Dating and commitment choices as a function of ethnicity among American college students in California.

The incidence of interracial and interethnic dating and marriage in the United States has increased. This investigation examined dating and commitment choices as a function of ethnicity and sex among groups of Euro-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, and African-American college students. A convenience sample of college students comprising 329 heterosexual subjects (134 men, 195 women) was surveyed regarding their partner preferences for dating, visiting parents, marriage, and bearing children. It was hypothesized that subjects would consider dating partners from different ethnic groups, but when making a commitment to marriage and children would prefer members of their own group. This hypothesis was supported in half of the groups: Euro-American men, African-American men, Asian-American women, and African-American women. A discussion of dating and commitment choices among ethnic and sex groups is presented and discussed.