Similarities in correlates of relationship commitment across gender, sexual orientation, and cultures

Correlates of commitment in intimate relationships were analyzed using data from an on-going cross-cultural study of intimate relationships that is available online in multiple languages at web.whittier.edu/chill/ir. The survey includes questions about social background, attitudes and values, current relationship if any, and measures of well-being. Students and non-students were recruited in three countries in North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico), two countries in South America (Argentina and Colombia), and three countries in Europe (Spain, Italy, and Romania), plus others responded from elsewhere. Among the 2738 in these preliminary results, 70% were women, 72% were students, and 74% described a current relationship, of which 70% were opposite-sex and 30% were same-sex, including 11% opposite-sex marriages and 11% same-sex marriages. For both sexes, relationship commitment was positively correlated with measures of love, self-disclosure, expressions of affection, certainty of partner's affection, parents and others knowing andapproving of partner, relationship benefits, investment, communication frequency, closeness, and relationship satisfaction. This was true for students and non-students, heterosexuals and homosexuals, married and unmarried, and for samples in each of the eight countries with rare exceptions. Similarity on willingness to have children was generally correlated as well, except for gay men and married lesbians. More variable were correlations of commitment with whether or not there were sexual activities in relationship. Hence the dynamics of relationship commitment are surprisingly similar in spite of presumed differences relating to gender, sexual orientation, and cultures sampled. Future data collection will include countries in Asia and elsewhere.