Intercultural romantic relationships are increasingly common and although the obstacles such couples face are well documented, the factors that facilitate their success are less studied. Although cultural differences may present challenges, they also offer opportunities for self-expansion—personal growth via new perspectives, knowledge, and identities. In three studies using cross-sectional, dyadic, longitudinal, and experimental methods (NTotal = 896), self-expansion was associated with relationship quality and identity outcomes (i.e., identity integration, cultural self-awareness). Self-expanding through a partner’s culture (i.e., cultural self-expansion) was uniquely related to identity outcomes, beyond self-expanding more generally (relational self-expansion). Furthermore, actively sharing cultures and discussing their differences were linked to greater cultural and relational self-expansion, which in turn differentially predicted partners’ relationship quality and cultural identities. These studies provide a first look at the role of self-expansion in intercultural relationships, demonstrating that the way couples negotiate their cultures is linked to both relational and personal outcomes.
AmiotC.de la SablonniereR.TerryD.SmithJ. (2007). Integration of social identities in the self: Toward a cognitive-developmental model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(4), 364–388.
2.
AronA.AronE. (1986). Love and the expansion of self: Understanding attraction and satisfaction. Hemisphere.
3.
AronA.LewandowskiG.MashekD.AronE. N. (2013). The self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in close relationships. In SimpsonJ.CampbellL. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of close relationships (pp. 90–115). Oxford University Press.
4.
AronA.NormanC.AronE.McKennaC.HeymanR. (2000). Couples’ shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 8273–8284.
5.
AronA.SteeleJ.KashdanT.PerezM. (2006). When similars do not attract: Tests of a prediction from the self-expansion model. Personal Relationships, 13(4), 387–396.
6.
AronE.AronA. (1996). Love and the expansion of the self: The state of the model. Personal Relationships, 3, 45–58.
7.
AytugZ.RuaT.BrazealD.AlmarazJ.GonzálezC. (2018). A socio-cultural approach to multicultural experience: Why interactions matter for creative thinking but exposures don’t. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 64, 29–42.
BraikerH.KelleyH. (1979). Conflict in the development of close relationships. In BurgessR.HustonT. (Eds.), Social exchange in developing relationships (pp. 135–168). Academic Press.
11.
BratterJ.KingR. (2008). “But will it last?”: Marital instability among interracial and same-race couples. Family Relations, 57(2), 160–171.
12.
BrooksJ.LyL.BradyS. (2021). Race talk: How racial worldview impacts discussions in interracial relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38, 2249–2267.
13.
ClarkE.HarrisA.HasanM.VotawK.FernandezP. (2015). Concluding thoughts: Interethnic marriage through the lens of interdependence theory. Journal of Social Issues, 71(4), 821–833.
14.
de GuzmanN.NishinaA. (2017). 50 years of loving: Interracial romantic relationships and recommendations for future research. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 9(4), 557–571.
15.
DemesK.GeeraertN. (2014). Measures matter: Scales for adaptation, cultural distance, and acculturation orientation revisited. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 45(1), 91–109.
16.
DovidioJ.GaertnerS.KawakamiK. (2003). Intergroup contact: The past, present, and the future. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 6(1), 5–21.
17.
Dys-SteenbergenO.WrightS.AronA. (2016). Self-expansion motivation improves cross-group interactions and enhances self-growth. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 19(1), 60–71.
18.
EmeryL. F.GardnerW. L.CarswellK. L.FinkelE. J. (2021). Who are “we”? Couple identity clarity and romantic relationship commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(1), 146–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220921717
19.
EmeryL. F.HughesE. K.GardnerW. L. (2022). Confusion or clarity? Examining a possible tradeoff between self-expansion and self-concept clarity. Social Psychological and Personality Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211067040
20.
EmeryL. F.WalshC.SlotterE. (2015). Knowing who you are and adding to it: Reduced self-concept clarity predicts reduced self-expansion. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(3), 259–266.
21.
FeeneyB.LemayE. (2012). Surviving relationship threats: The role of emotional capital. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1004–1017.
22.
FergusK.ReidD. (2001). The couple’s mutual identity and reflexivity: A systemic constructivist approach to the integration of persons and systems. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 11(3), 385–410.
