Emotional common ground bridges cultural divides in couples: The facilitating effects of emotional match between romantic partners in intercultural (vs. monocultural) communication and relationships

Intercultural romantic relationships have increased rapidly over the past few decades. In the US, 17% of newly married couples in 2015 were interracial, and 24% of all marriages from 2010 to 2014 were interfaith (Pew Research Center). Despite this continued growth, intercultural relationships—especially their challenges and means for overcoming them—remain understudied. This research examines the effects of partners’ different cultural backgrounds on couples’ interpersonal processes and relationship functioning, comparing monocultural and intercultural relationships. It particularly focuses on the role of emotional (mis)match between partners in bridging intercultural divides. Two correlational studies (Studies 1-2) with dating student couples (5% same-sex couples) and cohabitating adult couples (70% same-sex couples) found that: (a) compared with monocultural couples, individuals in intercultural couples are more apprehensive about self-disclosure but simultaneously need more sharing and understanding from each other; (b) emotional match (vs. mismatch)—rather than other types of matches—between partners predicts open communication across cultural divides as well as greater relationship satisfaction; and (c) the effect of emotional match on intercultural couples’ open communication (partially) mediates its effect on their relationship satisfaction. The final study (Study 3) with married and unmarried individuals of varying ages (16% same-sex couples) used an experimental design and replicated the findings that emotional (mis)match has a greater effect on relationship satisfaction for intercultural (vs. monocultural) partners, at least partially mediated through its greater effect on their willingness to openly communicate with their partners. This study’s experimental manipulation of match vs. mismatch makes it plausible that the causal arrow runs in this direction in Studies 1 and 2 as well.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Seo, Minjae

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rios, Kimberly M
• Ogolsky, Brian G
• Cohen, Dov
• Laurent, Sean M
• Kim, Young-Hoon

• Culture
• Romantic Relationships
• Emotion
• Emotional Similarity
• Partner Match
• Intercultural Communication
• Intercultural Couples
• Relationship Satisfaction
• Self-disclosure
• Perceived Partner Responsiveness

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Minjae Seo

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127429

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F127429