Interculturalism – a challenge and a potential for marriage

Abstract

The impact of culture on behaviour is particularly visible in romantic relationships. However, there are only few studies concerning the exceptional and unique aspects of intercultural marriages. As there is a great variety of such couples, it might be necessary to indicate their specificity, but it is also important to look for similarities. Two cultures in one marriage can be a challenge for the spouses and may trigger strategies aimed at protecting such a relationship. That will require a mobilization of the potential of a couple for building a life together. Based on the review of the studies, in this article the authors presented the most commonly reported challenges faced by intercultural couples. The most severe of them appeared to be the problems connected with the family of origin, communication, money management and confronting cultural values. The article shows some strategies applied by the partners to solve untypical and unexpected difficulties. It appears that the ways of coping with such problems play a protective role for the marriage. Nevertheless, whether a couple will be able to take up protective actions by applying proper strategies and whether they will prove effective depends on the resources of the partners. The authors also point to the significance of the most important relational resources necessary to build and maintain an intercultural relationship, activate strategies for achieving a cultural compromise and face a possible social disapproval. However, it should be emphasized that developing adaptability to a new culture, improving mutual relational skills, understanding the expectations of the partner and their social group as well as verifying the applied strategies are all complex time-consuming processes. The above-mentioned challenges faced by mixed couples were described not only in the recent studies but also in the previously conducted ones. That means that despite the promoted openness for diversity and inclusivity, the spouses from different cultures still experience similar problems. Taking this into account and some context variables difficult to control (cultural, social, situational ones), no wonder that the assessment of the quality of intercultural relationships is ambiguous.