Meril BennyEnglish 21003Prof. Magliato

Survey Report: Do Americans like to date outside their race?

Abstract

This research was conducted to determine if Americans like to date outside their race.

Scientist, Jared Diamond’s research claims that humans often choose partners that are similar to

them. Race is a system created by humans to classify themselves according to shared physical

traits, genetics or ancestry. Interracial coupling has only become common in recent years, as

once in this country it was something people got punished for. In order to understand the validity

of diamond’s claim, a survey was created and sent out to eighty individuals of different races, to

understand if they preferred to date outside their race or not. The results yielded were that of 18-

24 years old Americans like to find partners outside their races. And elements such as religion,

political stance, education and other social traits are significantly influential on the selection

process over race.

Introduction

Charles Darwin proposed the concept of sexual selection 150 years ago in On the Origin

of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Darwin's theory, that of natural selection, offered an

explanation that the scientific community—and society in general—could, at the very least,

vigorously discuss (“Mate Choice and Sexual selection”, 2009). Mating selection in the 20th

century however has been drastically different. Humans selection of mates have been depended

on many different factors such as physical and social traits of a person. Humans often choose

people who are similar too them and look for people that most resemble themselves. This brings

about my question if Americans in the 20th century prefer to date/ find partners of their own race

or outside their race. According to Jared Diamond,

humans create a “search image” for their potential

partner at a very young age. Diamond states that this

search image often resembles themselves or people

close to them.

Race is a social construct created by humans to

group people. It is not biological. Yet, it is a factor that

divided this country from the very beginning and also it

is something that we refuse to discuss. Political and

racial tension is extremely high at the moment. Hate

between different groups is also very relevant. These

factors affect the way people choose their mates. Race

and ethnicity when choosing partners is important to

people because, it is a big element that you have in

common with. This research report will allow us to see

how much importance people give to the matter of race

while finding a mate. Fig 1

Method

The hypothesis, “Do Americans like to date within their race” was tested by creating an online

survey using Google Forms, and collecting the results of 80 individuals. The survey was divided

into four sections and 30 questions were given in total. The first section included the

biographical questions, such as age, race, years lived in the US, gender (figure 1).

In the second section, I included 6 questions

(6-11) on the physical traits that affect the

process of selecting a partner. These questions

were to be answered on a scale of 1 to 5. One

being not important and 5 being very

important. In the third section I included 6

questions on the social traits that affect the

process of selecting a partner. These questions

( 12-17) were also to be answered on a linear

scale from 1 to 5.

Fig 2

Fig 3

The fourth section mainly focused on the

questions that will help me test my

hypothesis. I included question on religion,

race, and ethnicity, which are all important to

people and their different cultures. (questions

18-29). The first two questions were to be

answered on a linear scale of 1-5 and the rest

were to be answered in a multiple choice

format. Fig 4 & 5

I also chose to include a question

asking for any comments in a

short answer format so I can get

some feedback on the survey.

The survey was distributed using text messages, Facebook and Instagram posts. I received more

than enough responses so I closed the survey at 80. I tried to get people of different races. So I

posted the survey on the CCNY Facebook page

for buying and selling items. After collecting

data from the 80 respondents, Google forms

calculated the information automatically and

gave me the data in charts and graphs. The

multiple choice answers were visualized in pie

charts and the the linear scale answers were

visualized in bar graphs.

Results

The survey was conducted to find out whether

Americans like to date within or outside their

own race. The majority of the survey was taken

by people ages 18- 24 (91.3%) The majority

respondents were female (75%) and the

majority respondents were born in the US

(72.5%). The respondents were 46.3% Asian or

Pacific Islander, 21.3% Hispanic or Latino,

11.3% White, 8.8% Black, and 8.4% were

mixed or other races. Fig 6

The answers from the second section showed the

importance of physicals traits when selecting a

partner.I inluded height, weight, skin color, body

type, eye and hair color. Majority of the respondents

picked options 3&4 for height and weight and body

type which shows that these two factors are quite

important when choosing a partner. The answers for

the importance of skin color was of a descending

order. This was interesting because the majority was

1, (not important 32.5%), and the percentage

decreased from 1 to 5. Half of the respondents

answered that eye and hair color were not important,

the rest were between 2-4, and two people (2.5%)

answered that these two traits are very important.

From these six questions, its is clear that the minority

of the respondents find these physical traits to be

very important when selcecting a partner. Skin color

especially stood between option 1,2& 3 which are the

‘not moderately important’ options.Only 2-9 people

out to 80 found these physical traits to be exteremly

important.

Fig 7

The third section of questions which gathered people’s

opinion on social traits when selecting a partner .The question

of political affiliation got a variety of answers. But the

majority was option 4, which means that it is moderrately

important. Wealth or Economic status was given a 3 by the

majority so it’s a factor that is a factor of some importance.

