Close Cross-group Relationships: An Annotated Bibliography

Elizabeth Page-Gould
University of Toronto Scarborough

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton
University of California, Berkeley

Please only cite or quote with permission of the first author. Comments welcome.

Purpose and Usage Notes

The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to provide readers with a quick reference for questions about relationships between people from different "social groups" (e.g., cross-race/interracial romantic relationships, interreligious friendships), as they have been studied in psychological and sociological research. In terms of this bibliography, "cross-group relationships" refer only to close cross-group relationships, such as friendships and romantic relationships, rather than cross-group contact with no attendant feelings of closeness.

A list of questions regarding cross-group relationships has been compiled below to increase ease of navigation throughout this document. Click on a question to go to the related section. The bibliography has also been organized by topic, so you can also click on one of the topics listed below for a review of the literature on that subject.

Click on the questions below to learn more about cross-group relationships:

Click on a topic below to learn more about cross-race relationships:

Introduction

While racial inequality still poses a major social problem in the U.S., close cross-race relationships may provide a context of equality in which intergroup differences act as an enhancement, not barrier, to positive cross-race attitudes. Indeed, many studies have associated interracial relationships with less prejudicial attitudes. Among school children, high proportions of cross-race friendships have been linked with social skills and achievement aspirations. However, cross-race relationships are scarce among Americans, and social attitudes towards interracial relationships appear to be mixed.

The findings from this review indicate that structural factors can actively affect intergroup relations. Changes in school structure from tradition to cooperative learning programs increase children's formation of cross-race friendships, as well as friendship quality. The research suggests that encouraging cooperative learning programs while maintaining small, diverse classrooms will increase proportions of cross-race friendships among school children. Interracial friendships appear to be less stable, but individuals with high proportions of cross-race friends have greater stability and interracial friendship quality than individuals with low proportions of cross-race friends. Therefore, children with high proportions of interracial friendships appear to be more open to future cross-race interactions. Cross-race friendships are associated with reduced racial bias, greater social competence, and more leadership skills. Overall, it appears that U.S. society could greatly benefit from an upcoming cohort of leaders with increased positivity towards intergroup relations and multicultural sensitivity.

Social distance is the degree to which one allows particular social groups to become part of their close social network. Interracial romantic relationships represent the smallest degree of social distance. Although interracial relationships are uncommon, they are characterized by mutual respect, support, and collective orientations towards common goals, which is in stark contrast to popularly held beliefs that interracial romantic relationships must be inherently dysfunctional. Individuals tend to enter interracial romantic relationships for the same reason others enter same-race romantic relationships: compatible personality characteristics. Unfortunately, interracial romantic relationships endure the harsher societal rejection than cross-race friendships which may pose a significant barrier towards their formation and maintenance. However, Americans who grow up in integrated neighborhoods and schools are more likely to be involved in an interracial romantic relationship.

Prevalence of Cross-race Relationships in the United States

How common are cross-race friendships in the U.S.?

Overall, the proportions of cross-race friendships in the U.S. appear to be increasing for both children and adults. This trend is most pronounced for Caucasian-Americans. Tuch, Sigelman, and MacDonald (1999) report data from a massive longitudinal survey of American youth collected annually from 1976 to 1995. Respondents were asked about the composition of their group of friends. Figure 1 represents the percentage of African-American and Caucasian high school seniors with all or almost all same-race friends for the last quarter of the 20^th century. The percentage of African-Americans with all or almost all same-race friends is lower than for Caucasians, which reflects findings described throughout this bibliography. African-Americans appeared to have an increase in cross-race friendships during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but this trend reversed in the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s, the percentage of African-Americans with all or almost all same-race friends was basically equivalent to the percentage in the mid 1970s. Caucasian high school students though the percentage of Caucasians with interracial friendships increased over the study period, they still exhibit less interracial friendliness (defined by sheer number of interracial friends) than the African-American respondents by the mid-1990s.

Figure 1: High School Students with All or Almost All Same-Race Friendships by Ethnicity, 1976 - 1995*

Cross-race Friendship Among African- and Caucasian-Americans over 20 years

*From Tuch, Sigelman, & MacDonald (1999)

While conducting their studies, many research papers included the percentage of cross-race friendships in their sample. Figure 2 displays the percentage of interracial friendships reported by each of five research papers that studied interracial friendships for African-American and Caucasian children. All studies except for Sigelman & Welch (1993) reported prevalence of students' cross-race "best friend" choices. Sigelman & Welch (1993) were simply interested in the prevalence of any cross-race friends, which is why the proportion of interracial friendships reported in that study appear so relatively high. This difference is important, as it highlights how different methodologies can yield very different results. Overall, it appears as if both Caucasian and African-American school children have elected fewer cross-race peers over the course of studies conducted between 1985 and 2000, with Caucasians showing a larger reduction than African-Americans.

Figure 2: Interracial Friendships of African-American and Caucasian Students, as Observed over Five Studies

*Adapted from the above studies

Back to Questions

How common are interracial romantic relationships in the United States?

The prevalence of interracial romantic relationships is low in the United States, and varies by ethnicity. As counted by the 2000 US census: approximately 120,638,000 US citizens are either married (~112,994,000) or cohabiting (~7,644,000; "cohabiting" means unmarried but living together. I chose to analyze these two groups of people (married and unmarried cohabiters) to represent serious romantic relationships in the US. Of this 120,638,000 US citizens involved in serious romantic relationships, approximately 113,730,000 people are in same-race relationships (~94.3%) and approximately 6,906,000 are in cross-race relationships (~5.7%).

All of this data is publicly available on the census bureau website (census.gov) in the form of two tables, one with demographic data of Married Couples in the US (http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/p20-537/2000/tabFG3.txt) and the other with demographics of Cohabiting couples in the US (http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/p20-537/2000/tabUC3.txt). "Other race" refers to non-Hispanic, non-Caucasian, and non-African-American individuals, which includes all ethnicities of Asian-Americans and Native Americans (quite a diverse group to lump all together indeed). Also please note that this data is only for heterosexual partnerships, so unfortunately homosexual interracial relationships are not represented.

