Gender and Culture in Marriage

The impact of gender and culture on marriage and interpersonal communications reminds us that different cultures have different expectations. For example, eye contact, physical touch, body gestures, and aspects of importance, when interacting with people from different cultures, requires a solid understanding of how values, attitudes, behaviors and communication styles differ.

Some theories are more pertinent to this understanding in marriage, while others to the ways in which we cope, and still others to the nature of human vulnerabilities. Remember that our culture is the framework that tells us what is important to attend to, how to organize what we see and how to interpret it.

When significant attention is applied to these considerations within the function of marriage, biological, psychological or social interaction, and structural or functional integrity, will require little else but the knowledge of how to love and communicate with each other. Culture gives us a sense of identity to define ourselves and others.

What we perceive in the world, depends on what we pay attention to, organize in perception and how we interpret what we perceive. We can sometimes have an illusion of insight. For example, getting close to someone appears to create the illusion of understanding more than actual understanding. Nara Schoenberg of the Houston Chronicle, confirms that affective affirmation—behavior that makes your partner feel loved, cared for or special—plays an important role in happy marriages.

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