The Impact Of Cultural Differences On A Couple's Relationship

Opposites attract? Perhaps, most durable and happiest are marriages of people who are compatible and perfectly matched. Two people should get married no matter what races they are. In the United States, the number of interracial marriages has nearly tripled since 1980. At the same time, number of divorces has increased between people of two different races. Interracial marriages are often also intercultural. One of the reason contributing to the increased number of interracial marriages in recent years is increasing levels of migration around the world. Because of globalization, conventional social constraints are weakened, and moreover, for business or pleasure travelers, it is now easily available, inexpensive and more popular than ever before. More companies are sending their employees abroad, and the same applies to the rapidly growing number of students studying in different counties. Easier access to education, including the opportunity to learn foreign languages is another opportunity to find love.

The evolution of technology diametrically changes the socio-cultural situation of the world. Human limitations related to distance and time have been removed or reduced. A travel, which once took many months or even years and was something unusual, now it has become an everyday. As a result of these changes, the world has become more open to multiculturalism. A different race, as well as a cultural difference, are at the beginning of a relationship a cause of mutual attraction of the partners. Often, in the future, they become the cause of conflicts between spouses.

Conflicts are inevitable in every relationship. Conflicts in interracial marriage have their ground for the difference of views on the marriage itself and how it is defined. Every culture in its own way shows commitment to the relationship, expression of love and closeness. Inconsistencies may show up in the management of a budget and in relations with the family. The biggest problems come with the birth of a child. All these aspects, to a large extent, contribute to divorces in interracial marriage. Couples only notice after a while that they cannot agree on many issues of everyday life.

The key to creating a durable and happy marriage is to focus on what we connect and to turn a blind eye to what separates us. Unfortunately, rather, we cannot count on absolute compatibility and similarity in all spheres. Spouses should respect cultural differences and the right of each partner to cultivate tradition and express themselves in a way that does not threaten the relationship.