IB Psychology HL - Relationships - Explain The Role Of Culture In Forming And Maintaining Relationships

• set of attitudes, behaviours and symbols shared by
  a large group of people

• usually communicated from one generation to the next

individualist vs collectivist

• Duck (1999): individualistic cultures prioritize love, while collectivist cultures consider other factors, e.g. social standing, religion, wealth, etc

• in collectivist cultures, social networks motivate marriages – families can decide marriage partners „for the young

study: Levine et al. (1995), Buss et al. (1990)

• asked college students from 11 different countries whether they would marry someone they did not love, yet had all the ideal qualities they desired in a partner

• over 90% of students from individualist countries said no

• but around 50% of students from collectivist countries said yes

• cross-cultural study investigating effects of culture and gender on„ mate preferences in 33 countries

• all cultures and genders agreed that love and mutual attraction are primary „factors in mate selection

• but in traditionalist (collectivist) countries men also placed high value on chastity, desires for children, cooking ability, and ability as a homemaker

• in the same societies, women valued good financial prospects, high social status, and ambition

• in some Western countries up to 50% of marriages end in divorce

• whereas in collectivist countries divorce is extremely rare

factors:

• traditional gender roles

• arranged vs love marriage

Fiske (2004):

• arranged marriages usually last longer than romantic marriages

• possibly due to the fact that marriage in traditional societies is a contract between families, involving economic and social bonds that makes divorce disadvantageous

Epstein (2012):

• interviewed 70 couples and performed a meta-analysis of studies of arranged marriages

• concluded that arranged marriages last longer and are happier because feelings of love tend to increase gradually over time

• arranged marriages usually happen based on the recommendation that it will be a good match from a third party (e.g. parents)

• arranged marriages are based on emotion as well as mutual, intellectual respect

• whereas ‘love marriages’, where attraction is based on passionate emotions, are less stable as passion decreases over time

• refers to a model where the man provides financial stability, while the woman focuses on maintaining the home and caring for the children

• it appears that couples that follow traditional roles are more likely to be happier

• perhaps because traditional roles means following clear rules

• may also be due to innate differences as a result of
  evolutionary processes – where men are predisposed to provide resources from outside the home while women are predisposed to provide nurture inside the home

Hansen (2012):
- Norway has high levels of gender equality
- yet, divorce rates for couples who did equal amounts of housework is approximately 50% higher than that of more traditional couples where the woman did all the
housework (should be noted that they do so willingly)