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Even though there are a number of challenges that bicultural couples may face, research also suggests that couples can develop various means of dealing with their situation, and that biculturalismbiculturalism can ultimately have a positive effect on a relationship. Bustamante et al. conducted extensive ethnographic interviews with five intercultural couples in order to determine potential culture-related stressors, as well as coping mechanisms the couples had developed. In these interviews, the following six main coping mechanisms emerged: “(a) gender role flexibility, (b) humor about differences, (c) cultural deference or a tendency to defer to the culture-related preferences of a partner, (d) recognition of similarities, (e) cultural reframingcultural reframing11 […] and (f) a general appreciation for other cultures” (2011: 159, emphases in original). Similarly, the intimate cross-cultural couples in Ting-Toomey’s research listed a number of advantages of living in an intercultural relationship, such as personal growth, greater diversity in their lifestyles, having a more profound relationship, developing complex cultural frames of reference and value systems, as well as “raising open-minded, resourceful children” (2009: 45). Hence, many couples feel that their intercultural challenges promote their growth as individuals and as a couple.