An Analysis of Interactions in Intercultural Marriages: A Field Study of Alanya

This study aims to examine the dimensions of the conflicts arising from the interactions of two different cultures in intercultural marriages and to examine under which conditions and the level to which cultural adaptation is provided. This study was conducted with 35 participants who have an intercultural marriage and live in Antalya Province’s Alanya District, where people from many cultures and nationalities can be encountered due to Alanya being a tourist region. This study obtained the data using the semi-structured interview method to investigate the conflict and adaptation that may occur as a result of intercultural marriages. The snowball technique has been used to access the participants. At the end of the interviews conducted with these individuals, foreign spouses’ process of adapting to the Turkish family structure and culture, what they’ve acquired from experiencing cultural conflict, and what conflict and adaptation processes they experienced were examined within the scope of family and social environments. The findings from the study have been compiled within the framework of conflict and adaptation as a result of cultural interaction.

The role of bicultural people in the missio Dei: Creating a model from bicultural Bible characters

Most models of missions assume a monocultural person encounters another monocultural environment when they begin mission work, but in a globalizing world, more people grow up with sustained engagement in multiple cultural settings before their formal ministry begins. People with mixed and multiple identities include adoptees, immigrants, refugees, children of intercultural marriages, people who schooled in a different setting, and children of diplomats, missionaries, military parents, or international businesspeople. In order to form a model for what characterizes the role of bicultural people in the missio Dei, this article surveys the biblical examples of Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Esther, and Paul. These people encountered multiple cultures before the age of 18, and later ministered in cross-cultural or hybrid settings. Drawing from Scripture, commentaries, and missiological literature, this article finds that bicultural people in the Bible share four characteristics: (1) They identify with more than one culture as a result of circumstances outside their control, lacking full awareness of the missional purposes of cultural adaptation. (2) They experience rejection from at least one culture because they are seen as different. (3) Despite this, they continue to identify with these cultures. (4) Their missional purpose is fully realized when they assume a mediator role that involves communicating between parties and sometimes securing benefits for each side.

Entry into intercultural marriage: factors of spouse choice

Background. Intercultural marriages are micro-level models of intercultural relations and can help to understand the changing society of the globalization era. The objective. Revealing attitudes towards entry into intercultural marriage and factors influencing the choice of a foreign cultural marriage partner among Russians and Buryats in the Republic of Buryatia. Design. The study was conducted in 2020 in the Republic of Buryatia using a socio-psychological survey on online platform. The convenience sample was used (the “snowball” method). The sample included representatives of 2 groups: Russians (N = 111) and Buryats (N = 102). Results. The analysis showed that the attitude towards entry into intercultural marriage in these groups is above average, while no significant differences were found between the groups. The negative attitude towards intercultural marriages among Buryats to a greater extent than among Russians was determined by factors reflecting the acceptance of intercultural marriages by relatives, loved ones and society in general, which was more significant for the Buryats. Among the Russians, more than among the Buryats, negative attitudes were interconnected with factors reflecting personal characteristics of the future spouse (values, norms of behavior) and interpersonal communication. For both the Russians and the Buryats, negative attitude towards entering into intercultural marriages is associated with the importance of proximity of cooking traditions, naming, raising children and their identity, as well as religious beliefs. Conclusion. The general favorable “Zeitgeist” in Buryatia towards intercultural marriages contributes to the tolerant attitude towards the creation of such married couples among both the Russians and the Buryats.

Home-Based Acculturation and Chinese Attitude Toward Intercultural Marriage: A Cross-Generational Comparison

This paper explores factors associated with intergenerational differences in home-based acculturation (HBA) and the attitude of Chinese college students and their parents toward intercultural marriage with a focus on China’s cultural context where parents have a strong influence on child’s decisions. In two related studies, we recruited a total of 749 Chinese college students and parents (387 in Study 1 and 362 in Study 2; all are living in China) to participate in the survey. The results indicate that (a) online intercultural contact is positively associated with HBA; (b) HBA is a strong predictor of attitude of intercultural marriages by Chinese parents and college students and the socioeconomic status has a divergent effect on the two groups; and (c) Chinese college students and parents differ in terms of their HBA and online intercultural contact. Findings from the research add knowledge to our understanding of the impact of globalization and digitalization on acculturation and Chinese residents’ perspectives on intercultural marriage.

