Attitudes predict interracial dating behaviors and vice versa
by Erina Lee | December 15th, 2008For many people, dating is a rite of passage, especially during the college years when people are surrounded by an abundance of single others. But in this sea of single co-eds, who is likely to date whom? In a recent study, Shana Levin and her colleagues were interested in understanding dating preferences among college students. They wanted to know if students’ attitudes about their own racial groups and other racial groups were related to their dating behaviors.
The research began with 3877 incoming first year students who were assessed a total of 5 times throughout their college years. These students were from a diverse university comprised of 36% Asian Americans, 32% Whites, 18% Latinos, and 6% African Americans. Despite the diversity of the university population, the study showed that within their first three years of college, students were more likely to date individuals from their own racial group (intraracial dating) than people from outside of their racial group (interracial dating).
Results also showed that attitudes and experiences before college predicted dating behaviors in college. Specifically, interracial dating was more likely for individuals who had more racially diverse friends in high school, showed less favoritism towards their own ethnic group, and felt less anxious interacting with members of other ethnic groups. In other words, people who had more contact and felt more comfortable with members of different ethnic groups were also more likely to date interracially.
Even more interesting were the subsequent findings showing that dating behaviors within the first 3 years of college predicted attitudes at the end of college. Controlling for attitudes before entering college, researchers showed that interracial dating behaviors during college predicted a decrease in favoritism for one’s own ethnic group and decreased anxiety with outside group members for several of the ethnic groups. Not only can attitudes predict dating behaviors, but dating behaviors may be able to change one’s attitudes as well.
Further Reading:
S. Levin, P. L. Taylor, E. Caudle (2007). Interethnic and interracial dating in college: A longitudinal study Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24 (3), 323-341 DOI: 10.1177/0265407507077225
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January 1st, 2009 at 7:36 pm
I totally agree. The more experiences you have early on in life, the more diverse and accepting you will be to things that may seem “foreign” to others, be it food, friends or mates. When you live in accepting environments, you are willing to go outside what your peers may take as the norm since what most folks consider “the norm” is actually a very conservative view of what is within your horizon.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:38 am
This is true. I am engaged to someone outside my race. We grew up in completely diffrent areas of the US, but during high school we both discovered most of our friends were not the same race as ourselves. In fact, we still maintain friendships with diverse people. .
February 14th, 2009 at 7:11 am
This is a really interesting subject. And, I agree with with the research that explains that a choice of mate is determined by the different groups of people you are exposed to early in life. I belive that many of us are predisposed to the notion of being with people like our mother and father without much thought about dating outside your race.
Interacial dating is becoming more and more popular. I think that many people are open to accepting people that may not look like them. I think you never know where you will find love and this is a wonderful thing. I think the key is getting to know all kinds of people and this will reduce the stigma of interracial dating.
February 24th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I have been involved with someone outside of my race for 10 years. I love him. When you love, it has no boundaries, shape, color or form. I am thankful that my mother taught me that people are people, have the same body parts and internal parts. Cultures separate us but love brings us together.