There are six dialectics of intercultural relationships: personal-contextual, differences-similarities, cultural-individual, privilege-disadvantage, staticdynamic, and history/past–present /future.
Through relationships, we acquire specific and general knowledge, break stereotypes, and acquire new skills.
Special challenges of intercultural relationships include coping with differences, tending to stereotype, dealing with anxiety, and having to explain ourselves to others.
There are three communication approaches to understanding intercultural relationships: social science, interpretive, and critical.
The social science approach emphasizes the individual role in relationships and identifies various cross-cultural differences in notions of friendship and how relationships are developed and maintained.
The interpretive perspective provides in-depth descriptions of various types of intercultural relationships.
Intercultural relationships often include competence, similarity, involvement, and turning points.
Online relationships are both similar to and different from RL (real-life) relationships. Language and communication-style differences can be exacerbated in online communication.
Relationships at work are characterized by hierarchy and sometimes varying attitudes toward power.
In gay and lesbian relationships, friendship and sexual involvement are not mutually exclusive.
Intercultural dating and marriage are increasingly common; however, interracial relationships are still often disapproved of by families and by society.
Intercultural marriages face challenges of family and societal disapproval and issues of child rearing.
The critical perspective emphasizes the role of institutions, politics, and history in intercultural relationships.
Family, schools, and religious institutions can either hinder or discourage intercultural relationships.
