Individualistic and Collectivistic Perspectives on Gender and the Cultural Context of Love and Intimacy

Dion, Karen K.; Dion, Kenneth L.

doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb01168.x

Cited by 285 publications

(180 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Romantic love is highly regarded in individualist culture (LEVINE et al 1995). Marital satisfaction is affected by the level of emotional backing one receives from a partner, who is perceived as an intimate companion (DION and DION 1993).…”

Section: Individualist and Collectivist Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marital satisfaction and the impact of children in collectivist cultures: A meta-analysis

Dillon¹,

Beechler²

2010

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology

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Abstract. Many studies have established that the presence and number of children have a negative impact on marital satisfaction. Those that maintain an evolutionary perspective may find this result surprising. It is argued that a couple that has successfully reproduced together ought to have heightened satisfaction. The majority of studies confirming this negative impact children bring have been on samples of participants from individualist cultures such as the United States and Canada. This severely limits the generalizability of this finding. In order to determine the relevance of cultural type, collectivist and individualist, we conducted a meta-analysis that aggregated the findings of fifteen studies that contained samples from collectivist cultures. All studies used in this meta-analysis contained samples from outside the United States. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the findings from our meta-analysis on the impact of children on marital satisfaction. The present meta-analysis found a small, negative relationship between children and marital satisfaction (d = -.11, r = -.05) that is significantly lower than another meta-analysis conducted using samples from individualistic cultures. Maternal age and type of measure were significant moderators. It may be that collectivist cultures foster shared childcare within the extended family, and this arrangement buffers stressors that people from individualist cultures are more likely to face.

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Section: Individualist and Collectivist Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marital satisfaction and the impact of children in collectivist cultures: A meta-analysis

Dillon¹,

Beechler²

2010

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology

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“…These conditions are often jointly met in the realm of interpersonal relationships, particularly when the dating norms of the two cultures put Culture, gender, and attitudes towards interracial dating 5 differential emphasis on individual versus ingroup needs or goals. For example, Dion and Dion (1993) report that while marriage is closely associated in Western cultures with romantic love, it is often construed in some East and South Asian cultures primarily as an alliance between two families. Individuals who have access to both of these discourses, such as South and East Asian immigrants in North America and their bicultural children, may therefore be expected to experience intergenerational and internal cultural conflict surrounding discrepancies between the two discourses.…”

Section: Conflicting Norms In Bicultural Individualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Views on interracial dating among Chinese and European Canadians: The roles of culture, gender, and mainstream cultural identity

Üskül

Lalonde

Cheng

2007

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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The present study examines cross-cultural and gender differences in the norms regarding interracial dating among Chinese and European Canadians. In response to a scenario describing an interracial dating conflict between a young adult and his/her parents, Chinese Canadians gave greater support to parents than did European Canadians, who in turn gave greater support to the young adult than did Chinese Canadians. With regard to self-report measures of views on interracial dating, Chinese Canadian males showed less favorable attitudes towards interracial dating than all other groups and showed less openness to interracial dating than did European Canadian males. Among Chinese Canadians only, endorsement of Canadian identity made a contribution above and beyond family allocentrism to the prediction of all measures assessing views on interracial dating.

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“…Many cross-cultural theorists, on the other hand, contend that, even today, culture and ethnicity (as we11 as individualism/collectivism) have a profound impact on how men and women view passionate and companionate love and how they deal with such emotions (Dion & Dion, 1993;Hatfield & Rapson, 1993, in press (Smith & Bond, 1994). Such cross-cultural research, they note, could contribute to our understanding of social psychological processes in two different ways.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural and ethnic influences on love and attachment

Doherty

Hatfield

Thompson

et al. 1994

Personal Relationships

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Recently, theorists havc begun to speculate about the nature of passionate and companionate love. Evolutionary psychologists have tended to emphasize the pan-cultural nature of passionate love. Historians have stressed the fact that, in different historical eras, people's attitudes toward love, sex, and intimacy have varied widely. Cross-cultural researchers contend that, even today, societies differ greatly in their attitudes toward love. In this study, 124 men and 184 women from four ethnic backgrounds were asked if they were currently in love and how passionately and companionately in love they were. The four groups differed, as predictcd, in their general orientations toward life. Europcan-Americans were the most individualistic, Japanese-Americans and Pacific Islanders were intermediate in individualism/collectivism, and Chinese-Americans were the most collectivist. Nonetheless, in the specific area of love, the various American ethnic groups did not differ significantly in the likelihood of being in love, nor in the intensity of the passionate love (PL) or companionate lovc (CL) they felt. In all ethnic groups, men's and women's adult attachment styles predicted romantic feelings and experiences. The anxious were the most likely to be in a love relationship, and they scored the highest on the PL scale; avoidants scored lowest. The secure scorcd the highest on the CL scale; avoidants scored the lowcst.

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Individualistic and Collectivistic Perspectives on Gender and the Cultural Context of Love and Intimacy

Cited by 285 publications

References 29 publications

Marital satisfaction and the impact of children in collectivist cultures: A meta-analysis

Marital satisfaction and the impact of children in collectivist cultures: A meta-analysis

Views on interracial dating among Chinese and European Canadians: The roles of culture, gender, and mainstream cultural identity

Cultural and ethnic influences on love and attachment

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