The question of religious backgroud gave me two different,

almost half anf half responses. 23.8% answered that religion

was not important, 27.5% answered that it was very

important , 16.3% answerd option 2, 17.5% answered 3 and

15% answered 4. Intelellect or educational backgroud had a

gradual increading trend of answers, but the majority found

this factor to be important - very important .

Fig 8

Fig 9

Age was given importance (Figure 9) , and the majority of the respondents believed that it was

not important for their partner to be mulilingual (fig 9), 41.3 % answered not important. How it

was not a staggerening response, 23.8% answered option 3, 16.3% answered 4 and 5% answered

(5), very important.

Fig 10

Figure 10,11 & 12 shows the next set

of questions that I asked which

focused on race and dating and

religion. When asked between race

and religion, 77.5% answered they

find religion more important than race.

81.3% of my respondents answered

that they would rather find someone

compatible over a partner their family

approves. I asked my survey

participators if they have ever dated

interracially. Half of them said yes and

half said no (. The rest answered that they have not dated interracially. I asked if they would

would be open to interracial dating and almost all answered yes, except for the 5% who said they

are not open to dating outside their race, and the rest said its complicated. When I asked if people

found people of other races attractive 93.8 % answered yes, 3.7% answered no and 2.4%

answered maybe/ depends.

Fig 11

Fig 12

I asked if participators if their parents would support their decision if they chose of date someone

of another race, (first chart in figure 12) and the majority 43.7% said maybe, 37.5% said yes, and

17.5% said no, 1.2% said yes only if they’re religiously similar. The second question on figure

10, got a 98.8% yes and one person said no, they wouldn’t support a friend or sibling who was

dating a person of another race. I also reflected interracial dating on their own kids by asking if

they would care if their son/daughter marry someone outside their race. 80% percent said no,

15% percent said yes, the rest said not sure/ if they’re religiously similar. The last question was

just asking for any comments and figure 13 shows the responses that I received.

Discussion

The data collected in the survey suggest that Americans are open to dating outside their

race if the opportunity arises. According to that data 93.8% of my respondents find people of

other races attractive. And 91.3% were open to dating people of other races. Dating in 2017 in

America where our culture is so diverse and have people of all races and identities have an

impact on our preferences. Jarred Diamond states that our childhood upbringing, and people

around us have an affect on who we choose as our partners. America has been a home to people

immigrating from all over the world since the beginning of this country. We are not in a country

where its people just look one way. We are country of diverse people and culture and growing up

in such environment influences our preferences.

Diamond’s findings suggested, that religion and personality influences our choice more

that physical appearance. This could be supported through my survey, according to the responses

on the question, “Which is more important to you: Partner of the same religion or race”, 77.5%

answered religion and 22.5% answered race. Religion is an element that people value, and

people tend to find partners who shares the same religion, which makes them more compatible. I

received several responses where they answered “If religiously similar” on many other question.

Which shows that people care deeply about aspects such as religion, personal beliefs, and values

over the color of someone’s skin or their race. This could be also seen through the responses on

the importance of skin color, political affiliation, intellect, age, wealth and religious background.

The majority found skin color to have little importance but on the contrary found political

affiliation, intellect, age, wealth and religion important. When asked if their parents would

support their decision to date someone outside their race, the majority said maybe. One

respondent said that their parents were xenophobic and another said if religiously similar. These

answers show that even though our culture is so diverse in this day and age, most people’s

family/ parents prefer to date within their own people. Parents prefer for us to find people like

them. When asked if they rather choose someone their parents approve or some one who is

compatible 81.3% answered someone who is compatible. This also suggests how dating/ finding

partners is different in 2017.

The ‘comments’ question yielded some interesting responses (fig 11). One respondent

with a religious and conservative background expressed (4th comment) that people need to see

beyond wealth, economic status, race and religion. Which is suggesting that they do not find

these aspects to be important while choosing a partner. While another respondent (7th comment)

added that these elements are important, and that they should be similar in values, and that there

should be ‘giving and receiving’ equally in all aspects of a relationship. They also added that

dating apps are superficial and only shows the physical aspects of a person and that there is no

real connection. These two responses which shows two different view point that I received in my

results. These opinions and preferences may be formed due to how they were raised and where

they grew up. As Diamond stated, our upbringing affects how and who we choose as our

partners.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this survey shows that people in the 20th century do like to date outside

their own race. However, race does not play a major role in the selection process. One’s physical

and social traits seemed to be of more value over anything else. The survey showed that some

people still found race, skin, color, and other physical traits to be very important. But the

majority of the respondents found it to have less importance. My survey results correspond to

Jared Diamond’s philosophy in mate selection to some extent.

References

Jones, G.A. (n.d). Mate choice and sexual selection: What have we learned since Darwin?

Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/106/Supplement_1/10001.full

Diamond, J.M. (1992). The third chimpanzee: the evolution and future of the human animal.

New York, NY: Harper Collins