Figure 3 below displays the percentage of U.S. married couples and unmarried interracial cohabiting partners by each ethnicity. In general, Caucasians and African-Americans were much less likely than Hispanic-Americans and Americans of other races to be cohabiting with an interracial partner, perhaps reflecting the harsher societal attitudes towards African-American-Caucasian unions. It appears that unmarried cohabiting partners are more likely to be interracial than married partners. This is especially so for Hispanic-Americans (approximately one quarter of Hispanic-American unmarried cohabiting partners are interracial) and Americans of other races (more than 40% of unmarried cohabiting Americans of other races were living with an interracial partner). These data reflect findings that Asian-, Hispanic-, and Native-Americans tend to have the most interracial relationships (Gaines & Leaver, 2002).

Figure 3: Interracial Cohabiting Partners by Marital Status and Ethnicity in the U.S., 2000*

*Adapted from the U.S. Census Bureau, March 2000 CPS

An interesting point is that the proportions of people in interracial relationships within an ethnicity (Figure 3) are different from the likelihood of a person being of a certain race if that person is in a cross-race romantic relationship (Figure 4). Even though Caucasians in married and cohabiting relationships are less likely to be in cross-race relationships than people of other ethnicities, Caucasians still account for the majority of people in interracial cohabiting relationships in the U.S. in 2000 (approximately 45.9%). Figure 4 represents the proportion of all interracial cohabiting US citizens (irrespective of marital status) classified by ethnicity. The numerical numbers of people in cohabiting interracial relationships are listed next to each ethnicity. Because Caucasians are the numerical majority in the U.S., the small percentage of cohabiting Caucasians in interracial relationships (3.2% of all married Caucasians & 6.8% of unmarried cohabiting Caucasians) still equals 3,175,000 people. Latin-Americans are the second-most represented group among individuals in interracial relationships (approximately 28.5%), then Other ethnicities (approximately 17.3%), and African-Americans with the lowest percentage of people in interracial relationships (approximately 8.3% of all interracial cohabiting citizens).

Figure 4: Ethnicity of US Citizens Cohabiting with an Interracial Partner*

*adapted from the U.S. Census Bureau, March 2000 CPS

Back to Questions

Which are the most common pairings of race and sex among U.S. adult's interracial romantic relationships?

Since this bibliography was first put online, many people have requested the most common pairings by race and sex of interracial romantic relationships. Tables 1 and 2 list the top 12 most common race by sex pairings of interracial couples. Table 1 reports the most common demographic composition of interracial married couples, and Table 2 reports the common demographic compositions of unmarried, cohabiting interracial couples.

Table 1: Most Common Demographic Compositions of Cross-race Married Couples in the US in 2000*

Ranking	Husband's Race	Wife's Race	Approximate Number
1	Caucasian-American	Latina	824,000
2	Latino	Caucasian-American	723,000
3	Caucasian-American	Other Race	600,000
4	Other Race	Caucasian-American	348,000
5	African-American	Caucasian-American	227,000
6	Caucasian-American	African-American	80,000
7	African-American	Latina	72,000
8	Latino	Other Race	47,000
9	Latino	African-American	41,000
10	African-American	Other Race	35,000⁺
11	Other Race	Latina	35,000⁺
12	Other Race	African-American	11,000

*Adapted from the U.S. Census (2000)

⁺note that 10 and 11 are tied, so they were ranked alphabetically

Table 2: Most Common Demographic Compositions of Cross-race Cohabiting Couples in the US in 2000*

Ranking	Male's Race	Female's Race	Approximate Number
1	Latino	Caucasian-American	111,000
2	Caucasian-American	Latina	86,000
3	Caucasian-American	Other Race	73,000
4	African-American	Caucasian-American	69,000
5	Other Race	Caucasian-American	23,000
6	African-American	Latina	12,000
7	Caucasian-American	African-American	11,000
8	Latino	Other Race	8,000
9	Other Race	African-American	6,000
10	African-American	Other Race	5,000
11	Latino	African-American	3,000⁺
12	Other Race	Latina	3,000⁺

*Adapted from the U.S. Census (2000)

⁺note that 11 and 12 are tied, so they were ranked alphabetically

Back to Questions

Conducive Environments

What situational characteristics foster cross-race friendships among children and teenagers?

Certain environments increase childrenaphic diversity, and classroom size can be effectively harnessed by schools to improve cross-race interactions among classmates. Overall, cooperative learning programs (Slavin, 1995a) and small, demographically diverse classrooms seem to have met with the most success in increasing the proportion of children's cross-race friendships.

The opportunity hypothesis proposes that cross-race friendships increase as the opportunities for cross-race friendships increase. Therefore, children in schools where most students are of other races should have more cross-race friendships than children in schools where most students are of their same race. Studies have found that minority students report greater proportions of cross-race friendships than majority students (Slavin & Cooper, 1999; Hallinan & Smith, 1985), which supports the opportunity hypothesis. An underlying assumption of these studies was that members of ethnic minorities are constantly surrounded with more cross- than same-race others. However, many studies have shown that a barrier towards societal integration is a consistent trend towards self-segregation (Slavin, 1995b; Pinkney, 1993). In addition, many controversies still exist about government sanctioned segregation through the use of bussing programs (New York-WABC, 2002). According to these sources, even though most of the general population is Caucasian-American, minorities still have more opportunities for same- than cross-race friendships. Therefore, ethnicity alone cannot be relied on to indicate opportunity for cross-race friendship. Minorities' higher proportion of cross-race friendships could be a result of simply having more opportunities for cross-race friendships, or there could be other factors that influence greater interracial friendliness among ethnic minorities.

In addition, there are caveats to the opportunity hypothesis. In order for environments with high proportions of cross-race others to facilitate interracial friendships, there must not be an ample population of potential same-race friends. Hallinan & Teixiera (1987b) found an interaction between diversity of classroom and classroom size: diversity increased proportion of cross-race friendships in small, but not large, classrooms, presumably because it was not necessary for students to make the effort to cross racial boundaries for friendships in large classrooms. However, the schools can implement learning techniques that encourage interracial friendliness between students.

One such learning technique is the use of cooperative learning teams (CLTs), which are randomly constructed teams of students rewarded for collective, not individual, performance. CLTs were developed as an alternative to traditional teaching methods that tend to stress individual achievement and to group students by ability. When developing a CLT teaching structure, students are divided into groups somewhat randomly, without segregating by grade, demographic characteristics, or "ability." In addition, the team is rewarded for collective performance and works toward a common goal. Usually, students stay on the same teams for about three years, so they are able to develop long-term friendships with their teammates. CLTs necessitate that team members interact as equals, which is probably one of the most important contributions of CLTs to interracial friendliness.

