US/Caribbean relationships: Perspectives from Caribbean Psychology and Mainstream Social Psychology

Abstract

A disproportionately high percentage of relationship studies have focused on the experiences of couples in which both partners are from the United States (Goodwin, 1999) and are of European descent (Gaines, Buriel, Liu, & Rios, 1997). Persons from developing countries, such as those comprising the Caribbean, have been grossly underrepresented in the field of personal relationships. In this chapter, we first give an overview of some of the research related to interpersonal relationships that has been conducted in the Caribbean, especially in Jamaica. Despite the possibility of pan-cultural similarities in personal relationship processes, a crosscultural perspective is important to show differences as well as similarities between Americans and persons of various ethnicities and races from the Caribbean. We also apply social exchange theory to the study of Caribbean relationships in particular, as this theory provides a useful framework for understanding both Black Americans and Caribbeans in relation to European descendants in the United States. Finally, areas for future research are suggested.