Abstract
Humans have different values and behave, think, and believe based on them. The formation of romantic relationships implies that people with different values emerge. As various factors hinder the building of relationships, values are one aspect that encourages their creation. This work thus aims at studying the impacts of values in romantic relationships. Therefore, through efficient research relying on recent articles, values undoubtedly or negatively influence relationships, depending on their pessimism or positivity. Two people in relationships tend to impact each other’s values by correcting or strengthening them. The formation of new values falls under the compromise, leading to more respect and efficient conflict resolution abilities that strengthen these romantic bonds.
Introduction
Romantic relationships are a rather interesting subject for research in the modern world. At the same time, age, class, or ethnic limitations rarely hinder the development of this kind of relationship. Values are an essential factor in forming a good relationship. Equally important is that relationships can facilitate the unification or correction of partners’ existing values and form a new one. In the case of cultural differences, the formation of shared values is significant for modern society. Approaching the issue from the perspective of the sharing or emerging values will help systematize the psychological approach to problems that may arise for partners in the relationship.
People willingly drown themselves in new romantic relationships within the heavy currents of attractions and infatuations and thus forget to check for compatibility. Compatibility implies searching for the same interests, perhaps looking for people who love dogs or outdoor skiing (Kerviler & Rodriguez, 2019). The above examples form vital characteristics, but one might begin experiencing shifts from these traits when one gets older or experiences life changes, such as a change of occupations. That means interests, as well as hobbies, change with time, but what would remain the same are the core values. Like age, class, and change of hobbies, among other aspects, hinder the creation of romantic relationships, values are vital in establishing solid connections. Core values entail the main suppositions that establish one’s identity. These values guide conduct and direct people on what is acceptable and desirable (Afifi et al., 2019).
This work aims to study the role of values and relationships in shaping people in a romantic bond. Therefore, values impact relationships positively or negatively. Spouses tend to influence each other’s values, and creating common principles amid cultural differences aids in making relationships solid.
How Values Influence Relationships
People might come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, thus showing different spending values. Thus, these different financial values show the motivation behind how people spend their money. In other words, these values guide, motivate and shape people’s monetary behavior. For instance, individuals from high-class backgrounds might value expensive commodities compared to those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
When these people engage in a relationship, they might find it challenging to adapt to each other, as one person might view the other as spending more money on unnecessary commodities rather than basic needs, and therefore lead to strain. As confirmed by Kus Ambrož et al. (2021), relationships are made up of people who consistently engage in different things, which could strain the relationship. Besides, there might be negative money habits, such as gambling, spending without plans and going above the budget. These negative financial values harm relationships, as they lead to conflicts. On the other hand, having positive spending values, such as saving and spending based on the budget, would positively impact the relationships, as it shows the other partner a sense of accountability.
In addition, when it comes to personality, one attribute appreciated in relationships is trust. Trust is a value that is fundamental to any romantic bond, and it is defined as the supposition that the other person will always be faithful and truthful (Kus Ambrož et al., 2021). To trust the other person implies that one can efficiently rely on them and feel secure when confiding in them. Trust enables individuals to rely more on core partners, enabling them to invest in and develop the bond. This value takes superiority above the others, as it is the basis of the connection.
From the above notion, the value of trust affects the relationship as it brings people closer. Nevertheless, the opposite would occur when this value is absent in the relationship. When relationships lack complete trust, it enables the potential growth of harmful thoughts, actions, and emotions, such as negative ascriptions, doubt, and jealousy. Lack of trust also leads to reduced intimacy and feelings of insecurity in the other partner.
Furthermore, the other value of meaningful impacting relationships is political views. For instance, in the USA, people are either liberals or conservatives. Individuals who identify as liberals tend to value freedom and take charge in politics. These people believe that the government has the core mandate of safeguarding the rights of its citizens. On the other hand, a relationship can also be made of one person being a conservation. These are people who are seen to enhance as well as conserve social practices. The main value of these people is to uphold the traditional ways of doing things. In a relationship, these values either hinder or promote adequate bonding. Thus, past studies have found that having different political ideologies in relationships has increased the possibility of leading to break-ups (Dimant, 2022). From the above notion, having the same political ideologies is a common shared value that contributes to the strength of the bond.
