Interracial Relationships and the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract

This study tracks and explains changing patterns of involvement in interracial sexual relationships during the transition to adulthood. Using a life course perspective that highlights the role of historical changes as well as age-graded changes in contexts and relationships, the authors hypothesize that involvement in interracial sexual relationships declines with increasing age among young adults. The analyses are based on some of the first nationally representative surveys to collect detailed information on sexual relationships: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Health and Social Life Survey. Findings from these surveys show that individuals are decreasingly likely to be in an interracial relationship between the ages of 18 and 35 years. They also suggest that the age decline in interracial involvement is a by-product of the transition to marriage in young adulthood and the increasing formation of interracial relationships in recent years. These findings have implications for future research on interracial relationships and family formation.

Intercultural Dating at Predominantly White Universities in the United States: The Maintenance and Crossing of Group Borders

“…Although, for all racial/ethnic groups, homophyly increases with increasing romantic commitment-from hooking up, to dating, to cohabiting, to marriage, the salience of homophyly varies by one's race/ethnicity-by-gender group membership [24][25][26]. Among the youngest generations of Americans, racial/ethnic boundaries between Black women and White men are the least likely to be breached [27].…”

From Assortative to Ashortative Coupling: Men's Height, Height Heterogamy, and Relationship Dynamics in the United States

“…Such exchanges are manifestations of extrarelationship hierarchies, in that what provides one with status outside the relationship is also assumed to provide them with status within the relationship. 4 A similar paucity of racial heterogamy is echoed in studies on dating, although slightly less rare among cohabiting and non-residing couples (Joyner and Kao 2005;Lin and Lundquist 2013).…”

Choosing Mixed Methods in Examining Attitudes Toward Interracial Marriages in Sweden

“…In previous studies in Sweden, it is shown that the older population tends to have more negative attitudes towards immigrants compared to the younger population (Lange and Westin 1997;Integrationsverket 2006;Demker 2006;Mella 2007;Mella and Palm 2009;Mella and Palm 2010). Moreover, interracial relationships are more common among the younger population, according to studies in the U.S. (Joyner and Kao 2005). Age is divided into three age categories for the purpose of the analysis: 18 to 44, 44 to 64 and 65 to 78.…”