Studies interested in the effectiveness of CLTs among school children show increases in both the quantity and quality of students' interracial friendships. The theoretical reasoning for why CLTs are effective in fostering cross-race friendships is that students develop a team culture, and the collective team identity overrides the ethnic identity of individual team members. Studies have found CLTs increase proportions of Caucasian students cross-race friendships (Hallinan & Teixiera, 1987b; Damico, Bell-Nathaniel, & Green, 1981). Among African-Americans, classrooms which emphasized intrinsic motivation for learning increased cross-race best-friend choices (Hallinan & Teixiera, 1987b). In sum, small, diverse classrooms with CLT learning structures are the ideal school environment for fostering cross-race friendships.

Fletcher, A.C., Rollins, A., & Nickerson, P. (2004). The extension of school-based inter- and intraracial children's friendships: Influences on psychosocial well-being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74, 272 - 285.

Building on research which had demonstrated the important role parents play in the maintenance of their children's friendships (Ladd, 1992), the authors interviewed 4th graders and their parents (88% mothers, 8% fathers, and 5% other relatives) regarding the children's friendships. On average, African-American parents knew more of their children's cross-race friends than did Caucasian parents. In addition, African-American parents reported feeling closer to their children's other-race friends than same-race friends, whereas Caucasian parents reported closer relationships with their children's same-race friends than different race friends. Apparently, parents who are more involved in their children's friendships, in general, were more likely to know their children's friends of other racial groups. African-American children whose parents felt close with their cross-race friends scored higher on self-esteem and were rated as being more socially competent by their classmates than African-American children whose parents did not feel close with their cross-race friends.

Joyner, K. & Kao, G. (2000). School racial composition and adolescent racial homophily. Social Science Quarterly, 81, 810 - 825.

Joyner and Kao were interested in how school composition affects high schoobl studentsbelow displays the approximate percentage of cross-race friendships (blue bars) and the approximate percentage of students of other races (red bars) by ethnicity. The percentage of students of other races can be used as a measure of opportunity to have interracial friendships. When opportunity for interracial friendships was controlled, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans were more likely than Caucasians to have interracial friendships, but African-Americans and Asian-Americans were less likely than Caucasians to have an interracial friendship. In terms of school racial composition, students' likelihood of having a cross-race friendship increased as the proportion of other-race students increased.

Figure 5: Interracial Friendships by Opportunity for Interracial Friendships by Ethnicity*

*adapted from Joyner & Kao (2000)

Slavin, R.E., & Cooper, R. (1999). Improving intergroup relations: Lessons learned from cooperative learning programs. Journal of Social Issues, 55, 647 - 633.

Slavin and Cooper provide an extensive review of the effectiveness of cooperative learning programs on interracial friendships and attitudes. Cooperative learning programs vary in exact method, but ultimately are structured so that students are assigned to diverse teams that work together towards a common goal. An important component of the cooperative learning structure is the distribution of rewards according to each team's collective performance instead of the performance of individual students. The authors find cooperative learning programs increase the prevalence and quality of interracial friendships. They propose that cooperative learning programs foster a sense of a "team culture" that overrides racial boundaries.

Hallinan, M.T., & Teixeira, R.A. (1987b). Opportunities and constraints: Black-White differences in the formation of interracial friendships. Child Development, 58, 1358 - 1371.

Hallinan and Teixeira examined structural and social factors that increased the likelihood of cross-race friendships among school children. They found that classrooms which exhibit a id not need to bother crossing racial barriers to find companions. In schools where students were tracked by ability, Caucasian students tended to choose interracial friends from within their "ability group." The authors conclude that small, demographically diverse classrooms that emphasize intrinsic motivation for learning foster more and higher quality cross-race friendships.

Hallinan, M.T., & Smith, S.S. (1985). The effects of classroom racial composition on students' interracial friendliness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 48, 3 - 16.

A large survey of northern California 4^th to 7^th graders was analyzed to distinguish the validity of two theories of interracial sociability: 1) interracial friendliness is a function of number of opportunities to initiate a cross-race friendship, and 2) due to feeling socially threatened, minority students isolate themselves from the majority. This latter theory received no support, as levels of interracial friendliness were about equal for both minority and majority students. In general, as the proportion of one ethnic group increased, the other ethnic group displayed greater interracial friendliness. These results imply that cross-race friendship can be viewed as a function of number of opportunities for cross-race or same-race relationships. Therefore, more diverse classrooms foster greater opportunities for interracial friendships to be formed. However, the findings of Hallinan and Teixiera (1987b) qualify this finding with classroom size; diversity is most effective in fostering cross-race friendships in small classrooms.

Damico, S.B., Bell-Nathaniel, A., & Green, C. (1981). Effects of school organizational structure on interracial friendships in middle schools. Journal of Education Research, 74, 388 - 393.

The authors were interested in how different school structures affected studentss than Caucasian students in traditionally organized schools. The authors concluded that team organization provides students with a cooperative, equal-status environment which foster interracial friendships, especially for Caucasian students who generally have less opportunity to develop interracial friendships.

Back to Questions

What situational characteristics foster cross-race friendships among adults?

In the same way that cooperative learning teams increase children's cross-race friendships, diverse business organizations that emphasize organizational membership and reward team achievement instead of individual achievement foster more member interaction and less salience of demographic categories. While the research into interracial friendships among adult coworkers has been sparse, the current literature seems to agree that creating a collective atmosphere that emphasizes a corporate culture promotes interaction between coworkers, therefore allowing for the benefits of a demographically diverse staff.

In line with both the Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1954) and the Opportunity Hypothesis (Hallinan & Teixiera, 1987b), adults who have lived in multiracial neighborhoods or attended interracial schools were more likely to report having same-race friends. Having attended integrated schools predicted having more diverse social networks in general, higher likelihood of being interracially married, and currently attending multiracial religious congregations. Having diverse friendship networks also predicted positive attitudes toward cross-race contact (Emerson, Kimbro, & Yancey, 2002).

Chatman, J.A., Polzer, J.T., Barsade, S.G., & Neale, M.A. (1998). Being different yet feeling similar: The influence of demographic composition and organizational culture on work processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43, 749 - 780.

