Cultural Psychology Chapter 8: Social Relationships - PowerPoint Presentation

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Cultural Psychology

Chapter 8: Social Relationships

Robyn M. Holmes

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Chapter 8 Outline

Understanding Relationships – Relational Model Theory

Conditions for Forming Friendships

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Chapter 8 Outline

Cultural Constructions of Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

Culture-Specific Studies on Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

Cross-Cultural Studies on Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

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Chapter 8 Outline

Friendships

Culture-Specific Studies on Friendships

Cross-Cultural Studies on Friendships

Culture across Disciplines - Joking and Avoidance Relationships

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Chapter 8 Outline

Choosing a Mate – Evolutionary Approaches

Choosing a Mate - Social and Cultural Approaches

Love

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Chapter 8 Outline

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Romantic Love across Cultures

Love and Marriage

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Chapter 8 Outline

Marriage

Number of Partners

Social Practices for Choosing a Marriage Partner

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Chapter 8 Outline

The Costs and Benefits of Marriage

Cultural Divides - Intercultural Weddings

Migration and Marriage

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Chapter 8 Outline

Love, Marriage and Cultural Change in Nigeria

Case Study in Marital Happiness

Child Marriages

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Chapter 8 Learning Goals

Provide examples for the types of relationships that appear in Relational Model Theory

List the conditions that help form relationships

Explain how culture shapes our relationships

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Chapter 8 Learning Goals

Provide universal and cultural qualities of friendships

List mate preferences from an evolutionary point of view

Contrast cultural and evolutionary approaches to mate selection

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Chapter 8 Learning Goals

Compare the different types of love in Sternberg’s theory of love

Define marriage and contrast the different types of marriage arrangements

Identify the connection between love and marriage in different cultural contexts

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Engaging with CultureThe

Komachi

Nomadic

Patrilineal society

Inheritances (usually animals) pass through the male line usually from father to son

Kinship ties are critical

Marriage serves to extend and solidify these ties

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What are Komachi

marriage customs and practices?

Komachi

marriage follows a certain set of prescribed cultural rules

The ideal marriage partner should be a close kin or first cousin

Men should marry a younger woman

Multiple marriages are discouraged between families

Marriages are encouraged within one’s social class

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What are Komachi

marriage customs and practices?

Who has the most important role in choosing a marriage partner?

The future groom’s family initiates a rumor that the boy has an interest in a particular girl

If the bride-to-be’s family shows an interest, the mothers from each family discuss the conditions of the potential marriage

If both sides are satisfied a group of men from the groom’s side visits with the girl’s father to obtain permission to share this news with the community

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What are Komachi

marriage customs and practices?

Who has the most important role in choosing a marriage partner?

If the girl’s family accepts, her family will host a meal for both families, the

mar

katkhoda

.

In private, the families negotiate

bridewealth

or the cost to the groom’s family for the bride and other marriage conditions

If negotiations are successful, the marriage proceeds

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What are Komachi

marriage customs and practices?

Marriage negotiations reflect

Komachi

society

Men hold much of the power

Women typically do not make their own decisions regarding marriage partners

Men’s reputations connect to their negotiating skills and the union’s outcome

Negotiating poor unions can diminish a family’s status

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What are Komachi

marriage customs and practices?

In

Komachi

society, marriage strengthens and guarantees close bonds between men who control material and social capital

Marriage rules help men make good marriages

Reward men socially and economically when they make extraordinary marriage matches

Provide ways to help families end unfavorable marriages

Perfect example of how culture and mind co-create one another

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Relationships

Our need to make contact and maintain our relationships with others motivates us to establish a sense of belonging - this need is termed

affiliation

Intimate

or

close relationships

include:

caregiver-infant attachments

friends

lovers

married couples

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How have your relationships changed since you were a child?

Do you desire different qualities in your friends now?

Are your friendships long-lasting or are they short-lived?

Do you think your perceptions and experiences are similar to your peers in other cultures?