23.
FletcherG.SimpsonJ.ThomasG. (2000). The measurement of perceived relationship quality components: A confirmatory factor analytic approach. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(3), 340–354.
24.
GainesS.ClarkE.AffulS. (2015). Interethnic marriage in the united states: An introduction. Journal of Social Issues, 71(4), 647–658.
HarasymchukC.MuiseA.Bacev-GilesC.GereJ.ImpettE. (2020). Broadening your horizon one day at a time: Relationship goals and exciting activities as daily antecedents of relational self-expansion. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(6), 1910–1926.
27.
HarasymchukC.WalkerD.MuiseA.ImpettE. (2021). Planning date nights that promote closeness: The roles of relationship goals and self-expansion. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38, 1692–1709.
28.
HayesA. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
29.
HermanM.CampbellM. (2012). I wouldn’t, but you can: Attitudes toward interracial relationships. Social Science Research, 41(2), 343–358.
30.
HoloienD.BergsiekerH.SheltonJ.AlegreJ. (2015). Do you really understand? Achieving accuracy in interracial relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(1), 76–92.
31.
HuffS.LeeF.HongY. (2017). Bicultural and generalized identity integration predicts interpersonal tolerance. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48(5), 644–666.
KennyD.KashyD.CookW. (2006). The analysis of dyadic data. Guilford Press.
34.
KillianK. (2013). Interracial couples, intimacy, and therapy: Crossing racial borders. Columbia University Press.
35.
KunstJ. R.LefringhausenK.SamD. L.BerryJ. W.DovidioJ. F. (2021). The missing side of acculturation: How majority-group members relate to immigrant and minority-group cultures. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(6), 485–494. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214211040771
36.
LalondeR.UskulA. (2013). Openness to inter-ethnic relationships for second generation Chinese and South Asian Canadians: The role of Canadian identity. In FongE.CiangL.-H.DentonN. (Eds.), Immigrant adaptation in multiethnic cities: Canada, Taiwan, and the United States (pp. 138–158). Routledge.
37.
LaurenceauJ.-P.BarrettL.PietromonacoP. (1998). Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1238–1251.
38.
LeslieL.LetiecqB. (2004). Marital quality of African American and white partners in interracial couples. Personal Relationships, 11(4), 559–574.
39.
Leth-SteensenC.GallittoE. (2016). Testing mediation in structural equation modeling: The effectiveness of the test of joint significance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 76(2), 339–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164415593777
40.
LeungA.ChiuC. (2010). Multicultural experience, idea receptiveness, and creativity. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 41(5–6), 723–741.
41.
LewandowskiG.AronA. (2002, February). The Self-Expansion Scale: Construction and validation [Conference session]. Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Savannah, GA, United States.
42.
LibermanV.MinsonJ.BryanC.RossL. (2012). Naïve realism and capturing the “wisdom of dyads.”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(2), 507–512.
43.
LuC.WanC. (2018). Cultural self-awareness as awareness of culture’s influence on the self: Implications for cultural identification and well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(6), 823–837.
44.
LuJ.HafenbrackA.MadduxW.EastwickP.GalinskyA. (2016). “Going out” of the box: Depth of intercultural relationships predicts creativity, workplace innovation, and entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2016(1), Article 12325.
45.
MadduxW.AdamH.GalinskyA. (2010). When in Rome . . . Learn why the Romans do what they do: How multicultural learning experiences facilitate creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(6), 731–741.
46.
MadduxW.LuJ.AffinitoS.GalinskyA. (2020). Multicultural experiences: A systematic review and new theoretical framework. Academy of Management Annals, 15, Article 138.
47.
MattinglyB.LewandowskiG. (2013a). The power of one: Benefits of individual self-expansion. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 12–22.
48.
MattinglyB.LewandowskiG. (2013b). An expanded self is a more capable self: The association between self-concept size and self-efficacy. Self and Identity, 12(6), 621–634.
49.
MattinglyB.LewandowskiG. (2014). Broadening horizons: Self-expansion in relational and non-relational contexts: Relational and non-relational self-expansion. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(1), 30–40.
50.
