraft
Lack of male children
A bad dream/omen
26
Q

Outline Mckenry & Price (95)

A

Reported cultures where females become more independent and influential, divorce rates risen considerably - suggests lower divorce rates often seen in non-individualistic cultures not a reflection of happy marriages but of male dominance

27
Q

Outline Huang (05) - 4 points

A

Raid urbanisation & changing cultural norms in Asian societies - stress of modern life appears to have spilled over in marital relationships
Enhanced choice through educational/employment opportunities for Asian women - due to education and more independence they have more choice whether to leave abusive relationships
Importance of romantic love - led to a gradual decline of arranged and Western media is also an influence
Growth of individualism - through modernisation many economically prosperous Asan countries are moving in direction of individualism and so young people are less willing to sacrifice personal desires for their family

28
Q

Name the 3 studies associated with are arranged marriages better?

A

1) Epstein (02)
2) Myers (05)
3) Xiaohe & Whyte (90)

29
Q

Outline Epstein (02)

A

Divorce rates tend to be lower in arranged marriages and roughly half of those in arranged marriages admit to falling in love with their arranged partner

30
Q

Outline Myers (05)

A

Compared 45 individuals living in arranged marriages in India to individuals in choice marriages in US and found ‘no support for differences in marital satisfaction or love aspects of wellness in relation to arranged marriages’

31
Q

Outline Xiaohe & Whyte (90)

A

Sample of 586 married women in China and found wives in love marriages were more satisfied with marital relationship than wives in arranged marriages regardless of length of marriage - support that voluntary marriages are happier

32
Q

Explain what is happening in some rapidly developing countries in terms of arranged marriages

A

They are seeing noticeable increases in ‘love matches’ like in China

33
Q

Name 2 negative evaluative points for the influence of culture

A

1) Is there actually any difference between arranged and love marriages
2) Methodological issues

34
Q

Explain why there might actually be no difference between arranged and love marriages

A

We might expect relationships based on love to produce more compatible partners but this may not be the case as parents may be in a better position to judge compatibility in the long term, whereas young people may be ‘blinded by love’ and overlook areas of compatibility that will become apparent later - however Xiaohe & Whyte’s study suggests freedom of mate choice appeared to promote marital stability rather than instability

35
Q

What has been suggested to be a better explanation of attitudes towards love and relationships in different cultures?

A

Increasing urbanisation

36
Q

Explain the consequences of increasing urbanisation

A

Research has suggested attitudes may be better explained by greater urbanisation and mobility in Western cultures - for example there has been a sharp increase in divorce rates in India in recent years despite it generally being regarded as collectivist - most of those being divorced are members of the thriving middle class, suggesting aspirations and attitudes to relationships are radically different to those of their parents and grandparents

37
Q

Explain the methodological issues relating to the influence of culture

A

Research may be limited as methodology can be interpreted differently in different cultures creating cultural bias that can invalidate any conclusions about cultural differences from a cross-cultural study - for example, measures of love/satisfaction developed in Western cultures might not be valid in other cultures

38
Q

Name an IDA point for the influence of culture

A

Cultural bias in the representation of romantic relationships

39
Q

Explain cultural bias in the representation of romantic relationships

A

It is believed the influence of US romantic comedies creates a warped sense of ‘perfect’ relationships and presents a culturally-biased view of romance to young people - so create highly idealised views of relationships and can see them as normal which can have an adverse effect on their satisfaction with their future relationship

40
Q

Name the study associated with cultural bias in the representation of romantic relationships

A

Johnson & Holmes (09)

41
Q

Outline Johnson & Holmes (09)

A

Spent a year analysing 40 top box office films released 1995-2005 and asked hundreds to fill in a questionnaire to describe beliefs and expectations concerning romantic relationships - fans of certain films were more likely to have views of relationships reflected in themes portrayed in films - e.g. films suggest love and commitment exist the moment you meet whereas in real life, these are qualities that normally take years to develop