Comparative-contrastive analysis of the perception of cultural differences in intercultural marriages: the case of Russian-speaking women in the United Arab Emirates and Norway

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Context and relevance</strong>. Modernization, urbanization, and migration contribute to the spread of marriages between representatives of different social and ethnic groups. Therefore, studies devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the perception of cultural differences in such marriages are relevant. <br><strong>Objective</strong>. A comparative thematic analysis of the perception of cultural differences in intercultural marriages among Russian-speaking women in such marriages. <br><strong>Hypothesis.</strong> The hypothesis is formulated as a research question: How are cultural differences perceived by Russian-speaking women who are in an intercultural marriage with individuals from countries with individualistic (Norway) and collectivistic (UAE) cultures? <br><strong>Methods and materials.</strong> In the conducted qualitative study, based on semi-structured interviews with Russian-speaking women married to representatives of the UAE and Norway, based on the results of the thematic analysis of Brown and Clark, a comparative analysis of the peculiarities of the perception of cultural differences in intercultural marriages was conducted. The study involved 21 Russian-speaking women in intercultural marriages: 10 women married to a Norwegian and living in Norway, 11 married to an Arab Emirati and living in the UAE. Age from 22 to 69 years (M = 40). The respondents come from the countries of the former Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. All the respondents had higher education. Marital experience ranges from 2 to 25 years. The data collection method was a semi-structured interview; the analysis method was thematic analysis according to Brown and Clark. <br><strong>Results</strong>. The article identifies the peculiarities of the perception of cultural differences in intercultural marriages among Russian-speaking women who are married to Norwegians and Emirati Arabs. The article highlights the different poles of the same cultural factor: when interacting with representatives of Eastern (Arab) culture, Russian-speaking women perceive themselves as more Western, while when interacting with representatives of Western (Norwegian) culture, they perceive themselves as more Eastern. <br><strong>Conclusions</strong><strong>. </strong>Intercultural marriages actualize the perceived cultural distance in terms of individualism-collectivism and power distance; the religious factor plays a different role in intercultural marriages, acting as a coping mechanism and becoming a bridge or barrier to intercultural communication in marriage.</p>