Gender Matters: Racial Variation and Marital Stability Among Intraracial Couples

Abstract

Studies assessing differences between intraracial and interracial marriages typically use race data from one time point. Yet because racial identification can vary across time, context, or perspective, whether a relationship is defined as intraracial or interracial can also differ. We use a sample of 2,845 respondents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997, whose marriages are intraracial (based on 2002 data) to examine whether marital stability differs for those whose racial identification varied across waves and whether this effect is moderated by gender. Approximately 6% of respondents in intraracial relationships had inconsistent racial identities. We also find evidence that the association between racial variation and marital stability differs by gender. Women whose race varied are more likely to divorce than any other group, including static-race couples and men whose race varied. More attention should be given to intraracial heterogeneity, especially as groups that are more likely to have varying racial identities grow in number.

First Partner Choice in a Native Minority: The Role of Own and Parental Ethnolinguistic Affiliation

“…Sociologists have recognized that ethnic categorizations are not static, but continually reformulated (Lieberson & Waters, 1986 ). This may especially be the case for individuals who live and interact closely with another ethnic group, such as in the event of intermarriage (Petts & Petts, 2019 ). In Finland, language (and bilingualism) adds a practical aspect to such continual reformulation.…”

Divorce among exogamous couples: The role of language convergence

“…This would be consistent with arguments saying that upholding robust social networks and identities outside marriage affects marital quality, and for both wives and husbands (Askham, 1976). Another interpretation relates to the concept of boundary blurring, or loss of the original identity, meaning that an individual's discordant identities may depend on the degree of stress and satisfaction within the marriage (Petts and Petts, 2019).…”

“…Some couples manage exogamy by focusing on the commonalities they share, rather than on their differences, although marriage to an individual with different ethnicity is particularly pertinent for identification (Özateşler-Ülkücan, 2020). There is some, but not overwhelming evidence, to suggest a positive correlation between identity shift and divorce risk, and particularly so if it is the woman who changes her identity (Petts and Petts, 2019). This interrelation may be induced by the increased stress of being perceived as not real by others, or from loss of the original identity.…”

“…Compared to the ample literature on exogamous marriage and divorce, less is known about the divorce risk of exogamous marriages when one partner acquires parts of the other partner's traits, such as the language spoken. This scarcity may be due to both a lack of conceptual framework and a lack of data from appropriate contexts (Petts and Petts, 2019). In this paper, we draw on theories of boundary shifting and boundary crossing to gain insight into how the adoption of the partner's language may affect divorce risk.…”