The authors examined how demographic diversity and corporate culture interact to influence interaction among members, the salience of social categories, and group creativity, productivity, and conflict in simulated organizations. Corporate culture was manipulated to be either individualistic (rewarding individual rather than team achievement) or collectivistic (rewarding team rather than individual achievement, emphasizing organizational membership), and demographic diversity was based on participants' age, sex, and race. Simulated organizations that were demographically diverse and emphasized organizational membership had more interaction between members and reported other member's demographic characteristics to be less salient than diverse and individualistically oriented organizations.

Emerson, M.O., Kimbro, R.T., & Yancey, G. (2002). Contact theory extended: The effects of prior racial contact on current social ties. Social Science Quarterly, 83, 745 - 761,

The authors called 2,561 English- and Spanish-speaking US adults between October of 1999 and April of 2000 using random-digit dialing. Respondents were asked a number of questions regarding their background and prior interracial contact as well as questions regarding their current circle of friends, romantic relationships, and the ethnic diversity of their religious congregation (if the participant had been attending the congregation for more than 2 months). The respondents whom had experienced prior interracial contact in schools and neighborhoods were more likely, as adults, to have more racially diverse social groups and friendship circles, were more likely to attend multiracial religious congregations, and to be interracially married, which echoes the findings of Yancey (2002). Respondents who never before lived in an integrated neighborhood or never went to an integrated school were 2.6 times more likely to report having only same-race friends (50% had all same-race friends) than respondents who had experienced mixed-race environments in childhood (19% had all same-race friends). The effects of interracial contact seem cyclical; as past interracial experience predicts more diverse groups of friends, and more diverse groups of friends likely contribute to future interracial friendliness. The authors have a great quote: "Friendship is bonding capital, but when that friendship is multiracial, it is also bridging capital."

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Individual Characteristics

What individual characteristics and motives predict cross-race friendships among children?

There is hardly any literature on children's motives for initiating cross-race friendships. However, since similar situations foster interracial friendships for both children and adults (cooperative teams emphasizing team culture and collective reward systems), predictions can be made about childreninterracial relationships. For instance, given that adults in interracial marriages report personality characteristics overwhelmingly influenced their spouse choice (Lewis, Yancey, & Bletzer, 1997), children are also probably primarily motivated by compatible personality characteristics to initiate cross-race close friendships. Indeed, Clark and Ayers (1992) found that similarity played a primary role in children's cross-race friendships.

The opportunity hypothesis provides some assumptions about childrenenvironment. However, even though Hallinan and Teixiera (1987b) found that diverse classrooms fostered cross-race friendships, as long as there were a significant number of same-race peers in a child's environment, students were less likely to nominate a cross-race peer as a friend, regardless of opportunities for cross-race friendships. This is presumably because it is not necessary to make the extra effort to overcome racial boundaries if one has a suitable pool of same-race peers to choose as friends. These findings imply that it is not opportunity alone that motivates children to initiate cross-race friendships. In spite of the lack of motivation research, there have been many attempts to associate individual characteristics with interracial friendliness. Among school children, the friendlier and more popular a child is, the more likely that child is to report cross-race friends (Hallinan & Teixiera, 1987b). In addition, children with high proportions of cross-race friendships exhibited more social competence and multicultural sensitivity (Hunter & Elias, 1999). Since more social skills and multicultural sensitivity were merely correlated with interracial friendships, it is possible these factors are predecessors, not outcomes of interracial relationships. Most likely, it is a positive feedback loop: interacting with cross-race friends may promote social competence and multicultural sensitivity, which then promotes future interaction with cross-race peers. Overall, popularity, social skills, and multicultural sensitivity are individual characteristics that have been associated with children's cross-race friendship choices.

Hallinan, M.T., & Teixeira, R.A. (1987b). Opportunities and constraints: Black-White differences in the formation of interracial friendships. Child Development, 58, 1358 - 1371.

Hallinan and Teixeira examined structural and social factors that increased the likelihood of cross-race friendships among school children. In general, friendlier students (defined by sheer number of other students indicated as either "best-friend" or "friend") had more cross-race friendships. In addition, students were much more likely to have same-sex interracial friendships than opposite-sex interracial friendships. Interestingly, the more same-race popularity a child had (indicated by number of same-race peers that elected the child as a friend or best friend), the fewer cross-race friendships the child reported. However, the more popular a student was within her/his own race, the more likely that student was to be elected by other-race students as a friend. The authors conclude that overall friendliness increases the likelihood of interracial friendliness, and children who were popular with their same-race peers were just generally more popular with all students, regardless of the popular child's individual friendship choices.

Lease, A.M., & Blake, J.J. (2005). A comparison of majority-race children with and without a minority-race friend. Social Development, 14, 20 - 41.

The authors examined characteristics of African- and Caucasian-American students with cross-race friends from schools which had either mostly African-American students (Black majority) or mostly Caucasian-American students (White majority), thus unconfounding race with numerical minority/majority status. They asked children questions about their social and behavioral characteristics, their 3-closest friendships, and the other children in their classroom, including which children they liked the most and characteristics of each classmate. There were no significant differences between African- and Caucasian-American students when those students were a part of the majority-race in their classroom. Therefore, the authors conducted their analyses for all majority-race children, regardless of their specific race. Majority-race children with a cross-race friend were more likely to receive "like-most" nominations from their peers, and to be rated as more popular by the other students than their peers with no cross-race friends. In addition, the other students rated majority-race children with a cross-race friend as being better listeners, having more leadership qualities, and being smarter.

Of course, these are correlations, so the direction of causality is unclear. It is possible that more popular children who are generally leaders in the classroom are the ones with enough social capital to cross racial boundaries in their friendships, which is the explanation provided by Lease & Blake. Indeed, being perceived to be a "good listener" seems to be a quality necessary for a high-quality multiracial relationship. However, it is also possible that having a cross-race friend necessitates the development of these qualities. Either way, this study provides an interesting glimpse into characteristics which differ between children with same- or cross-race friends, while being able to unconfound race and numerical majority/minority status.

Back to Questions

What individual characteristics and motives predict cross-race romantic relationships?

