Objectives To investigate the impact of intergenerational mobility—measured as the difference between one’s own and one’s father’s education level—on overall life-satisfaction among Hispanic, White, and Black older Americans. Methods Data from the Health and Retirement Study were used to estimate life satisfaction by race/ethnicity using ordinary least squares regression (N = 5,057). Results Hispanic and Black older Americans report greater educational gains relative to their fathers compared to Whites. Despite having the lowest reported education levels, Hispanics report the highest life satisfaction across race/ethnic groups. However, net of education level and other factors, intergenerational mobility decreased rather than increased life satisfaction for Hispanic older Americans. Discussion These results indicate that intergenerational mobility may not confer equal benefits for overall life satisfaction across racial/ethnic groups. As Hispanic individuals continue to achieve higher education levels, it is unclear whether upward mobility will translate to positive or negative assimilation consequences.
We use data from a random sample of students collected at two large public universities, one in the Midwestern region and one in the Southeastern region of the U.S., to document the prevalence of self-reported “interracial” romantic relationships (SR-IRRs) and the extent to which self-identifications differ from researcher-defined categorizations that label as “interracial/interethnic” all partnerships that cross racial or Latino/Hispanic ethnic boundaries (RD-IRRs). Our findings show that a substantial percentage of students in relationships that cross racial/ethnic lines do not identify them as “interracial.” As a result, measures of SR-IRR and RD-IRR produce very different prevalence figures for cross-group relationships (SR-IRR = 18% of respondents; RDIRR = 24%). The disjuncture between self-reports and researcher-defined categorizations is particularly pronounced for Hispanics and, to a lesser degree, non-Hispanic Whites. The consistency with which relationships that include non-Hispanic Black individuals are labeled, however, stands out as unique: every instance of racial/ethnic boundary crossing that involved an individual from this group was labeled as “interracial.” Multivariate analyses identify significant predictors of SR-IRRs and RDIRRs and how race/ethnicity, nativity status, and university location interact to shape relationship engagement and the likelihood of self-identifying relationships as “interracial.” Our discussion concludes with implications and suggestions for future research.
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