Russian-British Couples Communication

Communication and mutual understanding within relationships is one of the most important elements for marital satisfaction. For Russian-British couples, communication could present another challenge to overcome as communication styles in Russia and the UK vary considerably. The misunderstandings in intercultural couples are inevitable, since a common basis of understanding – common language – is primary missing. Linguistic issues are found mainly on the syntactic level, but they are also in the field of word formation, the vocabulary, and semantics. The major difference in communication between Russian and British spouses is the British importance of individuality and privacy that could be misinterpreted as coldness and selfishness by Russians. Russians, as a collectivistic nation, like close contact and are much more involved on a sensual level with each other than Britons. Emotional expression and physical contact with other people is much more common in Russia than in the UK.

For a successful marriage, partners from different cultures should be flexible, compromising, and committed to their relationship. Commitment refers to an intention to maintain a relationship in spite of the difficulties that arise. If these three ingredients are in use, then couples will often find ways to make their relationships work.