There are a number of theories as to why individuals choose to get involved in interracial romantic relationships. Some assume attraction to individuals of other races indicates psychological maladjustment and self-loathing (Davidson, 1992; Pope, 1986). Other camps assume individuals engage in cross-race romantic relationships because of rebellious tendencies, such as the pull of "forbidden fruit" (Gaines & Ickes, 2000). However, these folkloric theories have found little support in the current literature (Gurung & Duong, 1999; Shibazaki & Brennan, 1998; Lewis, Yancey, & Bletzer, 1997). Overall, individual characteristics that predict interracial dating are strongly related to more liberal ideologies and integrated environments, not maladjustment. Also, motivations for getting involved in a romantic relationship are very similar to motivations for initiating same-race romantic relationships.

Drawing from data collected by a nationally representative telephone survey of adults, Yancey (2002) identified some individual characteristics that predicted interracial dating among different ethnic groups. For all groups, not being Catholic and either living in an integrated neighborhood or attending an integrated high school predicted interracial dating. Living in an integrated neighborhood and/or attending integrated schools provides individuals with more exposure to other ethnicities, so this commonality supports the opportunity hypothesis discussed above. One possible reason for the negative relationship between Catholicism and interracial dating is that Catholicism encourages its followers to marry other Catholics, and there are fewer ethnic minority Catholics than in other religious sects (ARDA, 1998). While the association with Catholicism could be explained by the Catholic Church's politically conservative ideology, the effect of liberal ideologies was only significant for Caucasians, which contrasted with the positive association between being a conservative protestant and interracial dating among Asian Americans. Overall, non-Catholics and individuals who grew up in integrated neighborhoods and schools are more likely to date interracially.

Motivations for entering interracial relationships have been studied through the analysis of personal ads and through retrospective self-reports of individuals in interracial marriages. Some theorists have proposed that people seek interracial relationships because they feel they have qualities that are more attractive to other ethnicities or that they desire characteristics that are associated with other races. Neither of these theories were supported by an analysis of personal ads (Yancey & Yancey, 1998), which found no differences between ethnicities in characteristics being sought or offered.

Self-reports of motivations to enter current interracial relationships reveal very similar motivations for entering cross-race romantic relationships as same-race romantic relationships (Lewis, Yancey, & Bletzer, 1997). All-in-all, it appears to be the personality of a potential mate, not the race, that most influences an individual's motivation to enter into a romantic relationship. Ironically, individuals involved in interracial marriages frequently report that their cross-race spouse's ethnicity is least sexually novel as a result of their long-term exposure to their spouse (Gaines & Ickes, 1997).

Yancey, G. (2002). Who interracially dates: An examination of the characteristics of those who have interracially dated. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 33, 179 - 190.

Yancey analyzed data from a national telephone survey of English and Spanish speaking U.S. adults conducted from 1999-2000. He identified factors that influence whether an individual interracially dates by each ethnicity. Table 1 below displays characteristics that predicted interracial dating by ethnicity. Overall, Caucasians have the greatest number of qualifications affecting whether they will date interracially. For both Caucasian- and Hispanic-Americans, being well-educated was positively associated with interracial dating, and a higher income predicted cross-race dating among Asian-Americans. In addition, young Caucasian- and African-Americans were more likely to have dated interracially than older Caucasian- and African-Americans. Finally, Caucasian-, African-, and Hispanic-American males were more likely to interracially date than females, but there was no significant difference in likelihood of interracial dating between Asian-American males and females. For all ethnicities, interracial dating was predicted by not being Catholic and being immersed in an integrated environment.

Table 1: Characteristics that Predict Interracial Dating by Ethnicity*

African-Americans	Asian-Americans	Caucasian-Americans	Latino(a)s
Male	Not Catholic	Male	Male
Not Catholic	Attended integrated schools	Not Catholic	Not Catholic
Integrated neighborhood	Higher income	Integrated neighborhood	Attended integrated school
Young adult	Conservative Protestant	Attended integrated school	well-educated
Well-educated		Young adult
Live in Northeastern US		Well-educated
		Live in Western US
		More politically liberal

*Adapted from Yancey (2002)

Yancey, G., & Yancey, S. (1998). Interracial dating: Evidence from personal advertisements. Journal of Family Issues, 19, 334 - 348.

Yancey and Yancey analyzed personal ads from a variety of single's magazines to examine what qualities are sought and offered (termed "relational capital") by individuals who are open to interracial dating. When controlling for age and sex, there were no significant differences between African-Americans or Caucasians in either qualities desired or qualities offered. In addition, when controlling for age and sex, there were no significant differences in relational capital (defined as the characteristics one can offer in a relationship) between individuals who are or are not open to interracial dating. The authors conclude that neither the desire for out-group qualities nor the possession of attributes supposedly more attractive to other groups serve as bases for whether or not people will choose to date interracially.

Lewis Jr., R., Yancey, G., & Bletzer, S.S. (1997). Racial and nonracial factors that influence spouse choice in Black/White marriages. Journal of Black Studies, 28, 60 - 78.

The authors collected survey data from a nationwide sample of adults in interracial marriages. They compared their results to an annual national survey collected on a random sample of adults. Compared to intraracial marriages, individuals in interracial marriages had achieved slightly higher levels of education, yet had lower family income. In addition, individuals in cross-race marriages tended to have married at an older age and have fewer children than individuals in same-race marriages. Nonracial factors played a much larger role in spouse selection for the interracially married sample than racial factors. Over 89% of respondents rated common interests, physical attractiveness (independent of race), and common entertainment interests as very important or important in spouse selection. Overall, racial factors played a nominal role in choosing a spouse. Out of the racial factors, the most influential characteristics were the sexual attraction of someone from another race (19.7% rated this factor as very important) and ease of talking to individuals of another race (13.8% rated this factor as very important). However, out of individuals who had not dated outside their race prior to marrying a cross-race spouse, a significantly smaller percentage reported sexual attractiveness of other races and ease of talking to people of other races as very important or important in their spouse selection process.

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Barriers

What are some of the barriers to the formation and maintenance of cross-race relationships?