How People in a Relationship Impact Each Other’s Values
People in a relationship can strengthen and unify with the values of their partners. It is common for humans to want to become the best versions of themselves. More like the need to eat, drink, and cease harm, people also endure the primary need to learn, improve, and expand, an idea identified as self-expansion. When an individual experiences self-expansion, they increase their competency and abilities to handle new challenges that might arise. Of course, humans can attain self-expansion by getting involved in new activities and learning new ideas. Captivatingly, romantic bonds can also be an individual’s primary source of growth (Kerviler & Rodriguez, 2019).
Humans happen to value mates who assist them in becoming better forms of themselves. One means to enhance self-growth is by sharing unique values and skills with one’s patner. The merging inspires partners to adapt traits of each other to a certain extent. For instance, if one partner has a substantial value of trust and being faithful, and she engages with another individual holding those traits dearly, then their worth for trust will augment. In other words, sharing the value of trust makes the partners focus more on the trait, even if other people externally fail to regard it. Since people in a relationship have different values, they need to attempt to maintain their sole identities while increasing the wanted aspects of their mates.
On the other hand, just as people in a romantic relationship see enhanced values, some of their traits are modified if not corrected. For instance, in some relationships, one partner might have a negative outlook on life. Research has depicted that being around negative people can make an individual depressed and sad, which means negativity is contagious. Talking negatively within social interactions, even via facial expressions, can make others feel negative (Kerviler & Rodriguez, 2019).
However, the good news is also that positivity value is also contagious. Spouses with people who are negative are not accountable for making them positive, but they can influence their pessimistic values into positive ones. These partners can thus encourage their partners to try new things, such as fun activities or meet more people. The other negative value that aid explains how romantic relationships shift people’s values is financial indiscipline. Through effective communication, partners can talk to their spouses about the dangers of gambling, thus aiding them to shift their outlooks on destructive habits. Hence, it is evidenced that individuals in romantic relationships strengthen or modify their values to keep the relationship solid.
How Value Modifications Improve Relationships
In the current world, one trending factor is the intermarriages of people from different cultures. Various factors have led to intermarriages, such as education, where people from different races or communities find a common meeting place in their learning institutions. The other aspect is occupation and the rise of technology through various dating sites. Different cultures threaten these romantic relationships (Yang & Prost, 2021). Each culture has its habits as well as preferences. In interracial bonds, individual habits might lead to concerns in the same manner that would when they are allowed in one nation but prohibited in the other. Most interracial partners mistake cultural values for spouse defects, thus making them blame their mates or, in extreme cases, leave the relationship (Yang & Prost, 2021).
Hence, when people from different cultures engage, they must compromise and establish their shared values that would aid them in improving their connection. A good example is that in most cultures, men and women have been labelled with different duties, such as women are required to clean the house are care for the family, and men are required to protect and provide. These values, therefore, create differences based on how partners view each other while engaged, as one spouse might see the need to divine house chores while the other neglect these duties. These differences are due to cultural dissimilarities; in a case like this, spouses must establish shared values to live. For example, they can divide chores and other duties equally or in a certain way. This step would ensure that every person feels valued, respected and helped, rather than feelings of abuse and work overload due to cultural labels.
Conclusion
Values are vital elements in everyday life, as they guide behaviours, words, and beliefs. Individuals live an authentic life if they are in a situation where they are allowed to express their values willingly. In other words, people tend to feel uncomfortable and bored when denied the chance to showcase their values. Humans have different experiences, from childhood to any particular age, making their values different. Examples of these experiences originate from family backgrounds, education levels, and socioeconomic class, among others. People fall in love at a certain point, and their values stay the same.
This work examined three sub-topics: how values impact relationships, how values affect each other, and the benefits of shifting values in forming healthy relationships. Thus, positive values influence relationships optimistically, while negative values impact them damagingly. People in relationships tend to modify their values and change to become the same as their partners. Changing values to create common ones is vital in relationships with people from different cultures, as this enhances bonds by enhancing individual values and respect. Values and relationships can therefore influence each other. Values can influence the formation and development of romantic relationships, but people in romantic relationships also influence each other’s values.
References
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Kerviler, G., & Rodriguez, C. M. (2019). Luxury brand experiences and relationship quality for Millennials: The role of self-expansion. Journal of Business Research, 102(1), 250–262. Web.
Kus Ambrož, M., Suklan, J., & Jelovac, D. (2021). Values and Virtues as Correlates of Quality and Stability of Romantic Relationships and Marriage in a Post-Socialist Transitional Society. Social Sciences, 10(8), 289. Web.
Yang, P. Q., & Prost, J. (2021). Trends in Attitudes of Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics toward Intermarriage in the Twenty-First Century. Societies, 11(1), 21. Web.