McNair Research Journal - University of St. Thomas

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Humanities & Social Sciences A Qualitative Analysis of Asian-American Attitudes Towards Interracial Romantic Relationships Amy S. Westmoreland and Buffy Smith Ph.D. University of St. Thomas - Departments of Psychology & Criminal Justice Abstract Previous literature surrounding race relations within the United States has uncovered a bounty of innovative and intriguing findings. However, regardless of the strides social researchers have made, research surrounding race relations as a whole remains underdeveloped and often leaves its readers with more questions than answers. One of the questions the present study attempts to answer is the following: What are the attitudes of interracial and intraracial college friendships among Asian-Americans toward interracial romantic relationships? Overall, the primary theoretical basis for the present study is based on Gordon Allport’s (1954) social contact hypothesis or the notion that interaction between members of different racial groups can lead to positive racial attitudes. Past research has identified that attitude formations towards interracial dating and marriage are partly dependent on the respondents’ current and past history of interracial and intraracial friendships. Therefore, interracial vs. intraracial friendships serves as the primary predictor variable hypothesizing that Asian-American respondents who engage in interracial friendship develop more positive racial attitudes toward interracial romantic relationships than respondents who primarily engage in intraracial friendships. Additional predictor variables examine the respondents’ gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES)/educational attainment, and propinquity/homophily. Introduction In 1967, the United States Supreme Court legalized interracial marriages (Loving v. Virginia). Over three decades later, the U.S. Census reported a gradual increase in interracial marriages from representing 0.7 percent of all marriages in the year 1997 to representing 4.9 percent of all marriages in the year 2000. However, regardless of the ongoing increase of interracial marriages, individual attitudes towards interracial romantic relationships continue to reflect the controversial nature of interracial dating and marriage within modern society. Previous literature surrounding the topics of interracial dating and marriage has uncovered a wealth of intriguing findings. However, due to the lack of research, particularly among Asian-American populations, studies attempting to dissect attitudes towards interracial romantic relationships often leave readers with more questions than answers. The present study contributes to the existing literature by asking the following question: What are the attitudes of interracial and intraracial college friendships among Asians-Americans towards interracial romantic relationships? The main hypothesis for the study suggests that Asian- American students who engage in interracial friendships develop more positive racial attitudes toward interracial romantic relationships than those students who primarily engage in intraracial friendships. The present study will provide an overview of the literature, conceptual framework, methodology, and preliminary results. Finally, the concluding section will provide an argument for the significance of the study. Literature review Past research has identified that attitude formations in support of interracial romantic relationships are not only dependent on the respondents’ current and past history of interracial friendships, but also dependent on other forms of interracial interactions such as, living in a racially heterogeneous neighborhood and attending a racially heterogeneous school. For the purpose of the present study, I analyzed Asian-American attitudes Amy S. Westmoreland Interracial Romantic Relationships toward interracial romantic relationships by focusing on the following five predictor variables: trends in interracial relationships, propinquity/ homophily, socioeconomic status (SES)/educational attainment, gender, and age. Trends in Interracial Relationships Based on previous studies, individuals regardless of race or ethnicity are more likely to have a racially homogenous circle of friends (Mouw & Entwisle, 2006; Way & Chen, 2000). In addition, first-listed or best friends are more likely to share the same race or ethnicity and engage in more weekly activities together than fifth-listed friends (Kao & Joyner, 2004). The latter finding suggests that interracial best friends are not only uncommon, but also engage in fewer weekly activities together which could be interpreted as less intimacy and a greater degree of distance (Kao & Joyner, 2004). However, when individuals cross racial lines in terms of who they choose as friends, they are more likely to have a diverse group of friends in the future (Emerson, Kimbro & Yancey, 2002) and are more likely to approve of interracial marriages (Jacobson & Johnson, 2006) when compared with individuals who do not choose friends of another race or ethnicity. In terms of interracial romantic relationships, it is important to establish the distinction between dating and marriage. When forced to consider the degree of commitment involved in a marriage, interracial marriages tend to be less common than interracial dating (Joyner & Kao, 2005). Specifically focusing on Asian-Americans, past research has uncovered a decline in interracial marriages accompanied by an increase in interethnic marriages (Lee & Fernandez, 1998). This finding may be attributed to the growing population of Asian-Americans within the United States. Other findings have revealed that when Asian-Americans marry someone of another race, they are more likely to marry a Non-Hispanic White than any other racial group (King & Bratter, 2007; Mok, 1999). Furthermore, Asian-American friendships are positively related to one’s likelihood to date a fellow Asian-American and negatively related to one’s likelihood to date a White-American (Mok, 1999). In other words, the fewer intraracial friendships among Asian-Americans increases the likelihood of dating a White-American. However, one important factor excluded from past studies is whether attitudes towards interracial dating and marriage differ among transracially adopted and non-adopted Asian-Americans. The present study will address this past limitation by examining how being raised by parents who share a similar racial background versus parents who share a different racial background influences an individual’s attitude towards interracial romantic relationships. In sum, previous research have uncovered that individuals are more likely to befriend, date and marry others who share their same racial or ethnic background (Joyner & Kao, 2005; Kao & Joyner, 2004; Lee & Fernandez, 1998; Mouw & Entwisle, 2006; Way & Chen, 2000) However, when individuals cross racial lines, they are far more likely to support interracial romantic relationships if they have experienced previous interracial contact (e.g., interracial friendships) (Joyner & Kao, 2005; Mok, 1999). In the following section I will expand on how interracial interaction is influenced by propinquity and homophily. 60 University of St. Thomas McNair Research Journal
