Culture and Close Relationships: A Psychological View

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Culture and Close Relationships: A Psychological View
Professor Susan E. Cross
(Department of Psychology, Iowa State University)

" .... perceived similarity on personality dimensions was less strongly related to commitment and satisfaction in the relationship for Taiwanese respondents than for US respondents (Wu, Cross,& Tey, 2012). Our hunch is that this may be due, at least in part, to differences in beliefs about the malleability of the self. East Asians tend to believe the self is malleable and changeable, and in close relationships, the individual should adapt to fit into the relationship. Americans tend to believe the self is relatively fixed and stable, so that one needs to find romantic partners who "fit" – whose personality fits with ones own. Because similarity is self-enhancing and allows one to predict the behavior of the other, Americans are more satisfied with a similar partner."