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Passion and Obligation in Romantic Relationships: A Cultural Psychological Perspective
Ai, Ting
Ai, Ting
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Abstract
The standard approach to relationship science highlights the importance of passion in romantic relationships. In contrast, obligation has been either de-emphasized or depicted as detrimental to relationships. A cultural psychological perspective proposes that the standard approach may reflect particular affordances of the cultural ecologies in which individuals inhabit. In three studies, I found passion matters less while obligation matters more in romantic relationships in cultural ecologies of embedded interdependence as compared with abstracted independence. Specifically, using two samples, in Study 1, I found that Chinese participants reported that obligation and dutifulness were more important attributes and passion and attractiveness were less important for the ideal relationship/partner than White U.S. participants did. In Study 2, I asked participants to report their preference for one of two dating profiles representing passion vs. obligation. I found that Chinese participants were more likely to choose the obligation profile over the passion profile as compared with U.S. participants. In Study 3, I used both cross-sectional (Study 3a) and longitudinal (Study 3b) designs and found that the positive associations between the experience of obligation and relationship quality and outcome were stronger among Chinese than U.S. participants, whereas the positive associations between passion and relationship quality and outcome were stronger among U.S. than Chinese participants.
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Date
2022-12-31
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University of Kansas
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Keywords
Social psychology, culture, obligation, passion, romantic relationships