Only a few studies have directly examined the barriers to forming cross-group friendships & romantic relationships (for a notable exception, see the work of Jacquie Vorauer). However, barriers to cross-group relationship formation can be inferred by considering individual characteristics that are known to be less predictive of interracial relationships and by considering the effects of parental and societal attitudes on relationship formation. One highly replicated finding is that people of all races are less likely to have interracial friends and romantic partners if they are prejudiced (Aboud, Mendelson, & Purdy, 2003; Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986; Paolini, Hewstone, Cairns, & Voci, 2004; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). This could be partially explained by a relation between prejudice and social cognitive errors during intergroup contact such as "signal amplification bias," whereby prejudiced individuals overestimate the degree of liking they convey to new people of other ethnic groups (Vorauer & Sakamoto, 2006). As a consequence of this misperception, the new person is perceived as not reciprocating the liking being shown to them, which causes the prejudiced individual to withdraw from the social situation. Thus, it appears prejudice inhibits the formation of cross-group relationships for additional reasons than simply negative attitudes. Situational factors also play a large role in whether someone will form an interracial relationship. For example, people who don't have cross-race relationships tend to live in all same-race neighborhoods, attended a school with almost all children of their own race (Emerson, Kimbro, & Yancey, 2002; Yancey, 2002), and usually have lower income and less education (Yancey, 2002). There also might be different barriers to the formation of interracial relationships for members of minority racial groups (e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino/as, Native Americans) and majority racial groups (i.e., European Americans; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2005; Tropp, 2007). Interestingly, being politically conservative only appears to be a barrier to majority-group members' interracial relationships, as minority-group members' political attitudes appear to be largely unrelated to whether they form an interracial relationship (Yancey, 2002).

Parental attitudes may play an enhancing or inhibiting role in the interracial friendships of children and young adults. It seems that if an elementary school child's parent is uninvolved in the child's cross-race friendships, then that interracial friendship has a high likelihood of ending over the following year (Fletcher, Rollins, & Nickerson, 2004). When it comes to college students, it seems that young adults expect their parents to react badly to their interracial friendships and romantic relationships (Miller, Olson, & Fazio, 2004; Mills, Daly, Longmore & Kilbride, 1995), but college students who reported on how their parents actually reacted to a same-race or cross-race romantic partner found no significant differences as a function of their partner's ethnicity (Shibizaki & Brennan, 1998). The discrepancy between the perceived negativity of parental attitudes found in the first 2 studies and the equally positive reactions found in the latter study is probably explained by the parents' prejudice level. A study which asked about parental attitudes on interracial relationships as a function of parents' prejudice found that only students whose parents were prejudiced felt that their parents wouldn't want them to have cross-race relationships (Miller, Olson, & Fazio, 2004). So, the college students who perceive their parents will react badly (Mills et al., 1995) are probably not the same students who would introduce a cross-race partner to their parents (Shibizaki & Brennan, 1998), and thus the attitudes of prejudiced parents likely present a barrier to interracial relationships, whereas parental attitudes are less relevant among young adults whose parents are not prejudiced. Certainly, there is at least a perceived societal malfeasance toward interracial relationships, because interracial partners tend to show less public displays of affection (Vaquera & Kao, 2005) and be less likely to have their relationship known by other friends and family (Reagans, 1998). More dire is the suggestion that that interracial relationships may be associated with higher hate crime victimization (Perry, 2002), and thus some people may avoid interracial relationships for fear of their own safety.

Altogether, the main barriers to interracial relationships that have been identified are personal characteristics, such as prejudice and lack of experience with other groups, and the attitudes of other people, particularly those who are prejudiced toward people of other ethnicities.

Perry, B. (2002). Defending the color line: Racially and ethnically motivated hate crimes. American Behavioral Scientist, 46, 72 - 92.

Perry reviews literature, statistics, and the popular media to examine motivations for race-based hate crimes. Hate crimes are viewed mainly as an attempt to assert one's racial identity and/or a means of maintaining existing social hierarchies. Perry reports that non-Caucasians are at the greatest risk for hate crime victimization when they engage in interracial romantic relationships. Cross-race romantic relationships are a visible violation of anti-miscegenation norms. In particular, African-American male-Caucasian female pairings appear to be the least socially acceptable. Drawing from interviews with American high school students, Perry explains that interracial relationships threaten Caucasian males' access to Caucasian women. Attempts to regulate interracial relationships by Caucasian males also imply that Caucasian women are viewed as the property of Caucasian males. All-in-all, increased risk of hate crime victimization for non-Caucasians in interracial relationships presents a barrier to the formation or maintenance of cross-race relationships, because the risk might scare individuals away from interracial relationships.

Vorauer, J. D., & Sakamoto, Y. (2006). I thought we could be friends, but ... systematic miscommunication and defensive distancing as obstacles to cross-group friendship formation. Psychological Science, 17, 326 - 331.

Vorauer and Sakamoto demonstrated that social misperceptions in first meetings between Chinese and White Canadians create a barrier for cross-race friendship formation. Chinese Canadian and White Canadian participants were matched randomly into pairs. Partners were asked to write, exchange and comment on each others' personal essays, while also reporting interest in forming a friendship with each other. The researchers hypothesized that people with little prior interracial contact would overestimate the amount of interest they had communicated to a cross-race partner. Indeed, White Canadians with little prior contact with Chinese Canadians thought they conveyed more interest to their Chinese partners than their partners perceived from them. In turn, participants who overestimated the interest they had communicated thought their partners had reciprocated with less interest, and subsequently reported less desire to form a friendship with their partners. This "signal amplification" and subsequent disinterest in friendship formation was not present for White Canadians paired with a same-race partner or much prior contact, or Chinese Canadians paired with either a same-race or cross-race partner. The authors conclude that misperceptions of one's social behavior are more common among people for whom cross-race interaction is novel, and these misperceptions pose a hurdle to cross-group friendship formation. Chinese Canadians and White Canadians with interracial experience correctly perceived the degree of interest they had conveyed to their cross-race partners, and had similar desires for friendship across same- and cross-race partners.

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Maintenance

What factors are necessary for good maintenance of cross-race relationships?

Foeman, A.K., & Nance, T. (1999). From miscegenation to multiculturalism: Perceptions and stages of interracial relationship development. Journal of Black Studies, 29, 540 - 557.

Foeman and Nance (1999) review literature on interracial marriage to construct a model of the development of interracial romantic relationships. They contend that maintenance of cross-race relationships involves the successful management of four stages: 1) racial awareness - discovering the perspectives of one's race, and realizing the role race plays in one's life, 2) coping with social definitions of race - learning strategies for dealing with racially biased reactions from society, 3) identity emergence - the couple begins to view themselves as having a unique, merged identity, and 4) maintenance - incorporating new perspectives and strategies into one's life. The authors conclude that the successful navigation of these stages yields a happy, self-sustaining cross-race relationship with the same intimacy and adjustment as same-race relationships.

