Cultural and sub cultural differences in relationships.

1. Cultural and sub cultural differences in relationships.

2. Why study cross cultural differences? • Differences between western and non western cultures can profoundly effect relationships • Hui & Tiandis’s individualistic and collectivistic dichotomy as well as Hsu’s (1983) distinction between ‘continuous’ and ‘discontinuous’ societies illustrate some of these differences and their effects.

3. Western cultures • Individualistic- emphasising goals,rights attitude and needs. • As a consequence there is • A focus on first acquaintances,close friendships and intimate partnership between two individuals.

4. Western cultures • A strong social norm of monogamy reflected in our societies laws. • An emphasis on voluntary choice due to: • High mobility • Easy long distance relationships • Greater availability of relationships • The notion of romantic love

5. Western cultures • Discontinuous Youth and progress are emphasised and change is regarded as important and inevitable, consequently: • There may be an increase in the preference for temporary relationships- and increased divorce rates. • Rules in relationships may be less important,since if they are broken the relationships can be left and other found.

6. Non-Western Cultures. • Collectivistic- Emphasising the group, it decisions and attitudes needs and one’s duties towards it. As a consequence there is • More emphasis on long term kinship and social group relationships, (more than two) • A higher frequency of polygamous relationships.

7. Non-Western Cultures • A lack of voluntary choices in relationships is due to : • More stationary lifestyles, with less long distance communication, leading to less availibity. • Obligations to family and social norms. Marriages arranged to take into account the wishes of others.

8. Non-Western Cultures • There is a tendency for relationship interactions to be more governed by group need or equality based resource sharing and obligatory reciprocity. • Continuous • Showing concern for heritage, customs and traditions, thus change is viewed with suspicion perhaps leading to greater stability. • Rules are adhered to because of the need to maintain long term commitment.

9. In short................ WESTERN CULTURE Individualistic Discontinuous Voluntary Impermanent NON WESTERN CULTURE Collectivistic Continuous Involuntary Permanent.

10. Some evaluation • Western research has restricted implications for non western societies and has neglected certain kinds of relationship in it’s own societies. • Ethnocentricity- The tendency to assume that western relationships are superior due to ideological dogma

11. Ethnocentricity cont.... • Cross cultural studies point out that the reason for frequent failure in relationships is due to : • Independence, satisfaction of personal needs and personal control.Contradict the very characteristics of what is needed for a relationship to work I.e. caring sharing and compromise. • Gupta & Singh (1982) Discovered newlyweds in India who married out of love reported more intense feelings of love than those from arranged marriages, however this pattern reversed after 5 years and became more exaggerated after 10 years.

12. Sub Cultural differnces. Homosexual relationships are in general: • Pathologised: A product of a mental disorder. • Discriminated against: Socially and legally. • Stereotyped: over generalised, oversimplified and distorted characteristics are attributed to all homosexuals.

13. What effects do these reactions have? • The relationship: Concealment vs. revealing, both have adverse effects in terms of pressure and lack of support. • The individual: Discrimination can lead to physical, financial and mental harm.Stereotyping may lead others to see the homosexual not the individual leading to a loss of personal identity.

14. Comparison of heterosexual and homosexual relationships. • Similarities: May share values goals experiences and factors influencing formation, maintenance and breakdown of relationships. • Differences: Social pressures sex role interactions-no pressure all is equal between partners, but there may be less cohabitation and sexual exclusivity.

15. Evaluation. • Research is often based upon qualitative data (see PYA3) from interviews self report measures questionnaires conducted on opportunity samples. These methods have their strengths and weaknesses.

16. Electronic Relationships. • Electronic relationships are those that occur solely from computer-mediated rather than face to face communication. • E.G. Email,virtual posting boards, online chat rooms. • They differ from other relationships as they happen in real time and have more responsiveness than letters and greater anonymity than telephone conversation.

17. Similarities with other relationships. • Similar influences in the formation and maintenance of other relationships e.g. • Exposure and familiarity effects (‘intersection frequency’Wallcae 1999) • Similarity of belief effect (aided by common interest from post boards etc) • Electronic relationships are reported to be just as deep and meaningful as other relationships (even more so sometimes).

18. Positive effects Discovery- Greater access to a greater number of people. Disinhibition: Anonymity and ease of termination increase confidence. Disclosure: Greater self closure due to above. Negative effects Deception:Conscious or unconscious self misinterpretation. Due to Differences in realtionships. disinhibition Dependency- net obsessed’ may reduce skills and opportunities relating to others.

19. Evaluation • Still a new area of of research. • Effects may change as technology changes, involving a greater number of users and increased visual modes of communication e.g. video conferencing,web-cams and other virtual realty devices.