by Jan Wright

Created on: September 28, 2009

While a person of a different culture might cause some people to be skeptical and recoil from contact, others are intrigued by the differences in language, tradition and attitudes. A difference in culture certainly does bring excitement and uniqueness to a marriage, it can, however, also bring many challenges. When examining your mate, it is important to determine whether his/her particular attitudes and behaviors are due to his/her culture, religion or individual personality.

There are also many cultural stereotypes that the couple must examine and evaluate themselves and their partner upon. Here are some common cultural stereotypes: Asian women are more submissive. Latin men are better lovers. Swedish women are carefree liberal and sexually uninhibited. Arab men are demanding tyrants. And, of course, American mates (both female and male) are self-centered and have a problem with commitment. When people come from different cultures, there are many areas of their marriage that they should examine before continuing. Here are a few things to think about before tying the knot.

*Attitude:
There are certain attitudes that are said to be ingrained in one's culture. Examine how your partner handles society, time, their other relationships, work, stress and money.

It is important to know that some of your partner's attitudes may have little to do with culture and more to do with there own personalities. Certainly one's culture might be more forgiving for such flaws: for example, An American woman's belief in sexual experimentation or a Korean man's decision to not talk about feelings might be more accepted by their particular culture. But one must not be too quick to blame it on culture.

If these stereotypes are discussed in advance, each individual can evaluate themselves and decide if they need to have a more open mind in specific areas. Culture should not be an excuse for a malicious or damaging character flaw. If you do believe that your partner does fall into the cultural stereotype with concern to a certain characteristic, decide whether you can live with that characteristic. Can you live with someone who might be late for everything or someone who is quite passive or someone who is a bit more free than you would like with their body, etc?

*Communication:
Different cultures have different communication styles. What might be rude in one culture might be quite polite in another. Someone who is never rude and quite polite might also be indirect with their feelings

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