Intercultural Relationships in Poland: The Role of Trust and Support

Abstract

The rise of binational marriages is of interest to researchers. Attention is drawn to their great potential, but also to a number of challenges. The problem of their durability is particularly discussed. The aim of the research was to assess - significant for the integration of close relationships - trust and support received in people in intercultural and monocultural relationships. 226 people of Polish nationality, aged 19 to 69, in intercultural (n=69) and monocultural (n=157) relationships were examined. The length of their relationship ranged from 6 to 360 months. The research used a socio-demographic survey, the Diadic Trust Scale in the adaptation of Woźniak et al., (2023) and the Support in Marriage and Close Relationships Questionnaire (SIRRS) in the adaptation of Mandal and Moroń (2017). The results of the study showed that trust and support are equally important for people in intercultural and monocultural relationships. No significant differences were found. Trust has proven to be essential for the support received. The study did not show the importance of relationship length for the development of trust and support in close relationships.  Potential processes related to these findings were discussed.