Humanities & Social Sciences Propinquity/Homophily Propinquity is defined as the tendency for people to form relationships with one another based on their proximity to one another, where as homophily is defined as the tendency for people to form relationships with others who are similar to themselves (Mouw & Entwisle, 2006). In relation to interracial friendships, past research has uncovered that living in an integrated neighborhood, attending an integrated school and living in a metropolitan area influences one’s likelihood to engage in interracial friendships (Antonio, 2004; Emerson, Kimbro & Yancey, 2002; Mouw & Entwisle, 2006; Sigelman & Welch, 1993; Way & Chen, 2000). On the other hand, additional research has uncovered that when students attend a school where there is not a clear racial majority they are less likely to befriend a person from a different racial or ethnic group, increasing the likelihood of a racially homogenous groups of friends (Way & Chen, 2000). In regards to interracial dating and marriage, past research has uncovered near identical findings as interracial friendships. Suggesting that living in an integrated neighborhood, attending an integrated school and living in a metropolitan area influences one’s likelihood to date or marry someone from a different racial group (Jacobson & Johnson, 2006; Yancey, 1998). However, the findings for interracial dating and marriage are not as well supported as the findings for interracial friendships. This discrepancy may be due to the greater degree of commitment in dating and marriage relationships. As mentioned earlier, interracial marriages among Asian-Americans are gradually declining while interethnic marriages are increasing (Lee & Fernandez, 1998). This gradual shift may be attributed to the growing population of Asian-Americans within the United States. In other words, because of the growing populations of multiple Asian ethnic groups, Asian-Americans are presented with a greater opportunity to find suitable mates within their own race. Socioeconomic Status (SES)/Educational Attainment In terms of SES and educational attainment, previous studies have uncovered that well-educated, high-SES respondents are likely to approve of interracial marriages (Jacobson & Johnson, 2006; Yancey, 1998). Specifically in relation to Asian-Americans, high-SES Asians are more likely to date Whites when compared with their low-SES counterparts who are more likely to date Hispanics and Blacks (Wang & Kao, 2007). It is possible that high-SES Asians are able to afford to live in affluent neighborhoods and send their children to private schools where there may be limited racial and ethnic diversity. Gender Past research focusing on gender differences reveal that males not only have a greater level of acceptance toward interracial romantic relationships than females, but also are more likely to have dated someone from a different racial background (Jacobson & Johnson, 2006; Yancey, 1998). However, this finding fails to hold true for Asian-American men, possibly because Asian-American parents are generally stricter when it comes to dating, essentially creating a socially awkward situation for their sons since men are the ones who generally initiate the majority of dates within the U.S. mainstream society. Age Past research suggests that aging reduces the racial diversity of an individual’s circle of friends while also reducing the frequency of interracial romantic relationships. (Emerson, Kimbro & Yancey, 2002; Jacobson & Johnson, 2006; Joyner & Kao, 2005; Yancey, 1998). One possible explanation for this trend suggests that as people age, they make the transition to adulthood by considering the prospect of marriage and in doing so they may develop a preference toward intraracial marriage rather than interracial marriage. Another possible explanation for this trend could be University of St. Thomas McNair Research Journal Amy S. Westmoreland Interracial Romantic Relationships based on the argument that many of the studies assessing age differences were conducted over a decade ago, when interracial contact was generally perceived as unacceptable. Based on this explanation, generational status would serve as the predictor variable rather than age. In sum, although previous research has paved the road for understanding interracial relations, many studies focus exclusively on the black/white paradigm. The present study will contribute to the current literature by examining Asian-American attitudes towards interracial romantic relationships. In addition, many studies assessing attitudes toward interracial romantic relationships are predominately based on quantitative methodologies. Therefore, in order to control for the limitations of past studies, the present study will contribute to the existing literature by incorporating qualitative methodologies based on a sample of Asian- American respondents. Conceptual Framework The present study is centered on three theories, the first being Bonilla- Silva’s stylistic components of color-blind racism (Bonilla-Silva, 2002). Color-blind racism is also known as contemporary racism whereby people claim to believe skin color should not be the basis of social judgment and that discrimination on the basis of race is the problem of the past. When color-blind racists are asked to engage in a conversation regarding race, they often employ the following five stylistic techniques: 1.) White’s avoidance of direct racial language 2.) The central rhetorical strategies or “semantic moves” used by whites to safely express their racial views 3.) The role of projection 4.) The role of diminutives 5.) How incursions into forbidden issues produce almost total incoherence among many whites. The second theory is Gordon W. Allport’s social contact hypothesis or the notion that interaction between members of different racial groups can lead to positive racial attitudes (Allport, 1954). The four specific conditions under which interracial interaction should occur to result in a positive outcome consist of the following (Allport, 1954): 1. Working towards common goals 2. Intergroup cooperation 3. Equal status 4. Authority support The final theory included in the present study is the transracial adoption paradox which is the tendency for family and friends to treat transracial adoptees as if they were members of the dominant White society when in reality they are racial/ethnic minorities (Lee, 2003). Methodology Respondents A total of eight respondents (two males, six females) ranging in age from 18 to 22 years old, = 19.6 years old have participated in the study. Respondents were recruited from a medium size Catholic liberal arts university consisting of over 6,000 undergraduate students with students of color consisting of 10 percent of the overall undergraduate and graduate student population. Respondents participated in the study by responding to informational signs in the undergraduate psychology department. Additional respondents were recruited by creating a snowball effect with existing contacts. As an incentive to participate in the study the respondent names were entered in a random drawing for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for a local restaurant. 61
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