Relationships

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Fiske and Fiske (2007) Relational Models Theory (RMT)

Fiske and Fiske identified four different relationship types

Communal sharing

- relationships in which people share responsibility

Authority ranking

relationships - appear in communities where there are social rankings

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Fiske and Fiske (2007) Relational Models Theory (RMT)

Equality matching -

relationships that work like a balancing scale, everyone receives an equal share

Market pricing

- the costs and benefits of our relationships

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Relational Model Theory

Relationship Category

1.

Communal Sharing - relationships in which people share responsibility.

Examples

: Parents raising a child or a sorority organizing a fund drive for a charity

2.

Authority ranking

–

found in societies where they are social rankings, for example, castes,

socioeconomic classes, or titles

Examples

: Boss-employee, military leaders, and societies that accord respect to elders

3.

Equality matching

–

relationships in which people involved are treated as having equal status; a good analogy is to view relationships like a balanced scale

Examples

: Waiting your turn in line or making sure everyone person who chipped in for the

ticket receives an equal share of lottery winnings

4

.

Market pricing

–

relationships in which you weigh the costs and benefits of forming, maintaining or ending them.

Examples

: Marrying for resources or helping out a friend to gain a future favor

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Relationships

Can you connect these relationship types to your own social experiences?

Do you think it is possible for a society to have more than one relationship type?

Do you think this model helps explain relationships in different cultural communities?

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Conditions for Forming Friendships

Propinquity effect –

the tendency to be friends with, date, and form committed relationships with others we live near or see regularly

Similarity attraction effect –

our tendency to gravitate to people who share our interests, attitudes, and beliefs

Matching hypothesis

” predicts we will date and form committed relationships with people who are similar to us in terms of physical attractiveness

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Cultural Constructions of Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

Although cultural ideals for body shape do vary, men generally prefer women whose waist is slimmer than their hips – Many men connect body shape with a woman’s fertility and her ability to have children

Most women generally prefer men who have a V shape - For women, this hip to waist body ratio is indicative of a stronger, muscular man

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Cultural Constructions of Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

Potential universal traits that people find attractive in the human face

Symmetrical

Smooth skin

Koinophilia

-

a

verage face focus upon averageness

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Cultural Constructions of Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

What forces do you think might help shape cultural perceptions of attractiveness?

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Cross-Cultural Studies on Physical Attractiveness and Beauty

Are facial symmetry, thinness, and skin color important beauty attributes across cultures?

Vera Cruz (2013) explored conceptions of facial beauty among college students from Mozambique, Brazil, and France

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Vera Cruz’s (2013) investigations of facial beauty among college students from Mozambique, Brazil, and France

Findings:

Participants agreed more on facial attractiveness, especially on the attributes of symmetry and smooth skin

French college students preferred thinner faces which they may have connected to a cultural emphasis upon thinness

There may be universal, culture-specific, and other attributes of facial beauty that interact with cultural values

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Friendships

Chen (2011) highlights the role of culture in shaping children’s relationships. Found that:

Age and culture shape the function of children’s friendships

For many young, Western children, friendships function to provide play opportunities and playmates

Many children in traditional communities spend less time at play because they are expected to work and contribute to their family’s well-being

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Chen’s (2011) study on the role of culture in shaping children’s relationships

For many non-Western children, play does not function to provide playmates

Friendship also helps children form relationships with children from other ethnic heritages

Friendship qualities also reflect cultural values and norms

In many Western settings, shy children often face peer rejection and exclusion from playgroups because they are timid

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Children’s Friendships and Culture

In Chinese culture, self-regulation and emotional and social control are desirable qualities because they link, cultural values that emphasize interdependent relationships, sensitivity to others’ needs, and group cohesion

Shyness is generally a positive quality in China and children select shy children as desirable playmates for this reason

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Culture-Specific Studies on Friendship

French and his team (2003) explored culture-specific (Indonesian) and comparative (Western) aspects of children’s friendships

Indonesian cultural worldviews include an interdependent, unbounded self; cultural values such as group cohesion encourage and reinforce emotional restraint

