An Examination of Third-Party Disapproval in Intercultural Couples

Intercultural couples tend to experience a unique set of challenges associated with them, such as disapproval from close social networks. This disapproval has been associated with decreased commitment and uncertainty within couples, leading to issues of trust between partners. The influence of third-party disapproval, however, affects a romantic couple differently depending on the source of the disapproval. Few studies have examined and compared the individual influences of family and friend disapproval on romantic relationships, and even less have researched these effects on intercultural dating couples. We used archival data from 63 heterosexual couples to examine the separate influences of family and friend disapproval on romantic investment while controlling for trust, which is a key factor in successful romantic relationships. As predicted, the results of the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) analyses demonstrated that family and friend disapproval negatively affected one’s investment. Mediation analyses revealed that trust only mediated the relationship between friend disapproval and relationship investment, and not family disapproval. Limitations and future implications are discussed.