Gaines, Jr., S.O. & Brennan, K.A. (2001). Establishing and maintaining satisfaction in multicultural relationships. In J. Harvey & A. Wenzel (Eds.), Close romantic relationships: Maintenance and enhancement (pp. 237 - 253). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Gaines and Brennan conduct a review of research on interracial relationships between people from two different cultures (e.g., interracial or inter-religious marriages) to determine factors which promote satisfaction and longevity of multicultural relationships. They posit three components of successful intercultural relationships: 1) During relationship formation, satisfaction is related to the extent partners explore and appreciate the unique contributions of each partner's cultural background instead of attempting to ignore or simply tolerate cultural differences; 2) In ongoing relationships, satisfaction is related to the couple's development of a relationship culture which is uniquely their own (Crohn, 1995), and romanticism predicts the creation of relationship cultures; and, 3) Throughout the course of a multicultural relationship, satisfaction will be determined by the extent to which partners embrace the opportunity for self-growth through their association with a partner from a different cultural background. The authors conclude that over time, the cross-cultural partner is increasingly viewed as an idiosyncratic individual, and less as a representative of the larger ethnic group. As such, it should be harder for people who have undergone this mental transformation to see other members of their partner's ethnic group in stereotypical ways.

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Relationship Characteristics

What are the characteristics of children's cross-race friendships?

The literature on characteristics of children's cross-race friendships has revealed that interracial friendships appear to be less stable and less intimate than same-race friendships. However, there are many caveats to these findings. Even though cross-race relationships are less stable, most school children's friendships lasted for at least six weeks (Hallinan & Williams, 1987). In addition, although cross-race friendships were found to be less intimate, they were still equally characterized by helping behaviors, emotional security, and positive affections. For those cross-race friendships that are of high quality, less racial prejudice was observed (Aboud, Mendelson, & Purdy, 2003). Therefore, while there seem to be more barriers towards cross-race friendships in terms of general relationships stability and intimacy, once those barriers are crossed, interracial friendships provide equal, positive environments that foster less racial bias as well as other intergroup benefits, discussed later (Click here to go to the Benefits section).

Aboud, F.E., Mendelson, M.J., & Purdy, K.T. (2003). Cross-race peer relations and friendship quality. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 165 - 173.

The authors interviewed elementary school children to examine characteristics of cross-race friendship. Cross-race friendships were less likely in the older students than the younger, with Caucasian boys being the least likely to have cross-race friends. Fewer interracial friendships were stable than same-race friendships, and cross-race friends were less likely to be added over the course of the school year. In terms of friendship quality, same-race friendships were more intimate than cross-race ones. However, there was no difference between cross- and same-race friendships for helping behaviors, emotional security, or positive affection. High quality interracial friendship was associated with less racial bias. The authors conclude that cross-race friendship can be true "equal status relationships," providing mutual social and emotional support.

Clark, M.L., & Ayers, M. (1992). Friendship similarity during early adolescence: Gender and racial patterns. Journal of Psychology, 126, 393 - 405.

Clark and Ayers surveyed junior high school student friendships from a school with approximately 30% African-American enrollment. Approximately 21% of friendships examined were interracial. Both cross-race and Caucasian same-race friends were more similar to each other on mental alertness and less similar on personality characteristics that predict school achievement than African-American same-race friends. Caucasian same-race friends were more similar on verbal achievement than cross-race or African-American same-race friends. Overall, cross-race friendship nominations were less reciprocated (e.g., a student nominating a cross-race peer as a friend is less likely to be nominated by that cross-race peer), but the authors conclude that factors such as similarity and proximity play a greater role in friendship quality than reciprocation.

Hallinan, M.T., & Williams, R.A. (1987). The stability of students' interracial friendships. American Sociological Review, 52, 653 - 664.

Hallinan and Williams examined the stability of interracial friendships through the use of a longitudinal data set collected on 4^th through 7^th graders six times throughout one school year. All friendships, regardless of racial composition, were likely to endure for at least six weeks, and most lasted past the final assessment period. Same-race friendships were more likely than cross-race friendships to last longer than six weeks, with cross-race friendships identified by African-American students having the greatest risk of dissolving from one assessment point to the next. African-American students who identified Caucasian students as their "best friend" were the least likely to be labeled as a "best friend" by the Caucasian student they named. However, Caucasian students who named an African-American student as their "best friend" were just as likely as students who named a same-race student to have that election reciprocated. Classrooms with higher proportions of African-American students had more stable interracial friendships.

Kao, G., & Joyner, K. (2004). Do race and ethnicity matter among friends? Activities among interracial, interethnic, and intraethnic adolescent friends. Sociological quarterly, 45, 557 - 574.

Drawing from a nationally-representative sample of US teenagers obtained from 1994 - 1995, the authors examined the friendship activities of same- and cross-race friendships. There were significantly fewer cross-race best-friendships than same-race best friendships, and best friends shared the most activities. Cross-race friends reported fewer shared activities than same-race friends, although there was little difference in type of friendship activity between same- and cross-race friends. The authors conclude that cross-race friendships may face additional barriers, even after the friends had crossed racial bounds to initiate the friendship.

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What are the characteristics of adult's cross-race friendships?

In terms of characteristics of adult cross-race relationships, most of the literature has focused on romantic relationships. However, results from a large, nationally representative survey revealed that American adults's social network, cross- and same-race relationships exhibited similar levels of stability. There has not been much research on the characteristics of these friendships, but extrapolation from children's cross-race friendships implies that adult's cross-race friendships should be similar to their same-race friendships in terms of helping behaviors and positive regard, and that high-quality interracial friendships should yield more positive racial attitudes.

Reagans, R. (1998). Differences in social difference: Examining third party effects on relational stability. Social Networks, 20, 143-157.

Reagans analyzed data on US citizens' social networks collected in a large, national survey. It appears that if a respondent has only one cross-race relationship, that relationship is more likely to have been formed recently than if a respondent has two or more cross-race relationships. Similarly, relationships with cross-race individuals were more likely to end prematurely than same-race relationships if the cross-race individual was a racial isolate in the respondent's social network. Reagans concludes that interracial relationships tend to end sooner than same-race relationships if the cross-race individual is a racial isolate, but not if the cross-race individual is one of a few cross-race friends.

