Interracial Dating Attitudes Among College Students - Polling Data - Statistical Data Included

College Student Journal, March, 2000 by David Knox, Marty E. Zusman, Carmen Buffington, Gloria Hemphill

3. Interracial Dating Experience. Ninety-two percent of the respondents who reported having dated interracially were open to doing so again. Only 32% of those who had not dated interracially were open to interracial involvement. This finding was statistically significant (p [is less than] .0000). The finding that exposure encourages acceptance is not unusual. Similar phenomenon in regard to racial attitudes has been documented (Hallinan and Teizeira, 1987; Homans, 1950; Slavin, 1979).

Summary and Implications

Almost half of the college students in this sample were open to involvement in a relationship with someone of another race. Almost a quarter had done so. Such openness to interracial dating is characteristic of both women and men and students of all academic ranks. Persons who are black, experienced in living together, and who have dated interracially are particularly approving of interracial involvement.

This study provides information for university students, faculty, and counselors about interracial dating as a part of the college experience. Racial barriers are, indeed, coming down as students test for themselves interracial relationships. Unique issues/benefits/problems related to these relationships await new research.

References

Hallinan, M. t. and R. A. Teixeira. (1987). Students interracial friendships: Individual characteristics, structural effects, and racial differences. American Journal of Education, 95,563-583.

Homans, George C. (1950) The Human Group. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1950.

Rosenblatt, P. C., T. A. Karis, and R. D. Powell (1995) Multiracial couples. Thousand' Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1995.

Slavin, Robert E (1979) "Effects of Biracial Learning Teams on Cross-Racial Friendships." Journal of Educational Psychology 71, 381-87.

Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1998, 118th ed. (1998) Washington, D. C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998

DAVID KNOX, EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

MARTY E. ZUSMAN, INDIANA UNIVERSITY NORTHWEST

CARMEN BUFFINGTON, EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

GLORIA HEMPHIL, INDIANA UNIVERSITY NORTHWEST