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3 - Sociocultural Perspectives on Romantic Relationships

A View from the East and West

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

By
Susan E. Cross  and
MinJoo Joo
Edited by
Brian G. Ogolsky
Brian G. Ogolsky
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Summary

Cultural groups address the initiation, development, and maintenance of romantic relationships and marriage in diverse ways. Western values, beliefs, and populations have dominated theory and research, which has led to a relatively monocultural science of relationships. This chapter explores the developing literature on East Asian ways of thinking, feeling, and relating to suggest avenues for further investigation of culturally-defined relationships. We first focus on relatively broad social, ideological, and institutional factors that shape the East Asian Confucian cultural model of marriage in comparison to Western models of relationships. Then we review research linking distinctive East Asian ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving to culturally valued practices, attitudes, and behaviors in romantic relationships and marriage.

Keywords

cultureindividualismcollectivismAsiaEastWest
Type
Chapter
Information
The Sociocultural Context of Romantic Relationships , pp. 29 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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