In contrast, societies with high relational mobility give people choice and freedom to select or leave interpersonal relationships based on their personal preferences.
The theory of relational mobility has attracted increased interest since the early 2000's because it has been found to explain important cross-cultural differences in people's behavior and way of thinking.
[1] Relational mobility is low in cultures with subsistence styles that put people in tight relationships with reciprocal duties such as farming that requires coordination of labor.
The lowest level of relational mobility is found in East Asian countries where rice farming is a prevailing means of subsistence.
[5] A large cross-cultural study has found that relational mobility is lowest in East Asian countries where rice farming is common.
[1] People in cultures with low relational mobility are careful to avoid conflicts and disagreements in order to maintain harmony in the social groups that they cannot escape.
[6] People in these cultures are more sensitive to social rejection[7] and more likely to feel ashamed towards their friends (but not towards strangers) in order to mitigate information that may damage their reputation.
Individuals’ need to coordinate their actions and avoid conflict makes salient the influence of external forces, including powerful others in the environment, on their own situation.
People exhibit more self-enhancement behavior and higher self-esteem here in order to advertise their value as companions and to facilitate the forming of social bonds.
[10] People are more prone to develop personal uniqueness in high relational mobility societies in order to increase their value in the market-like competition for social relationships.
[11] People tend to invest more in maintaining friendships as well as romantic partnerships where relational mobility is high, because the stability of the bond cannot be taken for granted.
Business strategies tend to be different in societies with higher relational mobility, such as North America, where new relationships are formed based on trust.