Ethnic Identity of Russian Women in Interethnic Marriages and its Relationship with Their Attachment to Spouses and Separation from Parents

The article presents a comparative study of the types of ethnic identity in conjunction with the styles of attachment in a couple and separation from the parental family of women who are in intercultural and monocultural marriages. The main sample consisted of 198 Russian women aged 21 to 55 years ( M = 36.1), including 84 women married to representatives of their own culture and living in Russia and 114 women married to representatives of the titular nationality of one of six European countries and living in the countries of their husbands. The study involved the following methods: “Multi-Item Measure of Adult Romantic Attachment - MIMARA”, adapted by T.L. Kryukova, O.A. Ekimchik; “Attachment to Close People Inventory” (N.V. Sabelnikova, D.V. Kashirsky); “Questionnaire of psychological separation” by J. Hoffman, adapted by T.Yu. Sadovnikova, V.P. Dzukaeva; and “Method for diagnosing types of ethnic identity” (G.U. Soldatova, S.V. Ryzhova). In general, the results of the study show that for women in interethnic marriages living in a foreign cultural environment, attachment to both their parents and husbands is more secure and positive, whereas the style of ethnic identity is more extreme and is associated with internal conflict. Women from intercultural marriages revealed different features of ethnic identity depending on the length of their marriage. It is shown that the style of ethnic identity is closely connected with attachment relationships. For women in monoethnic marriages living in their native country, it is more associated with separation from their parents but, for women in interethnic marriages living in a foreign country, it is to a greater extent associated with attachment to their husbands. In both cases, positive ethnic identity is associated with insecure attachment and dependence on their parents and husbands, while extreme forms of ethnic identity are associated with secure attachment and personal autonomy in relationships. The results of this study allow the specialists to take into account the specific social situation of interethnic couples more accurately in the course of psychological, social and other assistance to such couples, to develop constructive ways of discussing and maintaining cultural differences in the couple.

Normative Konfliktlagen: Eheschließungen mit AusländerInnen in Deutschland als administrative und interkulturelle Herausforderung (ca. 1900–1930)

The article deals with the role of the registry office and registrars in the legal implementation of binational or intercultural marriages in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, from the turn of the 20th century until the 1930s. As the article shows, these marriage applications posed a manifold challenge for the actors involved; on the one hand, in dealing with “strangeness” and, on the other, in the administrative-bureaucratic synchronization of legal and social norms. Above all, the question of gender relations, demographic fears, and eurocentrist as well as racist ideas were ultimately decisive for the perception and handling of such couple constellations and had a massive influence on the scope of action for both the fiancées and the registrars.

Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency and the Benefits of Early Screening

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, the most common enzymopathy worldwide, is an insufficient amount of the G6PD enzyme, which is vital to the protection of the erythrocyte. Deficient enzyme levels lead to oxidative damage, hemolysis, and resultant severe hyperbilirubinemia. If not promptly recognized and treated, G6PD deficiency can potentially lead to bilirubin-induced neurologic dysfunction, acute bilirubin encephalopathy, and kernicterus. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency is one of the three most common causes for pathologic hyperbilirubinemia. A change in migration patterns and intercultural marriages have created an increased incidence of G6PD deficiency in the United States. Currently, there is no universally mandated metabolic screening or clinical risk assessment tool for G6PD deficiency in the United States. Mandatory universal screening for G6PD deficiency, which includes surveillance and hospital-based risk assessment tools, can identify the at-risk infant and foster early identification, diagnosis, and treatment to eliminate neurotoxicity.