Cultural humility : pilot study testing the social bonds hypothesis in interethnic couples / Stacey E. McElroy-Heltzel, Don E. Davis, Josh N. Hook, Michael Massangale, Elise Choe, Kenneth G. Rice

The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with relationship quality in interethnic couples. Specifically, we tested the social bond hypotheses of humility in a sample of 155 individual participants currently in an interethnic relationship. Using a cross-sectional design, participants completed an online survey that included measures of demographics, conflict in their relationship, cultural humility, and relationship quality. We predicted that perceptions of one's partner's cultural humility would mediate the relationship between culturally based ineffective arguing and relationship satisfaction and commitment. Results indicated that cultural humility was positively related to both relationship satisfaction and commitment and negatively related to ineffective arguing. Mediation analyses revealed that approximately 26% of the variance in relationship satisfaction and about 8% of the variance in commitment was explained by the effect of ineffective arguing through cultural humility. Results of this study add to the growing body of evidence for the social bond hypothesis of humility and advance the field of research on interethnic couples by providing quantitative support for themes noted in previous qualitative studies on interethnic couples.

Psychology.