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Discussion

In terms of communication barriers, all Javanese women who have a set of assumptions and beliefs
based on Javanese culture, have to adapt well behaviourally and psychologically to French culture, while
maintaining their own cultural values and beliefs. However, this creates some conflicts and
misunderstandings with the French culture. There are unclear cultural identities because they are in the
midst of Javanese and French cultures. It seems that Javanese women and French locals exhibit unclear
identities because they feel that they cannot really be one group, despite having learned about two distinct
cultural values and belief systems. To overcome these problems, Javanese women and French locals
develop a sense of cultural flexibility (Rumondor, 2005). Nevertheless, practicing different ways of
interacting with different cultures is uncomfortable and is psychologically distressing. Moreover, the
Javanese women and French locals, have to rearrange their cultural values and beliefs, and find the
similarity and differentiation aspects of each culture, by selecting the cultural norms and values of each
culture, and developing intercultural competence to create new cultures (Arasaratnam and Doerfel, 2005),
particularly related to Javanese values of 3M.

It is tough to form and maintain intercultural marriages, particularly when there is a language
barrier. The messages and symbols being encoded by Javanese women may be misinterpreted and
decoded (Ting-Toomey and Dorjee, 2018) by French locals, or vice versa. Meanwhile, in intercultural
communication, it is not only language that is vital, but also individual perspectives and their cultural
background are determining factors in communication success.

Furthermore, all marriages involve the blending of two distinct lives, each with its own history,
personality, values, expectations and active creation of a new culture (third culture) that has never existed
before (Gottman, Driver, and Tabares, 2002). Third culture appeared in the ways how intercultural couples
discussed and coped with marital conflicts, and also presented as a tool to restore mutual communication
by increasing the knowledge and understanding between intercultural spouses (Nurahmawati, 2022; Ha,
2020). The development of new/third cultures is one example of a situation in which Javanese women and
French locals are required to make significant responses to their environment as well as to their needs
within that environment regarding the Javanese values of 3M.

Conclusion

Globalisation is critical in reshaping the global social order, and families are the heart of the
transformation. In every society, traditional notions about family life, identity, and relationships between
individuals and groups are being transformed as a result of globalisation force (Trask, 2010). Good
communication is one of the most important factors in a successful marriage. Communication barriers are
undoubtedly a factor impeding intercultural marriage. It is difficult to have appropriate
communication and adaptation with spouses, not only because of differences in languages and
cultures, but also because of the anxiety between couples.

The merger of values, behaviours, and norms could be conceptualized as a third/new culture as
couples in this study described their interactions and current philosophies within marriage. Most
intercultural couples, in this study, were Javanese women and French locals, described how they
incorporated both cultures into their marriage and cited which customs or traditions originated in which
culture. For some, they have developed their own unique customs and their own culture. By forming a

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