Interracial Love: Does Ethnicity Matter in Online Dating?

First Posted: Nov 05, 2013 09:43 AM EST
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Social media has helped many reach out to other races outside their own, often times through romantic overtures.

A recent study looks at popular dating websites, such as OkCupid, and how forums like this one have helped break barriers regarding interracial contact.

Researchers examined only heterosexual interactions and people who identified themselves as one of the top five OkCupid racial categories: Black, White, Asian (East Asian), Hispanic/Latino and Indian (South Asian).

The study analyzed the first message sent and the first reply made.

Study findings revealed that some are more willing than others to break ties from the past, showing that the group with the strongest tendency to initiate within their own race were Asians and Indians. Caucasians were least likely to show any preference.

However, background information from the study notes that the biggest "reversals" could be observed among groups that displayed the greatest tendency towards in-group bias. For instance, this showed true when a person was contacted by someone from a different racial background for the first time, or what's otherwise referred to as "preemptive discrimination."

"Based on a lifetime of experiences in a racist and racially segregated society, people anticipate discrimination on the part of a potential recipient and are largely unwilling to reach out in the first place. But if a person of another race expresses interest in them first, their assumptions are falsified-and they are more willing to take a chance on people of that race in the future," lead researcher Kevin Lewis of UC San Diego said, according to a news release.

Unfortunately, this new outlook on life is short-lived according to researchers. They found that those who are most likely to date within their own race go back to the same pattern within less than a week.

"Racial bias in assortative mating is a robust and ubiquitous social phenomenon, and one that is difficult to surmount even with small steps in the right direction," Lewis said, via the release. "We still have a long way to go."

What have been your experiences with online dating? Share in the comments below.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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