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This dissertation examines identity negotiation between partners in mixed tradition marriages in the context of Northern Ireland, a divided society. Religious affiliation is an integral part of Northern Ireland, and as such, has been the nexus of legal, social, physical, and psychological conflict. It has been vital in its influence regarding the choice of marriage partner, the role of stereotyping the other, and the effect on the ongoing processes of living, working, and learning together in daily life as a community. Using an interpretivist framework, this inquiry intends to be both exploratory and theory building by providing empirically grounded insights into what occurs between partners during identity negotiation.
The Northern Ireland Social Perceptions survey was administered to each partner of 15 mixed-tradition couples followed by a joint 90 minute semi-structured interview schedule. The identical sequence was applied to five single-tradition couples who self-identified as Catholics, and to five single-tradition couples who self-identified as Protestants. This mixed-methods strategy examines and describes how established personal identity boundaries are maintained and permeated; explains how these boundaries are negotiated during the course of daily decision making of the mixed-tradition couple; and describes the perceived impact mixed-tradition couples have on others in the surrounding divided community. These marriages represent a blurring of ethnic distinctions in current and future generations, and therefore are a symbolic contradiction to stereotypes of familial contact between differing ethnic groups.