MosleyA. J.BiernatM. (2021). The new identity theft: Perceptions of cultural appropriation in intergroup contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(2), 308–331. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000327
51.
MuiseA.HarasymchukC.DayL.Bacev-GilesC.GereJ.ImpettE. (2019). Broadening your horizons: Self-expanding activities promote desire and satisfaction in established romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116, 237.
52.
PaoliniS.WhiteF.TroppL.TurnerR.Page-GouldE.BarlowF.GómezÁ. (2021). Intergroup contact research in the 21st century: Lessons learned and forward progress if we remain open. Journal of Social Issues, 77(1), 11–37.
53.
PaoliniS.WrightS.Dys-SteenbergenO.FavaraI. (2016). Self-expansion and intergroup contact: Expectancies and motives to self-expand lead to greater interest in outgroup contact and more positive intergroup relations. Journal of Social Issues, 72(3), 450–471.
RaposoS.RosenN.MuiseA. (2020). Self-expansion is associated with greater relationship and sexual well-being for couples coping with low sexual desire. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(2), 602–623.
56.
RicoB.KreiderR.AndersonL. (2018, July). Growth in interracial and interethnic married-couple households. U.S. Census Bureau.
57.
RogersR. A. (2006). From cultural exchange to transculturation: A review and reconceptualization of cultural appropriation. Communication Theory, 16(4), 474–503. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00277.x
58.
RosenthalL.LevyS. R. (2010). The colorblind, multicultural, and polycultural ideological approaches to improving intergroup attitudes and relations: Ideological approaches. Social Issues and Policy Review, 4(1), 215–246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2010.01022.x
59.
SchönbrodtF.PeruginiM. (2013). At what sample size do correlations stabilize?Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 609–612.
60.
SeligJ.PreacherJ. (2008). Monte Carlo method for assessing mediation: An interactive tool for creating confidence intervals for indirect effects.
61.
SeshadriG.Knudson-MartinC. (2013). How couples manage interracial and intercultural differences: Implications for clinical practice. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39(1), 43–58.
62.
ShenhavS.CamposB.GoldbergW. (2017). Dating out is intercultural: Experience and perceived parent disapproval by ethnicity and immigrant generation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 34(3), 397–422.
63.
SlotterE. B.HughesE. K. (2020). You complete me: Antecedents and moderators of relationship-induced self-concept change. In MattinglyB. A.McIntyreK. P.Lewandowski GaryW. (Eds.), Interpersonal relationships and the self-concept (pp. 21–36). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43747-3_2
64.
SprecherS.TregerS.FisherA.HilaireN.GrzybowskiM. (2015). Associations between self-expansion and actual and perceived (dis)similarity and their joint effects on attraction in initial interactions. Self and Identity, 14(4), 369–389.
TadmorC.TetlockP.PengK. (2009). Acculturation strategies and integrative complexity: The cognitive implications of biculturalism. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 40(1), 105–139.
67.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. (1979). An integrative theory of inter-group conflict. In AustinW.WorchelS. (Eds.), The social psychology of inter-group relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.
68.
Ting-ToomeyS. (2011). A mindful approach to managing conflict in intercultural intimate couples. In KarisT. A.KillianK. (Eds.), Intercultural couples: Exploring diversity in intimate relationships (pp. 31–49). Routledge.
69.
TomlinsonJ. M.HughesE. K.LewandowskiG. W.AronA.GeyerR. (2019). Do shared self-expanding activities have to be physically arousing?Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(9), 2781–2801. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518801095
70.
UsborneE.TaylorD. M. (2010). The role of cultural identity clarity for self-concept clarity, self-esteem, and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(7), 883–897. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210372215
71.
WestA.ZhangR.YampolskyM.SasakiJ. (2017). More than the sum of its parts: A transformative theory of biculturalism. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 48(7), 963–990.
72.
YampolskyM.AmiotC.de la SablonnièreR. (2016). The Multicultural Identity Integration Scale (MULTIIS): Developing a comprehensive measure for configuring one’s multiple cultural identities within the self. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(2), 166–184.
73.
YampolskyM.WestA.ZhouB.MuiseA.LalondeR. (2020). Divided together: How marginalization of intercultural relationships is associated with identity integration and relationship quality. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12, 887–897.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