Many Western countries endorse an independent self that is separate and unbounded; cultural values such as autonomy encourage and reinforce uniqueness and self-expression

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French and colleagues (2003) found:

Indonesian children have about the same number of friends as children from the U.S

Those unable to form friendships were aggressive or had trouble in school

Indonesian children form friendships with children who behave similarly and share similar interests and social status

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French and colleagues (2003) found:

Indonesian children provide more help to their friends in terms of support than do American children; for Indonesian children, family and friends serve similar functions

As children become teenagers, many Indonesian teens (although close with their friends) choose to confide in family members; many teens in the U.S. prefer to confide in their friends

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Culture-Specific Studies on Friendship

Rothbaum and his team (2009) compared close relationships in Japan and the United States

View the person as mutually embedded in their setting

Relationships best understood in the cultural and social contexts where these interactions take place

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Rothbaum and colleagues (2009) comparison of close relationships in Japan and the United States

Findings

Cultural values and practices shape children’s experiences with their caregivers

When speaking with their infants, Japanese mothers focus more upon emotional content and connecting with their children

These practices reinforce Japanese values of interdependency and learning to accommodate to others’ needs

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Rothbaum and colleagues (2009) comparison of close relationships in Japan and the United States

Through mother-infant cultural scripts, Japanese infants learn to trust in their mother’s ability to meet their needs – a condition of

amae

– a social strategy in which the requester asks for a very atypical favor

In the mother-child bond,

amae

fosters interdependency

In adult relationships, it fosters closeness

American mothers focused more on providing their

children with information about their environment.

This cultural script socializes American children to

become independent

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Rothbaum and colleagues (2009) comparison of close relationships in Japan and the United States

In the U.S., teens increasingly seek independence from their caregivers, and their friends become an important part of their social experiences

In Japan, teens spend more time at home and remain closely attached to their parents, especially their mothers

These trends continues into adulthood

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Culture across Cultures – Joking and Avoidance Relationships

One unusual relationship that exists in some cultural communities is the joking relationship

The joking relationship is a peculiar combination of friendliness and antagonism

Radcliffe Brown defined the joking relationship “a relation between two persons in which one is by custom permitted, and in some instances required, to tease or make fun of the other, who in turn is required to take no offence.”

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Radcliffe Brown - Joking and Avoidance Relationships

What are the characteristics of joking relationships?

Joking relationships

involve both friendly approaches and antagonism or non-real hostility

permit people who see each other as equals to treat each other in culturally approved ‘disrespectful’ ways

Example: a grandparent and grandchild, uncle and nephew, romantic partners, or even peers at play

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Radcliffe Brown - Joking and Avoidance Relationships

What form does the teasing take?

Verbal teasing, friendly banter, or pranking. Could include rough housing, playing the dozens, or jokes that mimic sexual tension between two friends, or playing a prank on a boss, you consider a friend

What is the function of these relationships?

They are a form of social control in the communities where they are found and help to reduce conflict between individuals

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Choosing a Mate – Evolutionary Approaches

Evolutionary psychology predicts that selective pressures shape our behaviors to solve problems in our environment

One problem is passing on your genes to the next generation

Findings on mate selection, suggest:

men and women worldwide prefer mates who are kind, funny, and intelligent

men also generally prefer younger, physically attractive mates as these qualities link to fertility

women generally prefer mates who have access to resources

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Choosing a Mate – Evolutionary Approaches

Gender differences in mate selection relate to strategies designed to increase one’s reproductive success

These patterns generally appear consistent across cultures and historical generations

Differences based upon cultural ideology; particular mate qualities link to cultural values

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Choosing a Mate – Evolutionary Approaches

Medora and colleagues (2002) compared Turkish and American adult ratings of desirable or important mate qualities

Findings –

American participants rated romantic love and similar interests as important qualities

Reflects American values and cultural scripts for romantic relationships

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Medora and colleagues (2002) comparison of Turkish and American adult ratings of desirable or important mate qualities

