The influence of culture on romantic relationships Flashcards
Explain the idea around categorised cultures
Traditionally psychologists have categorised cultures in terms of individualism and collectivism, and have seen this as a major influence on romantic relationships.
INDIVIDUALISM - the emphasis is on the individual person and her/his rights, goals etc. Individual performance and achievement are praised, whilst reliance on others is not regarded as desirable. People in individualist cultures (UK and USA) strive for autonomy and there is greater emphasis ‘I’ rather than ‘we’ in interpersonal relationships. This means relationship decisions are made on the basis of individual benefits and desires.
COLLECTIVISM- the emphasis is on the group (family/society). Interdependence is praised and encouraged. Collectivist cultures (China,Pakistan) value ‘we’ more than ‘I’ in social encounters. Ties between, and responsibilities to, collective units (family or community) are regarded as more important than the desires of particular individuals. Marriages may be arranged, and so may not be entirely voluntary. A marriage is often seen as a union between families, not a union between individuals.
Evaluate categorised cultures
Research over the past ten years has begun to cast doubt on the usefulness of the distinction between individualist and collectivist cultures. Li et al compared attitudes towards relationships between people from canada (individualist) and china and india (both collectivist). Findings showed few differences between Canadian and Chinese, but it did show differences between Chinese and Indians. this seems to indicate that making a distinction between individualist and collectivist cultures is meaningless. It has been suggested that urbanisation may indeed have a greater influence on romantic relationships than whether a culture is collective or individualist. However other researchers have suggested this individualism/collectivism is still relevant and that methodological issues may explain why no differences were found between the groups in Li’s study. e.g. the reference group effect - people tend to evaluate themselves in comparison to members of their reference group. So, individual members of a collectivist culture may view themselves as relatively less collectivist than other members of their culture. Culture may also impact on different types of marriage in terms of the number of individuals involved. (Monogamy - one wife to one husband, Polygamy - often married; Polygyny - many wives; Polyandry - many husband; Fraternal Polyandry - many husbands all of whom are brothers). Monogamy is the norm in the west, but polyandry is favoured when resources are scarce e.g. in Tibet polyandry was favoured as having more than one man to help a woman raise her children provides the best chance of survival.
Explain Voluntary or Involuntary relationships
People in western, industrialised societies have considerable geographic and social mobility and are therefore free to interact with (and select a partner from) a large number of people on a daily basis. People in traditional non-western societies have less geographical and social mobility and therefore less choice about potential partners. In individualist cultures people may marry for love with or without parental consent. In collectivist cultures, marriages tend to be arranged and so less voluntary. However not all arranged marriages are the same and research has suggested three main types of arranged marriage;
- Planned - parents plan entire process and couple may not meet until their wedding day.
- Chaperoned - children tell their parents about their desires, and parents try to find someone who matches them.
- Joint-Venture - both parents and children are involved in selecting a mate. Open dating may be involved.
State some research evidence and produce an evaluation of voluntary and involuntary relationships.
arranged marriages of some type are still the accepted alternative to western love marriages in many traditional cultures and are widespread in India and Pakistan. Myers et al asked 22 couples living in India in arranged marriages to complete a questionnaire measuring martial satisfaction. their responses were compared to those from couples living marriages of choice in the USA. Significantly, there were no differences in martial satisfaction between the two groups. this seems to suggest that martial satisfaction is not related to choice in marriage. this may be because arranged marriages are often between families with similar value beliefs and social standing. therefore couples often find they have much in common, and their relative satisfaction is therefore consistent with the matching hypothesis.
Immigrant communities however seem to be changing towards the western model. For example, in a study of 70 Hindu Gujarati couples living in Leicester, only 8% had completely arranged marriages. Most had been introduced by a third party but had been given the option of refusing their partner and been given considerable choice about the timing of their marriage. Asian immigrant families have undergone substantial changes in their attitudes towards marriage compared with families in their country of origin. This process seems inevitable as the children involved become more integrated in to the western way of life.
It is also important to consider the extent to which western love marriages are truly voluntary. Although most western couples believe they have freedom of choice in their marriages, they are still constrained by the choices available to them in their particular environment. Also, with the increasing popularity of internet dating, where suggested matched are provided, there may not be much difference between voluntary and involuntary marriages any more.
Explain romantic love in culture
romantic love seems to be universal across cultures. Research has shown that in western society, romantic love is seen as a pre-requisite for marriage. Perhaps surprisingly, many non-western cultures were equally romantic, although this may come at a different time in the relationship.
discuss research evidence and evaluate romantic love in culture
Gupta and Singh - provided evidence for this when they asked 50 couples in Jaipur in India to complete Rubin’s love scale. Those in arranged marriages felt less love at the start of their marriage but the love increased over the first 5 years and was maintained at this level for the next 5 years. For those in love marriages, love started at a higher level, was maintained for the first 5 years, but by 10 years had dropped below the level of those in arranged marriages. This suggests that love may be different but equally important in both love and arranged marriages. It may also be that love shows a similar pattern over the course of both types of relationship, but in the arranged marriages the wedding was right at the start of the relationship, whereas in love marriages it happened later, after the couple had known each other for quite some time.
However, Levine et al found that traditional collectivist cultures such as Thailand, India and Pakistan were more practical about marriage. When questioned students they were willing to compromise and marry someone they did not love. In such societies, the extended family continues to be of primary importance, and romantic love is considered a luxury. This suggests that culture doe have an important influence on the nature of romantic relationships and the importance of love.
Explain the idea of permanent and impermanent relationships
Almost all cultures have provision for divorce, although there is greater stigma attached to divorce in cultures with traditional arranged marriages. Betzig studied 160 countries and found that most common reasons for divorce were; infidelity, sterility and cruelty.
Evaluate permanent and impermanent relationships
Divorce was relatively rare in western society fifty years ago, but the impermanence of relationships has become a feature of urbanisation. As non-western cultures also become more urbanised their divorce rates are increasing too. This means that relationships differences may not be a direct result of collectivist vs individualistic, or voluntary vs involuntary cultures but a product of increasing urbanisation, and the consequent growth of individualism in societies around the world.
AID permanent and impermanent relationships
Culture bias in research - there is a real danger of making cross cultural psychology just ‘doing psychology in exotic places’. We need to avoid taking issues and phenomena that are of interest to western psychology and just trying to see if we can replicate them in other cultures. It is important to take account of what is important in that ‘other culture’. Tabi - collected qualitative data from 15 in-depth interviews with women in polygynous marriages in Ghana. Infertility was the main reason that women allowed co-wives was because this was preferable to divorce. The women reported unhappiness, loneliness and jealousy.
