Nature Of Relationships In Different Cultures

483 Words2 Pages
There are various different cultures around the world and all of these have different attitudes and beliefs about relationships. The world can often be separated into eastern and western cultures although this isn’t necessarily based on where the country is on the map. Western cultures are countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA. In western cultures romantic love is seen as the basis for marriage which each person making their own choice of partner. In these cultures there is a lot of emphasis on the individual and their goals and ambitions. There is greater importance on me rather than we in relationships here. Western relationships can be characterised as voluntary as the individual choose their own partner, Individualistic as the relationship is the concern of the two people involved and temporary meaning that it can be terminated at any time. In individualistic cultures people have more freedom in relationships but are more likely to get lonely and are at greater risk of getting a divorce. Dion and Dion found that people from indivualistic cultures tend to stress the importance of personality compatibility in choosing a partner. In western cultures romantic love is seen as the basis for marriage which each person making their own choice of partner. Eastern cultures are countries such as Africa, Japan, China and India. Relationships here can be characterised as involuntary because the individual doesn’t select their own partner, Communal because the relationship is the concern of the wider social group and permanent meaning that the relationship is to last forever. These countries can also be called collectivist because it isn’t just about the individual, its about a community i.e. family. While people in western cultures tend to look for personality compatibility, people from collectivist cultures were more likely to emphasis importance on
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