Race and Social Boundaries: How Multiracial Identification Matters for Intimate Relationships

Abstract

While researchers have explored in detail how multiracial identification shapes symbolic boundaries (conceptual distinctions), they have paid less attention to its effects on social boundaries (how people behave). This study examines multiracial individuals’ odds of marriage and cohabitation with blacks and whites to examine whether this population challenges current race-based social boundaries via partner choice. Analyses of data from the 2008–2012 American Community Survey (ACS) show that while those who identify with more than one race are indeed more likely to have a black (white) partner than their nonblack (nonwhite) monoracial counterparts, this phenomenon is driven by the choices of multiracials with at least a part black (white) identity. For example, multivariate results show that multiracial individuals who do not report any white identity are not more likely than nonwhite monoracials to marry a white partner. Moreover, part-white multiracials are more likely than nonwhite multiracials to have a white partner. These findings largely reflect expectations derived from theories of ingroup/outgroup behavior. In sum, although multiracial individuals may contribute to challenging symbolic boundaries, the results suggest that they are not necessarily disproportionately likely to challenge race-based social boundaries via their partner choices.

College Students and “Interracial” Relationships: How Our Measures Matter

“…In the U.S., there is a clear social consensus that the categories of "Asian," "Black," "Native American," and "White" are distinct "racial" groups. The increasing number of young people who identify as multiracial (U.S. Census 2021; Parker et al 2015) complicates and adds nuance to this simplified categorization process and may lead to more complexity and variation in the process of identity development and in the way that people conceive of "racial" boundary-crossing (Bratter 2007;Buggs 2019;Littlejohn 2019). Moreover, in the U.S., the Hispanic category is treated variously as an ethnic designation that is distinct from one's racial background (e.g., one might identify as Hispanic White and Hispanic Black) and as a racialized category unto itself (e.g., one might identify as Hispanic or non-Hispanic White) (Perlmann and Waters 2002;Parker et al 2015).…”

Color, Culture, or Cousin? Multiracial Americans and Framing Boundaries in Interracial Relationships

“…Still other research finds that part‐White multiracials have a greater likelihood of marrying White partners (Littlejohn, ; Miyawaki, ) and question if this indicates cultural group “dilution” for future generations (Song & Gutierrez, ). Yet, debates of the merits and drawbacks of interraciality foreground the mainstream U.S. notion that increased intimacy between people of different races will reduce social inequality despite the fact that scholars have illustrated how interracial relationships in and of themselves are not inherently progressive (Nemoto, ; Steinbugler, ; Twine, ) or that interracial and interethnic couplings may be at greater risk for divorce (Bratter & King, ; Zhang & Van Hook, ), likely tied to the pressures of social inequality.…”

“…It is for these broader reasons that research into online dating has continued to draw interest, as technology plays a significant role in how new relationships are formed and how boundary crossing occurs (Lewis, ; Rosenfeld & Thomas, ). Although there is a wealth of research on interracial couplings inclusive of online dating phenomena, the inclusion of multiracial people in contemporary dating analyses is much more limited (Bonam & Shih, ; Curington et al, ; Littlejohn, ; McGrath et al, ; Miyawaki, ; Qian & Lichter, ) and the qualitative assessments of these dynamics even more so (Buggs, ; Song, , ). These studies come to some similar conclusions regarding the desirability of some multiracial people: Being mixed with White has been found to increase the likelihood of response online (Curington et al, ), and being a non‐Black biracial dater has been found to be consistent with a preference for White partners (Littlejohn, ; McGrath et al, ).…”

“…Although there is a wealth of research on interracial couplings inclusive of online dating phenomena, the inclusion of multiracial people in contemporary dating analyses is much more limited (Bonam & Shih, ; Curington et al, ; Littlejohn, ; McGrath et al, ; Miyawaki, ; Qian & Lichter, ) and the qualitative assessments of these dynamics even more so (Buggs, ; Song, , ). These studies come to some similar conclusions regarding the desirability of some multiracial people: Being mixed with White has been found to increase the likelihood of response online (Curington et al, ), and being a non‐Black biracial dater has been found to be consistent with a preference for White partners (Littlejohn, ; McGrath et al, ). Specifically, some self‐identified multiracial groups (Black/Whites, American Indian/Whites, and Asian/Whites) have a greater likelihood of being married to Whites, perhaps signifying that mixed‐White multiracials may be in the process of assimilating into whiteness (Miyawaki, ).…”

“…Although they asked participants about forming a relationship with “someone of a different race,” Bonam and Shih (2009, p. 98) note that they have no information about how different race is being defined nor do they know if the definitions of different race that these participants may have line up with societal demarcations of different race. Recent research suggests that multiracial people are not more likely to challenge racial boundaries via partner choice (Littlejohn, ), and several scholars argue that multiracial people experience greater success across racial lines in dating, particularly within online spaces (Curington, Lin, & Lundquist, ; Feliciano, ; McGrath, Tsunokai, Schultz, Kavanaugh, & Tarrence, ). Yet, these studies are limited in their ability to illuminate how multiracial people perceive their potential partners or how these partners perceive them, and few studies have the data to assess how mainstream discourse and logic around racism, sexism, or xenophobia may influence partner choice for multiracials (see Buggs, ).…”