3. INTRODUCTION
• A variety of influences contribute to the development of college students’ views on
interracial and interethnic relationships
• Family, peers, media, religion, society
• Which is the most influential factor affecting these views today?
• Differentiating interracial relationships from interethnic relationships
• Interethnic relationships refer to partners who differ in their presumed biological and/or cultural
heritage
• Interracial relationships, interreligious relationships, international relationships
• This research’s goal is to understand which factors are most significantly influencing
college students’ opinions on and likelihood of participating in interracial and
interethnic relationships
• Are college students in 2015 less likely to participate in interracial and interethnic
relationships if they have family members who are disapproving of them?
4. THESIS
• How do external factors influence the development of college
students’ views and practices of interracial and interethnic
relationships in 2015?
5. LITERATURE
“Interracial and Interethnic Relationships”
• Outlines history of interracial and interethnic relationships in the U.S.
• 1967: Loving v. Virginia
• U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled anti-miscegenation or anti “race-mixing”
laws as unconstitutional
• 1970-2000: Interracial marriages in the U.S. rose from 1% to 5%
• Interracial and interethnic relationships continue to grow at a
faster rate than do intraethnic and intraracial relationships in the
U.S.
6. LITERATURE
“Attitudes Toward Interracial Relationships Among College Students”
• This article compares attitudes toward interracial relationships at
historically Black universities (HBU’s) with those at predominantly
White universities (PWU’s)
• Black/White relationships were less positive and more widely
disapproved of at HBU’s
• White students believed their parents had the least favorable
attitudes toward Black/White marital and dating relationships
7. LITERATURE
“Interethnic and Interracial Dating in College: A Longitudinal Study”
• Students with lower levels of in-group bias, intergroup anxiety, and
group identification before college were more likely to date other
ethnic and racial groups during college
• Study suggests that even with limited opportunities to date members
of specific groups (Latinos, African Americans), members may still be
dated out of proportion to their small numbers
• Suggests social psychological factors may play a role in intergroup
dating
8. METHODS
• 9 Qualitative Interviews (20-35 minutes each)
• Subjects: College students ages 18-24
• Subjects attending Virginia Commonwealth University
• Snowball method used: asked students to refer me to other
individuals that would be interested in being interviewed
• Recorded interviews and transcribed quotes for my references
• Appropriate method because: asking college students extensively
about their family background and upbringing will help me to more
wholesomely understand where their views originate and how
strongly they align or deviate from these factors
9. METHODS: INTERVIEW TOPICS
• Age, Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Family Dynamics
• Head of household, Family size
• Religious Affiliations
• Type of area the subject grew up in
• Rural, Suburban, Urban
• Type of household the subject grew up in
• Traditional, two-parent household; non-traditional, one-parent household
• Familial expectations
• Strict values?
• Questions involving strongest influences during childhood
• Family, peers, media
• Personal history of interracial and/or interethnic relationships
• Familial views toward interracial and interethnic relationships
• Important factors in partner selection
• Class versus race?
10. RESULTS
• 6 out of 9 respondents grew up in traditional, two-parent households
• 7 out of 9 respondents had participated in interracial and/or
interethnic relationships
• Majority of subjects (5 out of 9) had family members who
disapproved of interracial and interethnic relationships
• 4 out of 9 subjects said their family’s beliefs would impact who they
marry but not who they date
• 3 of these subjects were Black males raised in suburban areas; 1 was a White
female raised in a rural area; all expected to marry intraracially
• All 9 individuals were accepting of interracial and interethnic relationships
despite the values held by their family members
11. NOTABLE QUOTES
• “…[my family] doesn’t influence who I date, really, because I am my own person…
but my grandparents are typical southern grandparents…so I don’t exactly always
tell them who I’m dating ‘cause I don’t want them to judge them.”
• “…my parents weren’t going to be blatantly rude to my Black girlfriend. They
don’t want to be outwardly the bad guys. They just want to do it behind closed
doors.”
• “My family’s views on my significant other is not very important to me…especially
it it’s just because they don’t look like us. It’s not important to me, and if it is to
them, then that’s their issue to deal with.”
• “…it allows you to see things from a completely different lens. That adds a
completely new aspect to your entire life and your family dynamic. I think that’s
important ‘cause it allows us to be together as people. It’s important to be around
people that don’t think and look and sound like you.”
12. ANALYSIS
• College students’ dating preferences in 2015 reflect an allegiance to
individual choice and ideals rather than an allegiance to the views
held by their family members
• While it may be easier to date interracially and interethnically for
college students, it is harder for some to approach marriage with the
same mindset because of familial disapproval
• Overall, college students are interested and willing to participate in
interracial and interethnic relationships, sometimes more so than in-
group relationships
• Suggests there is a large generational gap in college students’ views in 2015
from the views their parents hold toward intergroup mixing
13. CONCLUSION
• What does it all mean?
• Overall, college students are very accepting and look forward to
opportunities to have relationships outside of their own race and/or
ethnic grouping
• Less emphasis is being put on family members’ views toward
interracial and interethnic relationships
• College students have an overwhelmingly positive outlook for their
generation’s future in regards to intergroup relationships
• The belief and hope is that a continued increase in interracial and interethnic
relationships will help increase cultural understanding, break down barriers,
and decrease racist ideologies
14. SOURCES
• Gaines, S. (2009). Interracial and interethnic relationships. In H. Reis, & S.
Sprecher (Eds.),Encyclopedia of human relationships. (pp. 906-908).
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412958479.n292.
• Shana Levin, Pamela L. Taylor, and Elena Caudle. Interethnic and interracial
dating in college: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social and Personal
Relationships. June 2007. (24: 323-341), doi:10.1177/0265407507077225.
• Carolyn J. Field, Sitawa R. Kimuna, and Murray A. Straus. Attitudes Toward
Interracial Relationships Among College Students: Race, Class, Gender, and
Perceptions of Parental Views. Journal of Black Studies. October
2013. (44: 741-776), first published on October 10,
2013. doi:10.1177/0021934713507580.
