For instance, on the issue of cohabitation, one of the three participants
who reported change, Student 2, who has an American boyfriend, said: I have always wanted to cohabitate with my significant other, however I could never do it in Turkey. I would worry about what my family and friends would say and more importantly I would not want to be judged and frowned upon by the society. But with my partner here, I was able to overlook that because nobody here would judge me on this. On the topic of age of marriage, another participant, Student 10, said, There is a great amount of pressure in see more Turkey to get married. When you see all of your friends get married, and your parents and friends constantly ask you when
you are going to get married and start a family, Sapitinib this puts a tremendous amount of pressure on you. If I were in Turkey, I would have probably gotten married by now, but here I do not feel that social control or that pressure. About inter-racial dating, 30 year old Ph.D. Student 5, who has an Arabic boyfriend, said that she thought dating a man from a different racial or religious background would not work, and would not be accepted by the society at large. She then added, “There is no social pressure in US, you can date or get married to whomever you want without worrying about SC79 what your friends or family will say; that’s why it all seems a lot more probable.” Theme 4: Increase in Individualism The fourth theme that emerged was an increased sense of individualism as a result of living in the host country. In talking about sexual expectations from partners, four participants reported change. Student 5 said, “Living in the US made me think that it’s not such a bad thing to be self-focused in bed and have my needs met. In Turkey, I always thought about PDK4 sex as pleasing the other person, and never once have I thought about my own needs and wants. However, now I see that my needs are just as important as my partner’s needs.” On the other hand, when talking about the amount of time spent with partner, eleven participants reported significant
change. Student 12 said that while she was in Turkey she had a hard time finding personal time and space for herself away from the relationship. She added, In Turkey, couples are so enmeshed, they do everything together, and here I find it comforting to spend some time alone, or with different friends and do what I would like to really do as opposed to what my partner or others want me to do. The tendency to embrace more individualistic values was also evident in Student 11’s discussion of her parents’ expectations about marriage. She said that she used to value a lot more their opinion about who she should marry, how the husband needed to be, however, living in the United States made the importance of her parents’ view a lot less important.