The Relationship between Identity Configurations, Well-being and Relationship Quality in Intercultural Couples

The way intercultural couples negotiate their couple identities with their cultural identities remains unknown. The present research examines cultural identities and couple identity configuration within the self as a predictor of relationship quality and psychological well-being. Three identity configurations from the Cognitive-Developmental Model of Social Identity Integration (CDMSII; Amiot et al., 2007) have been adapted for this study: identifying with one identity over the other (categorization), compartimentalization and integration. Individuals from cultural minorities involved in a romantic relationship completed a questionnaire that measured their cultural and couple identity configurations, relationship quality, depression and well-being. Analyses with the first 97 participants suggested that (a) categorisation towards culture was negatively correlated with relationship quality (r = -0,43, p < .001), (b) compartimentalization was negatively correlated with relationship quality (r = -0,30, p < .001), (c) integration was positively correlated with relationship quality (r = 0,33, p < .001), (d) compartimentalization was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = 0,26, p < .05) and (e) integration was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = - 0,23, p < .05). This study will contribute to our understanding of this underrepresented population in the scientific literature.