Marriage Guidance: A Cross-Cultural Counseling Analysis in the Context of Minangkabau Matrilineal Society

Abstract

Marriage guidance (Bimbingan Perkawinan or Bimwin) is a national program designed to prepare prospective couples for family life through standardized educational and counseling materials. However, applying standardized guidance in culturally diverse communities raises questions about the compatibility between nationally formulated materials and locally embedded family structures. This issue is particularly significant in Minangkabau society, where matrilineal kinship, the authority of mamak, and the position of the husband as urang sumando shape family relations and marital expectations. This study aims to analyze the relevance of cross-cultural counseling as an analytical framework for evaluating marriage guidance in a matrilineal cultural context and to identify tensions between standardized Bimwin materials and Minangkabau family structures. The study employs qualitative normative research using a conceptual approach and library research. Data were obtained from regulations and policy documents concerning marriage guidance, scholarly literature on cross-cultural counseling, and anthropological and socio-legal studies of Minangkabau kinship and marriage. The findings indicate that standardized marriage guidance tends to prioritize the prospective husband–wife relationship while giving limited conceptual attention to extended kinship structures and culturally specific forms of family authority. In the Minangkabau context, this may create cultural mismatches when guidance is delivered without sufficient contextual adaptation. The study argues that integrating cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skills, cultural empathy, and cultural congruence can strengthen the contextual relevance of Bimwin. The study contributes a culturally responsive framework for developing marriage guidance that maintains Islamic normative principles while recognizing the social and cultural diversity of Indonesian families.