Stress and Sensibility: Differential Social Stress and Interracial Marriage Attitudes amongst Asian Americans

• In Event: 3181 - Section on Asia and Asian America Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 06. Intermarriage and Assimilation

Abstract

Despite the fact that Asian Americans are the racial group most likely to intermarry, general attitudes towards interracial marriage among this community remain mixed. Social Exchange Theory where every social interaction is based off of a cost-benefit analysis, is one explanation as to why interracial unions occur, motivated by the acquisition of social capital and status. The present study provides an innovative framework for understanding Asian American attitudes towards interracial marriage utilizing both SET and the Minority Stress Model, which predicts high levels of chronic stress for minority populations based on specific stressors such as discrimination. This study hypothesizes that high levels of minority stress will lead to a more open-minded attitude towards social exchange, via interracial marriage. Analysis of the hypothesized framework yielded mixed results. Models showed that higher levels of chronic discrimination predicted significantly lower levels of importance for marrying within same racial group as was suggested by the hypothesis. However, higher levels of acculturative distress yielded higher levels of importance for marrying within racial group counter to the hypothesis. These findings suggest that the relationship between minority stress and interracial marriage as social exchange is more complex than originally thought. The implications of these findings suggest that in examining motivations for social exchange, researchers should consider differences in stress types when using stress as a proxy for perceived negative cost in social interaction.

Author

• Ryan Gibson, Emory University