How Does Culture Influence Marriage

Different cultures can influence the views and the value or marriage. What is marriage? By dictionary definition, marriage is “(broadly) any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities” (Dictionary.com) However, this definition is only the top layer of the true meaning of marriage. In different cultures, there are different explanations of marriage.

In Eastern culture, because of the influence of collectivism, marriage is not only about love between spouses, but is more about the responsibility. That is, the responsibility of taking care of each

In this culture, marriage becomes the crystallization of love. In this kind of marriage, spouses usually feel happier and more satisfy compare to spouses in Eastern culture because they do not have the pressure of familism. They have more time to manage their relationships, to understand and know each other better. Even when they have children, they see the children as products of their marriage, but not as the whole. However, there is also a downside in this kind of marriage. According to Encyclopedia of Psychology, around forty to fifty percent of marriages couples are divorced. At most a divorce is happened on the seventh year (The Definition of Marriage). Sometimes when couples spend more time on their relationship, they think that the person he or she married is not the right one because they lose interest in their

Bella DePaulo, the satisfaction of married couples continually decreases overtime compare to when they just got marriage. This study brings up a concept that marriage is a process that needs hard work from both husband and wife to make it happens. In the book Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, written by Jon Krakauer, the love between Patrick Tillman and Marie Ugenti is passionate love. They knew each other when they were four. Tillman then fell in love with Marie when they were seniors in high school. They were married before Tillman served in the military. Although they could not meet as often as the normal married couples, this did not prevent from loving each other. In some of Tillman’s journals, he would write about how much he missed Marie. "Sometimes I 'm overwhelmed with an injection of intense sorrow that is difficult to control. An intense need to be close to Marie, surrounded by her touch, smell, sound, beauty and ease. It 's as though one week of pain is condensed into 5-7 minutes... What have I done?" This demonstrates he puts Marie on top of himself. Besides, Marie was very supportive to and understandable to Pat Tillman. Although Marie did not want Tillman to enlist in the military, she knew the reason of enlisting was not because impulsiveness, but rather a thoughtful decision that he wanted to do the thing he thought was right. Being supportive and