Intergroup Marriage: An Examination of Opportunity Structures

Abstract

Though a number of authors have noted the increase in interracial marriages in the United States over the past few decades, few researchers have systematically examined variables that affect the opportunity for intergroup marriage among several different groups: Whites, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. In this paper we examine several “opportunity” variables and their relationship to intergroup marriage for couples age 40 or younger: immigration, military service, metropolitan residency, age, region, college attendance, and socioeconomic status. We examine these relationships for African, White, Asian, and Hispanic Americans. Results for both males and females are presented. The analysis is based on data from the 1990 census. The propensity to marry within one's own group dropped slightly for all groups but Asian Americans from 1980 to 1990. White and Black Americans continue to have the highest endogamy rates. Hispanic and Asian Americans have lower rates, and regional variations are highest for them as well. The results suggest that the opportunity variables are important factors affecting rates of intergroup marriage.

Constrained desires: The romantic partner preferences of college-educated Latinas

“…By this logic, then, college-educated Latinas should have more opportunities to date "out" when they enter college and professional occupations where Latinos are few in number or non-Latinos are more abundant (Heaton and Jacobson 2007). Despite the link between exogamy and education, our findings reveal collegeeducated Latinas prefer dating "in" versus dating "out" and seek relationships with Latinos even if it means dating "down" or dating men with lower levels of educational attainment than they have.…”

Ego Development at the Crossroads: Identity and Intimacy Among Black Men and White Women in Cross-Racial Relationships

“…Several descriptive studies have indicated (a) the more likely venues for the increase in opportunity and rate of interracial marriages were the military and college (Heaton & Jacobson, 2000); (b) finding a new couple identity as a result of the problems that cross-racial couples faced (Killian, 2001, p. 36); and (c) managing the criticism that interracial couples received from family, friends, and strangers (Datzman & Gardner, 2000). From the popular media and the professional literature have come some strong societal reactions to the race-crossing relationships of Black men and White women.…”

Interracial Friendship and African American Attitudes about Interracial Marriage

“…Researchers also have shown that opposition to BlackWhite marriage is much higher than marriage between other groups (e.g., Herring & Amissah, 1997;Lewis & Yancey, 1995;Spickard, 1989). Furthermore, the number of interracial marriages remains low, and it is far less than would be expected based on relative population sizes (Heaton & Jacobson, 2000;Qian, 1997).…”