Influence of culture Flashcards
Outline the differences in partner choice between Western and Non-Western cultures.
In western cultures people typically choose their own partners on the basis of romantic attraction and individual choice. This is usually before making decisions such as living together or making long term commitments like marriage. Some may even simply choose to live together without getting married and the rate of marriages in western cultures has steadily decreased. Due to greater social mobility western cultures are generally characterised by a greater pool of potential relationships and choice due to many living in urban settings meaning we regularly interact with a large number of people and acquaintances. Non-western cultures have fewer large urban centres and less geographical and social mobility translating to less choice about whom they interact with on a daily basis. Relationships are therefore tied stronger to other factors such as family or economic resources.
Explain why Western cultures are seen as being individualistic and Non-Western cultures as collectivist.
Western cultures place a greater importance on the rights and freedoms of the individual and are seen as “individualistic” as they focus on the individual making their own choices. Therefore relationships are seen as voluntary by those involved. In non-western cultures the group tends to be the main unit of concern and these are known as “collectivist” cultures. Here individuals are encouraged to be interdependent and rely on one another rather than be independent. Whereas individualist western cultures may promote freedom of choice in relationships, collectivist cultures may greatly shape relationship choice through the family, group or community (Moghaddam et al). Here relationships may in turn be involuntary in many cases where arranged marriages have factored in. With such arranged marriages, parents play a significant role in who their children’s should consider to marry and such unions are generally a joining of communities and extended families. This is commonly based on the assumption that marrying for love would be a recipe for disaster and “parents know best” for their children.
Explain the research by Hsu.
Hsu compared Chinese and North American societies and demonstrated how different values can shape relationship choices. The Chinese regard heritage and ancestry as important and relationships there tended to be dominated by more permanent relationships. Western cultures that emphasize progress and discontinuity tended to favour more temporary relationships showing how different cultural values can shape relationships.
Explain how norms and rules may affect relationshisps.
Norms and rules between cultures may also affect relationships due to what is considered appropriate behaviour. One such norm is reciprocity where if someone receives a benefit from someone an equivalent benefit must be returned. Ting Toomey et al found that individualist cultures treated reciprocity in personal relationships as voluntary while in collectivist cultures it is seen as more of a moral duty. In Japanese cultures for example there are specific rules around gift giving which would affect relationships.
Why would it make sense to have arranged “non-voluntary” marriages in societies with low social mobility and low opportunities to interact with others?
Divorce rates are low and in 50% of cases the spouses have even reported to have fallen in love with one another (Epstein et al). No differences in marital satisfaction was found when comparing to nonarranged marriages in the US. Therefore although frowned upon by western societies such traditional match-making through families appears to have some value.
What trend do we see in fast developing Asian countries?
However fast developing cultures like China have now seen a noticeable increase in “love” relationships with a move away from arranged marriages. Parents dictating partner choice has decreases from 70% in 1949 to less than 10% in 1990s.
What has Whyte et al found?
Whyte et al found that women in Chengdu who married for love actually felt better about their marriages than women who had had arranged marriages showing partner choice appears to be an important element in sustainable relationships regardless of culture.
Criticisms of Whyte et al’s study?
The main issue here was the sample was based only on women from Chengdu and therefore the likelihood of cultural bias may still exist as there may be a unique culture that exists only within that area that may not apply across China. Also this research has gender bias as the men were not asked on how happy they were - even though women may have reported to be happy this may not necessarily have been the case for men.
Why would parents be in a better position to judge who their child should marry?
For those advocating arranged marriages where parents control the process of choice, the case here is generally that parents are in a better position to judge compatibility in the longterm as young people may be infatuated and “blinded by love” to see longer-term problems in their partner choices.
What could the ‘shift’ be related to?
The shift could be related to greater urbanisation, social mobility and linked to the development of a nation rather than western or non-western or individualistic or collectivist cultures. In fact it could be argued the whole collectivist or individualistic approach may be down to how developed a country is. In india for example as the country experiences a boom much like China and an improving economy with greater opportunities for everyone - this has seen love as a growing component in relationships across such traditional cultures.
Outline McKenry’s study.
McKenry et al found that in cultures where females have become more independent and influential, divorce rates have risen considerably. This suggests that the lower divorce rates in collectivist cultures is not an indication of happy marriages but male dominance.
What did Gupta and Singhs find?
When studying 100 indian marriages of professionally educated couples. 50 were arranged marriages while 50 were love marriages and couples were assessed after 1, 5 and 10 years of marriage. Love marriages reported initial feelings of love and liking as initially high but this decreased over time. This is in contrast to arranged marriages reporting low feelings of love initially which grew and actually exceeded those of love marriages after 10 years suggesting in some cultures arranged marriages can become more successful over time.
Further criticisms of the explanations?
It could well be that western cultures also tend to have a higher divorce rate due to media influence and everyone constantly seeking to find the “ideal” partner and thus never being satisfied. Therefore the strong role of “nurture” and the environment in shaping relationships may also be a key determinant. Also the fact that much of the research into relationships uses data from self-reports and questionnaires poses the potential risk of bias. This could be through participants giving answers that their respective cultures would expect them to rather than give true feelings about relationship satisfaction. For example writing about being unhappy in a marriage is not likely to make things any better for them.
