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Abstract
Most of the previous studies on interracial relationships have paid scant attention to dating despite the fact that dating is an important form of socialization, which eventually can lead to marriage. In the present study 28 interracial and 27 same-race dating couples were compared. A correlational approach was used to investigate 4 hypotheses: (1) in interracial dating couples, congruent levels of acculturation will be associated with greater relationship satisfaction; (2) in interracial dating couples stronger ethnic identification and greater acceptance of partner's ethnic identification will be associated with greater relationship satisfaction; (3) interracial dating couples will persist in the relationship for similar reasons as will same-race couples; (4) interracial dating couples will report similar levels of relationship satisfaction as will same race dating couples.
The results of the current study indicated that congruent levels of acculturation were not associated with greater relationship satisfaction in interracial couples. Expression of ethnic identification and higher acceptance of partner's ethnic identification were not associated with higher levels of relationship satisfaction in interracial dating couples in this sample. Interracial dating couples in this sample did not persist in the relationship for the same reasons as those in same race couples, with females in interracial couples expressing greater commitment to the relationship than females in same race relationships. Analysis indicated that satisfaction, quality of alternatives and investment size seem to effect commitment of same race and interracial couples differently. As hypothesized, interracial dating couples reported similar levels of satisfaction, as did same race couples.*
*Originally published in DAI, Vol 64, No. 7. Reprinted here with corrected author name.
