Chequeo y Ajuste de las Funciones del Teodolito

Having reviewed the interethnic couples’ divorce rate, issues that interethnic couples may face, positive and negative opinions on interethnic relationships, and insiders’ and outsiders’ views, interethnic couples seem to have more challenges and risks as the higher divorce rate shows. Do the differences on relationship quality

between interethnic couples and intraethnic couples cause their relationship instability? Some research showed no significant difference between interethnic and

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(2006) study on comparison between interethnic and intraethnic dating relationships of university students found that there were no significant difference on satisfaction, love, commitment, intimacy, passion, trust, and attachment style between 86 intraethnic couples and 32 interethnic couples. However dating couples in this study might still be in their honeymoon-like period, they were not facing the challenge that interethnic married couples would face, and they were in an ethnic diverse environment where they might have much social support (Troy et al., 2006). Gaines, Granrose, Rios, Garcia, Youn, Farris and Bledsoe’s (1999) study on 103 interethnic couples with 75% married and 88% White/non-White couples revealed that significantly more individuals with secure attachment style than with insecure attachment styles. Gurung and Duong’s (1999) study on 73 individuals involved in interethnic dating relationships and 58 individuals involved in intraethnic dating relationships found that there were no

differences on satisfaction (measured by a shorter Dyadic Adjustment Scale by Spanier), commitment (measured by Lund’s (1985) Scale), relationship expectation, self-esteem, self-clarity, and ethnic identity between interethnic and intraethnic dating relationships.

Lind et al.’s (2008) study on comparison between 146 interethnic and 278 intraethnic couples reported that their relationship satisfaction did not have much difference. Negy and Snyder’s (2000) research found non-significant difference on satisfaction among 72 Mexican American/White American married couples, 75

Mexican American married couples, and 66 White American married couples, and that for the interethnic couples, the gender of the Mexican American spouse did not affect satisfaction either. However these results might be affected by the participants of this study who were living in a region that dominated by Mexican Americans (Negy & Snyder, 2000). Shibazaki and Brennan’s (1998) study on comparison between 44 individuals in interethnic dating relationships and 56 individuals in intraethnic dating relationships showed that their satisfaction levels, measured by Spanier’s (1976) satisfaction subscale in Dyadic Adjustment Scale, did not have significant difference. Gaines et al.’s (2006) review of the research on interethnic relationship processes through attachment theory, interdependence theory, and resource exchange theory showed that interethnic relationships did not show any difference from intraethnic relationships, so they ascribed interethnic couples’ higher divorce rate to the difficulties of handling negative attitude from outsiders, such as family and friends, and the

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Some other research showed difference between interethnic and intraethnic relationships on relationships quality. Fu, Tora, and Kendall (2001) did a research in culturally diverse Hawaii on 147 individuals in interethnic marriages and 135 individuals in intraethnic marriages with the same religious affiliation, and results showed that individuals in interethnic marriages who were different from their partner on both race (physical characteristics) and national origin/language were less happy than individuals in intraethnic marriages and individuals in interethnic marriages who were different from their partner only on national origin/language or only on race, although individuals in interethnic marriages who were different from their partner on both race and national origin/language showed a higher score, similar as those in intraethnic marriages, than average on the willingness to maintain the marriage. They also found that women in interethnic marriages who were racially different from their husband were significantly less happy than women in intraethnic marriages. Since people in this study who were in interethnic marriages had strong commitment because of their religious belief, their less happiness did not affect their relationship stability (ibid).

Shibazaki and Brennan’s (1998) study on comparison between 44 individuals in interethnic dating relationships and 56 individuals in intraethnic dating relationships showed that individuals in interethnic relationships had significantly lower self-esteem and had significantly less approval from the public than did individuals in intraethnic relationships. In their study, it was also found that the approval from the public significantly correlated with satisfaction of interethnic relationships but not with

satisfaction of intraethnic relationships, although approval from family and friends were both significantly correlated with satisfaction of interethnic and intraethnic relationships. It seems that society’s attitude towards interethnic relationships may have a strong effect on relationship quality of interethnic relationships and may be a great obstacle for interethnic couples to overcome.

