Race, Place, and Relationship Formation

• In Event: 2166 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 4: Interracial Relationships

Abstract

Researchers have studied how race and place are important for educational, labor market, homeownership, and wealth outcomes. However, less is known about how race intersects with place to contribute to ethno-racial differences in relationship formation. This examination is relevant especially in the age of online and app dating, when spatial boundaries are perceived as less salient for forming both short- and long-term romantic connections now than in the past. Using data from interviews with 111 Asian, white, black, and Latino college-educated women between the ages of 25 and 32 about their on- and offline dating experiences and behaviors, I find that some places provide less opportunities for same race and interracial dating for women of color. White women, on the other hand, are more concerned with how some places provided limited opportunities to make new romantic connections and how the mismatch between their dating norms, beliefs, and/or expectations and the place where they reside makes their romantic partner search more difficult. In both cases, these locational barriers limit chances to form romantic relationships in particular places. I argue, however, that place continues to matter for relationship formation and that these locational barriers have greater implications for relationship formation for women of color, especially college-educated black women. I also maintain that examining race and place in the context of relationship formation may contribute to our current explanations of ethno-racial variation in marital trends.

Author

• Sarah Adeyinka-Skold, University of Pennsylvania