Findings –

Turkish participants highly rated having a good job and stable occupation to be more desirable in a potential mate

Reflects Turkish cultural values that stress the importance of family and the group

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Medora and colleagues (2002) comparison of Turkish and American adult ratings of desirable or important mate qualities

Findings -

Turkish women highly valued intelligence in their potential mates, a desirable quality confirmed across cultures

Turkish women’s emphasis upon intelligence reflects Turkish cultural attitudes that men should be equally if not more intelligent than women

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Choosing a Mate - Social and Cultural Approaches

Social and cultural factors provide another explanation for gender differences in mate preferences

Khallad

(2005) asked a sample of Jordanian college men and women about their mate preferences

Jordan is a collectivist, strongly patriarchal, and predominantly Muslim society

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Khallad’s

(2005) study on Jordanian college men and women’s mate preferences

Findings -

Men and women reported the importance of love, kindness, and positive personality traits for their mates

Men also rated physical attractiveness higher than women did, women rated financial resources and fidelity higher than men did

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Khallad’s (2005) study on Jordanian college men and women’s mate preferences

Some findings didn’t support Buss’ view of mate selection

Jordanian men and women also desired qualities in their mates that reflected traditional cultural values – a partner who was religious, sophisticated, and committed to having a family

In contemporary Jordan there is a strong aversion to marrying a divorcee; men in particular were against seeking out a partner who was previously divorced

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Challenges to Buss’ View of Mate Selection

Some researchers are critical of Buss’ failure to consider factors such as the length of time people are in relationships when asked to provide self-report mate selection responses

Li and Kendrick (2006) found that women responded differently to mate preference questions depending on whether the partner was a long-term or short-term one

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Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Three elements present in all human love

Intimacy

describes the level of closeness and connectedness

Passion

includes attraction, romance, and sexual relations

Commitment

focuses upon the investment one is willing to make in the relationship

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Romantic Love

Passion + Intimacy

Intimacy - Liking

Consummate Love

Intimacy +

Commitment +

Passion

Companionate Love

Intimacy + Commitment

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

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Sternberg proposed that these three qualities of love are present in different types of love

Passionate love

, low levels of commitment, yet high levels of passion and intimacy

Physical attraction and sexual desire dominate the early stages of this relationship

In

companionate love

, there are higher levels of commitment and intimacy

Couples experience a great deal of connectedness and investment, but typically experience little if any intimacy

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Sternberg proposed that these three qualities of love are present in different types of love

Arranged marriages often begin with high levels of commitment with relatively little attention to intimacy and passion

Consummate love

- when passion, intimacy, and commitment appear in equal proportions

What is one major problem with this theory?

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Challenges to Sternberg’s

Triarchic

Theory of Love

Rothbaum

and his team noted Sternberg used primarily U.S. participants middle-income, European Americans

Using Japan as an example,

Rothbaun

and colleagues highlight how Sternberg’s model does not apply to other cultures

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Rothbaum and colleagues Challenges to Sternberg’s

Triarchic

Theory of Love

Generally Japanese partners value commitment more than they do passion and intimacy - Sternberg’s model reflects the American emphasis upon passion in love

In Sternberg’s model, love is incomplete or unfulfilled when commitment is present without passion and intimacy - this would not do justice to a Japanese couples’ experience

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Rothbaum and colleagues Challenges to Sternberg’s

Triarchic

Theory of Love

Cultural scripts for Japanese romantic relationships reflect cultural values that emphasize loyalty and commitment

In Sternberg’s model, Japanese couples will value companionate love rather than passionate love

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Romantic Love across Cultures

Are there cultural differences in the way American, Asian-Indian, and Turkish adults’ think about romantic love?

