Why We Form Relationships

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We’ve already established that romantic relationships are a universal desire, but you might also expect that collectivist cultures (like the Japanese culture) would place more importance on other types of relationships than fiercely individualistic cultures such as we find in the United States. But research fails to demonstrate large differences between these culture types, revealing instead that individuals in all cultures value their relationships (Diener & Diener, 1995; Endo, Heine, & Lehman, 2000; Landsford, Antonucci, Akiyama, & Takahashi, 2005). In this section, we examine why everyone forms relationships and which factors influence how they’re formed.