Gaines and Agnew (2003) compared interethnic and intraethnic relationships through an interdependence view and Rusbult’s investment model (Cox, Wexler, Rusbult, & Gaines, 1997), and they suggested that interethnic couples might have lower satisfaction level, higher quality of alternatives, less investment size, and less social prescriptive support than intraethnic couples, which would result in interethnic couples’ lower commitment levels compared to intraethnic couples. Specifically, interethnic couples’ higher divorce rate may due to lower satisfaction levels, individuals in

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interethnic relationships may have the opportunity of choosing romantic partner from a bigger pool (not only from their own ethnic group but also from other ethnic groups) which would result in an increasing number of alternatives, interethnic couples tended to have less investment (such as having fewer children), and interethnic couples may have less support from the family (ibid). However their suggestions did not have empirical evidence (Gaines & Agnew, 2003; Gaines & Leaver, 2002), and some of the predictions were not persuasive. For example, greater number of alternatives does not imply higher quality of alternatives.

In summary, there is lack of evidence of whether married interethnic couples with different combinations of ethnicities have lower relationship quality than did married intraethnic couples. However, having society’s support and overcoming the negative attitude from the society may be important for interethnic dating couples’ satisfaction.

2.2.10 Summary

Interethnic couples are distinct in the society, and they “represent a new, more complex form of marriage than the traditional endogamous relationships” (Falicov, 1995, p. 232). In our world with remarkable boundaries, cultural and physical differences between ethnic groups, low social mobility, and lacking of knowledge in how to deal with other ethnic groups, interethnic relationships become obvious instead of being treated as common as intraethnic relationships (Merton, 1941). The small number of interethnic relationships also makes such relationships different from other relationships (Gaines & Ickes, 1997).

In summary, there are growing numbers of interethnic marriages, especially Asian interethnic marriages. People who enter interethnic relationships tend to be later

generations of immigration, older, highly educated, and have fewer children. Minority women and highly acculturated individuals tend to marry/date someone from a different ethnic group. Interethnic relationships are generally more prone to end in divorce than were intraethnic relationships. People tend to choose entering an interethnic relationship because of love and attraction. However, social disapproval may act as an important reason for not choosing to enter an interethnic relationship. Interethnic couples may face difficulties that intraethnic couples may not face in adjusting their relationships and rearing their interethnic children. Interethnic couples may also lack of support from

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family and society. Societies generally view interethnic relationships as problematic and not preferable, but interethnic couples view themselves as exciting and enriching being in different cultures. There are positive as well as negative opinions about interethnic marriages. However, there is lack of evidence of whether generally interethnic couples have lower relationship quality than are intraethnic couples.

Although researches have answered the question of why people enter interethnic relationships and what the differences between interethnic and intraethnic couples are, none of the research has explored the reasons that might cause interethnic relationships’ higher instability, and the factors for committed and successful interethnic marriages. There is more percentage of but less research on Asian interethnic relationships than Black/White relationships, and there were no psychological research on interethnic relationships in the United Kingdom. Thus it is worthy to study Asian interethnic relationships in the United Kingdom. Besides, Chinese ethnic group has a high

percentage of interethnic marriages and is growing rapidly in the United Kingdom, but little is known of this ethnic group. Therefore it is important to study Chinese

interethnic marriages in the United Kingdom, and determine what factors contribute to commitment.

According to the researches that have been reviewed, the reason that greater background difference takes longer time and produces more complication for

interethnic couples to adapt to each other (Falicov, 1995) might because certain cultural differences are hard to overcome. Chen (2002) also pointed out that cultural difference marks the distinct difference between interethnic and intraethnic relationships. What aspects of culture may be difficult for interethnic couples? The next section will look at the role of culture in interethnic relationships.