Asian-involved intercultural couples are increasing as society becomes more open and accepting of intercultural relationships. Although issues and conflicts exist due to cultural differences, acculturation and personality characteristics may strengthen intercultural relationships. Ninety-two Asian and non-Asian individuals in Asian couples and Asian intercultural couples in the United States were compared based on the level of marital satisfaction, the level of acculturation, and personality characteristics. Findings indicated no differences in the level of marital satisfaction. However, significantly higher levels of acculturation in Asians in Asian intercultural couples and significantly higher levels of openness, conscientiousness, and extroversion in individuals in Asian intercultural couples were evident.
AtkinsonD. R.GimR. H. (1989). Asian-American cultural identity and attitudes toward mental health services. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36, 473–478.
2.
BieverJ. L.BobeleM.NorthM. W. (1998). Therapy with intercultural couples: A post-modern approach. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 11, 181–187.
3.
BratterJ. L.KingR. B. (2008). “But will it last?”: Marital instability among interracial and same-race couples. Family Relations, 57, 160–171.
4.
BusbyD. M.ChristensenC.CraneD. R.LarsonJ. H. (1995). A revision of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale for use with distressed and nondistressed couples: Construct hierarchy and multidimensional scales. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 21, 289–308.
5.
BustamanteR. M.NelsonJ. A.HenriksenR. C.JrMonakesS. (2011). Intercultural couples: Coping with culture-related stressors. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 19, 154–164.
6.
CoolsC. (2006). Relational communication in intercultural couples. Language and Intercultural Communications, 6, 262–274.
7.
DimitrovD. M. (2009). Quantitative research in education: Intermediate & advanced methods. Oceanside, NY: Whittier Publication.
8.
FrameM. W. (2004). The challenges of intercultural marriage: Strategies for pastoral care. Pastoral Psychology, 52, 219–232.
9.
FuV. K.WolfingerN. H. (2011). Broken boundaries or broken marriage? Racial intermarriage and divorce in the United States. Social Science Quarterly, 92, 1096–1117. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00809.x
10.
FuX.ToraJ.KendallH. (2001). Marital happiness and interracial marriage: A study in a multi-ethnic community in Hawaii. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 32, 47–60.
11.
GareisE. (2000). Intercultural friendship: Five case studies of German students in the USA. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 21, 67–91.
12.
HampsonS. E.GoldbergL. R. (2006). A first large cohort study of personality trait stability over the 40 years between elementary school and midlife. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 763–779.
13.
HellerP. E.WoodB. (2000). The influence of religious and ethnic differences on marital intimacy: Intermarriage versus intramarriage. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26, 241–252.
14.
JacobsonC. K.HeatonT. B. (2008). Comparative patterns of interracial marriage: Structural opportunities, third party-factors, and temporal change in immigrant societies. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 39, 129–149.
15.
JohnO. P.SrivastavaS. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In PervinL. A.JohnO. P. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102–138). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
16.
KimH.EdwardsA. B.SweeneyK. A.WetchlerJ. L. (2012). The effects of differentiation and attachment on satisfaction and acculturation in Asian-White American intercultural couple relationships: Assessment with Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese partners in relationships with white American partners in the United States. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 40, 320–335. doi:10.1080/01926187.2011.616409
17.
LimB. K.IveyD. (2000). The assessment of marital adjustment with Chinese populations: A study of the psychometric properties of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Contemporary Family Therapy, 22, 453–465.
18.
McGoldrickM.PretoN. (1984). Ethnic intermarriage: Implication for therapy. Family Process, 23, 347–364.
19.
OwnbeyS. F.HorridgeP. E. (1998). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: Test with a non-student, Asian-American sample. Social Behavior and Personality, 26, 57–68.
20.
RammstedtB.JohnO. P. (2007). Measuring personality in one minute or less: A 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 203–212.
21.
Rosen-GrandonJ.MyersJ.HattieJ. (2004). The relationship between marital characteristics, marital interaction processes, and marital satisfaction. Journal of Counseling & Development, 82, 58–68.
22.
SuinnR. M.AhunaC.KhooG. (1992). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: Concurrent and factorial validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 51, 1041–1046.
23.
SuinnR. M.Rickard-FigueroaK.LewS.VigilP. (1987). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: An initial report. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47, 401–407.
24.
TallmanI.HsiaoY.-L. (2004). Resources, cooperation, and problem solving in early marriage. Social Psychology Quarterly, 67, 172–188.
25.
TataS. P.LeongF. T. L. (1994). Individualism-collectivism, social-network orientation, and acculturation as predictors of attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Chinese Americans. Journal or Counseling Psychology, 41, 280–287.
26.
TaylorP.PasselJ. S.WangW.KileyJ.VelascoG.DocktermanD. (2010). Marring out: One-in-seven new U. S. marriage is interracial or interethnic. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: A Social & Demographic Trends Report website: http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/755-marrying-out.pdf
WongM. G. B. G. (2009). Strengthening connections in interracial marriages through pre-marital inventories: A critical literature review. Contemporary Family Therapy, 31, 251–261. doi:10.1007/s10591-009-9099-1
29.
ZhangY.HookJ. V. (2009). Marital dissolution among interracial couples. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71, 95–107.
