Cultural Intersections: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Experience of Asian Indian-White Interracial Couples

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the "lived experience" of Asian Indian (AI)-White couples in interracial marriages. Ten highly educated AI-White professional couples were individually interviewed about their subjective experience of being in an interracial marriage, the challenges and strengths of this marriage, and the potential role of culture in their marriages. Data were analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research methodology. Results indicated that the couples' marital experiences were influenced by a complex intersection of ecosystemic factors with significant psychological impacts. These findings highlight shortcomings in drawing simplistic conclusions regarding the success or failure of an interracial marriage and have important implications for theory, research, and clinical practice.

Conducting a Multi Family Member Interview Study

“…Family scholars have utilized individual in‐depth interviews with multiple members of a family to gain insight into such topics as the birth of a child, death of a family member, relationship quality, and caregiving for an ill family member (Curran, Ogolsky, Hazen, & Bosch, ; Inman, Altman, Kaduvettoor‐Davidson, Carr, & Walker, ; Marchetti‐Mercer, ; Ngu & Florsheim, ; Eisikovits & Koren, ). Regardless of the topic of research, individual interviews are most constructively used for obtaining three types of data: (1) partial truths and fissures in family accounts; (2) sensitive information; and (3) independent versions of joint experiences.…”

Interracial Couples in Therapy: Common Themes and Issues

“…Second, even people who feel comfortably grounded in their race may experience some doubt about themselves as a result of partnering or marrying interracially (Inman, ; Killian, ). Minority partners may ask themselves what marrying outside their race means for who they are and their feelings regarding their race (Luke, ).…”

The use of Theory in Family Therapy Research: Content Analysis and Update

“…Including a dedicated theory section. One practice that seemed particularly helpful in incorporating theories in the research input was including a section titled "theoretical framework" or a similar name, which promptly orients readers to the study's connections to existing theories (e.g., Hardy, Soloski, Ratcliffe, Anderson, & Willoughby, 2015;Inman, Altman, Kaduvettoor-Davidson, Carr, & Walker, 2011;Richardson, Davey, & Swint, 2013). Similarly, some papers featured a section titled "theoretical emphasis and background" (e.g., Bay, Blow, & Yan, 2012) or "theoretical foundation" (e.g., Gambrel & Piercy, 2015).…”