Medora and colleagues (2002) found:

romantic love is more highly valued and experienced in technologically advanced, individualistic nations such as the U.S., compared to more collectivist, traditional countries, such as Vietnam and the Philippines

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Medora and colleagues Found:

Cul

tural practices shape Indian young adult perceptions of marriage and love -

arranged marriages are still the norm, and this union relates more to group needs and obligation than to individual goals and desires

Romantic love and intimacy are not

important components in Indian unions

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Medora and colleagues also found:

Turkey is transitioning from a traditional to a more modern society and these developments are leading to changes in traditional marriage customs

Young Turkish adults and parents now acknowledge the position of romantic love in marriage unions

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Romantic Love across Cultures

Munck

and colleagues (2011) investigated romantic love among Americans, Russians, and Lithuanians

Found that sexual attraction is necessary for romantic love to develop and once romantic love appears.

The common component of romantic love was the unity between the couple

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Munck

and colleagues (2011) Cross-Cultural Study on Romantic Love

Findings –

Couples from all three countries highly valued putting the couple ahead of their own interests and desires

U.S. sample valued friendship but this was not the case for the Eastern European samples

Russians valued sex more than the other two countries, and expressions of joy were important in Lithuanian conceptions of romantic love

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Marriage

Marriage

is a social union between two partners that has economic implications for the family and wider community

Within this union, partners come to expect sexual relations, reciprocity, and fulfilling one’s obligations

How would you categorize the marriage unions you know using relational model theory? What criteria did you use? 

 

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Number of Marriage Partners

Monogamy - the practice of having one lifetime partner is the norm in many Western and industrialized countries

Polygyny -

the practice of having multiple wives

Although it is culturally appropriate to take multiple wives, men often have monogamous marriages too

Polyandry –

the practice of having multiple husbands

Polygamy -

the practice of multiple marriage partners

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Number of Marriage Partners

The practice of polygyny appears in many Muslim and African societies, and there are also polygynous communities in the U.S., although it is against the law

Polygyny makes a social statement for men.

The ability to acquire more than one wife links to wealth, social status, and power.

In societies where women are vital to a household’s income, it makes good sense to have more than one wife

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Number of Marriage Partners

In

polyandry,

one woman may have multiple husbands

Less than 1% of all arrangements in the world and appears in marginal environments such as Tibet, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Several factors explain why polyandry exists

In marginalized areas it is difficult for men to acquire enough resources to marry or the family may have limited resources

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Why Polyandry Exists

Having brothers share a wife (

fraternal polyandry

) makes good sense

Ensures a family’s political power and economic prosperity. If there is a shortage of women it makes good sense for men to share a wife so that the men can still have a family

Polyandry supports the connection between culture and ecology as the environment helps to shape and support this arrangement

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Social Practices for Choosing a Marriage Partner

One cultural practice that supports parental involvement in the marriage process is an

arranged

marriage

Parents choose marriage partners for their children while they are young.

Prevalent in China, southern Italy, Japan, and India and although in decline still common in contemporary India and parts of Africa

Cultural practice is changing with modernization

In urban India, Western-type marriages are becoming more prevalent

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The Costs and Benefits of Marriage

Bridewealth

-

a groom’s family provides payment, goods, or services to the bride’s family in return for rights to marry her and any children produced in the union

These societies are patrilineal, links to low social status for women and appears in horticultural and pastoral subsistence patterns where women contribute to the family’s economy and survival

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The Costs and Benefits of Marriage

The dowry –

a practice where

the bride’s family provides a gift to the bride that she will carry forward into the marriage

Inheritance may pass from parents to children of both sexes. A woman can contribute to her future home’s success. Appear in societies that practice monogamy, in which women contribute little to the economy, and where there is social stratification. The dowry is like a prenuptial agreement

If a divorce occurs, the woman may take her dowry as part of the settlement

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The Costs and Benefits of Marriage

Bride service - the groom works for his future wife’s family, and this is prominent in societies that are food gatherers

Groom service -

the bride and her family provide services to the groom and his family

Functions – to determine the worth of potential mates and to teach young adults role expectations

Gift exchange –

families exchange gifts of equal value

Exchange of women

- a woman from the groom’s family is traded for the bride

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Migration and Marriage

Brought about changes in the way women go about selecting their marriage partner in South Korea

Many North Korean immigrants opt to stay in South Korea

Women account for the majority of North Koreans leaving home; these new migrants are confronting loneliness in their new country

These women face many challenges in their new home

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Migration and Marriage

Strategies Some North Korean Women Use to for Adjusting to Life in South Korea

Many formerly North Korean women are selecting a South Korean man as a husband

Particularly handsome men hail from the South whereas especially attractive women hail from the North. When you combine this with similar cultural values and similar languages, South Korean men are open to North Korean women as marriage partners more than from other regions in Asia

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Smith (2006; 2010) Love, Marriage, and Cultural Change in Nigeria

In traditional times, arranged marriage was a cultural practice among the Igbo in Nigeria

Modernization has brought about changes in marriages practices

In traditional times, although love was present in romantic relationships, marriages forged economic and social bonds between families and arranged marriages were the norm

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Smith (2006; 2010) Love, Marriage, and Cultural Change in Nigeria

Among traditional families, chastity is a highly valued cultural expectation for women

Culture is ever-changing - m

odernization, urbanization, and educational opportunities for women has led to changes in cultural values, marriage practices, and cultural attitudes regarding love and sex

Many young Nigerians increasingly believe that love leads to marriage and hope to enter into love marriages enjoying the freedom to choose their marriage partners

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Marital Happiness

Has recent economic changes and modernization in India changed the way urban Hindu couples think about and experience marital happiness?

Sandhya

compared Hindu and American couples as these cultural groups differ in their self-conceptions

Hindu individuals have worldviews that support an interdependent self

Many American individuals have worldviews that support an independent self

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Sandhya’s comparison of Hindu and American Couples Marital Happiness

Happiness declines in many American marriages following the birth of children

Intimacy and the ideal of the sacred couple is important in American marriage unions

In a majority of American marriages, personal goals and needs are paramount

Intimacy in American marriages links to personal satisfaction

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Sandhya’s comparison of Hindu and American Couples Marital Happiness

American practices contrast with Indian cultural practices that emphasize patriarchal, hierarchical relationships and the importance of the family group

Indian cultural practices emphasize the goals and needs of the group over those of any individual

Cultural expectations of newlyweds living in extended households dictate that they remain obedient to their older family members.

Some researchers interpreted this lack of intimacy and romantic love as unimportant components for Indian marital success

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Marital Happiness

Sandhya (2009) suggests that with modernization comes change in the position of intimacy in Indian marriages

Both couples reported being happy in their marriages and that happiness is highly valued in other societies as well

Indian couples (both men and women) reported the importance of intimacy in their union and that intimacy linked to marital happiness and satisfaction

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Sandhya (2009) suggests that with modernization comes change in the position of intimacy

in Indian marriages

Shweder

(2003) argues that intimacy does in fact exist in Indian marriages but that it best understood in its local context

Similar to American couples, these Indian couples expressed their intimacy in everyday interactions, and these behaviors linked to marital happiness

Indian couples living in nuclear families reported greater happiness than those living in arrangements that are more traditional

Slide84

Child Marriages

The promise of a minor girl child to her future husband

Occurs worldwide primarily in South Asia, Africa, Latin America and parts of the Middle East

A form of arranged marriage

Negative consequences of this practice for young girl brides includes childbirth complications; younger child brides are also likely to experience spousal control and abuse and are deprived of educational opportunities

Slide85

Factors That Shape Child Marriages

Poverty is a major factor in child marriages

Gender based attitudes contribute to the view of daughters as burdens to impoverished families

The best strategy for impoverished parents is to marry their girls as soon as possible to put less stress on the family

Marrying a female child can result in a dowry, however small that benefits a struggling family

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Factors That Shape Child Marriages

Child marriages solidify ties between families

Cultural beliefs that marriage will protect the child from other hardships such as violence and HIV infection reinforce the practice of child marriage

Serves to reinforce male power and domination over women