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What are the characteristics of adult cross-race romantic relationships?

General social beliefs towards interracial relationships dictate they are problematic and dysfunctional (Davidson, 1992; Pope, 1986). However, many of these theories were not tested until only recently (Gaines & Leaver, 2002). The results indicate that interracial romantic relationships are actually quite rewarding, contrary to popular myth. Interracial married couples tend to be securely attached, and exhibit behaviors that work towards the collective goals of the union (Gaines, Granrose, Rios, Garcia, Youn, Farris, & Bledsoe, 1999). Interracial marriages appear to be characterized by mutual affection and respect (Gaines, Rios, Granrose, Bledsoe, Farris, Youn, & Garcia, 1999). Individuals in interracial marriages report they have much more in common, personality wise, than they do not have in common, demographic wise (Gaines & Ickes, 1997). All in all, there has been little to no support for the propositions that interracial relationships are inherently bad and dysfunctional. Interracial relationships appear to be as rewarding and cooperative as same-race romantic relationships.

Ahern, F.M., Cole, R.E., Johnson, R.C., & Wong, B. (1981). Personality attributes of males and females marrying within vs. across racial/ethnic groups. Behavior Genetics, 11, 181 - 194.

Hawaiian married couples who had married a same- or other-race partner completed a commonly used personality measure, the Adjectives Check List (ACL; Gough & Heilbrun, 1965). Both members of the couple described their own personality using the ACL, and the researchers correlated the responses of same-race and cross-race husbands and wives. Males and females in cross-race marriages had higher correlations of personality attributes than same-race partners. This discrepancy of personality similarity between same- and cross-race married couples increased as the proportion of cross-race marriages in the partner's ethnic group decreased. These findings support Gaines and Brennan's (2001) hypothesis that racial stigma and assumed dissimilarity between racial groups necessitates that the cross-race partners that do get together do so when they have more shared personality traits than would traditionally be required for people entering same-race relationships.

Gaines, Jr., S.O., Rios, D.I., Granrose, C.S., Bledsoe, K.L., Farris, K.R., Youn, M.S.P., & Garcia, B.F. (1999). Romanticism and interpersonal resource exchange among African American-Anglo and other interracial couples. Journal of Black Psychology, 25, 461 - 489.

The authors surveyed interracial married couples to examine exchange of affection and respect in interracial marriages. The interracial couples had significant levels of affection and respect exchange. The authors conclude there is no evidence of relationships dysfunctionality for cross-race couples. In addition, composition of the union (e.g., African-American male-Caucasian female vs. Caucasian male-African-American female) did not alter its success.

Gaines Jr., S.O., Granrose, C.S., Rios, D.I., Garcia, B.F., Youn, M.S., Farris, K.R., & Bledsoe, K.L. (1999). Patterns of attachment and response to accommodative dilemmas among interethnic/interracial couples. Journal of Social & Personal Relationships, 16, 275 - 285.

The authors examined patterns of attachment style and responses to accommodative dilemmas (e.g., responding either destructively or constructively to a partner's negative behavior) with interracial couples as participants. Similar to findings from the general population, most respondents were classified as secure (66% and 62% classified as secure for men and women, respectively). Securely attached individuals reported less destructive behavior in response to a partner's negative behavior than insecurely attached individuals. The authors conclude that interracial couples "possess the ability to trust and form enduring socio-emotional bonds with their partners," and act in the interest of preserving the relationship.

Gaines, Jr., S.O., & Ickes, W. (1997). Perspectives on interracial relationships. In S. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships: Theory, research and interventions (2nd ed.) (pp. 197 - 220). Oxford, England: John Wiley & Sons.

Gaines and Ickes term most scientific approaches towards studying interracial relationships as "outsiders'" accounts of cross-race relationships. They argue that societal biases pervade the interracial relationships literature because most theorists tend to collect "objective" data on cross-race relationships without ever asking members of interracial relationships what their experiences actually are. For example, in terms of interracial romantic relationships, past theorists have determined the draw of "forbidden fruit" is the primary motivation for entering into a cross-race relationship. However, members of cross-race relationships tend to anecdotally report that they feel they have more in common with their partner personality-wise than they don't have in common demographic-wise. In addition, individuals involved in interracial romantic relationships report they value each other's differences as providing novelty and contributing to self-expansion. The authors conclude their chapter with a discussion on the resolution between the "outsiders'" and "insiders'" perspectives. The resolution of this conflict is vital for the success of an interracial relationship, and their conclusions on this subject are discussed in more detail in the interracial relationships maintenance section, below.

Gurung, R.A.R., & Duong, T. (1999). Mixing and matching: Assessing the concomitants of mixed-ethnic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16, 639 - 657.

Authors compared Asian-American, Caucasian, and Latino/a same- and cross-race relationships to provide descriptive information about the relationship and individuals in these relationships. No significant differences were found between same- and cross-race couples in levels of relationship quality, commitment, expectations held about the relationship, or the extent to which relationship expectations were met. In terms of individual characteristics, people in same- and cross-race relationships did not differ on self-esteem, self-clarity, or ethnic identity. However, in cross-race relationships, partners which had a combination of high ethnic identity and a positive orientation to members of other groups were more committed to their relationship.

The authors also assessed differences in mate preferences between people in same- and cross-race relationships. The participants rated the importance of 15 characteristics of a potential dating partner or spouse. Table 2 below ranks these characteristics by importance ranking, where 1=not at all important, and 5 = very important. Of the top 5 most important characteristics of a potential mate, the only difference is that respondents involved in cross-race relationships rated intelligence as more important than self-confidence, and respondents in same-race relationships tended to rank self-confidence as more important than intelligence. In terms of differences in less important characteristics, people in cross-race relationships rated parental approval of dating and marriage partners as less important than people in same-race relationships. Interestingly, individuals in same-race relationships thought it was more important to have a partner who was interested in one's own culture than individuals in cross-race relationships. And, of course, having a partner of the same-race was less important to people in cross-race relationships than to those in same-race relationships. In fact, for both dating and marital partners, people currently in cross-race relationships rated having a partner of the same-race as being the least important characteristic when choosing a mate.

Table 2: Desired Characteristics of Romantic Partners for Respondents in Same- and Cross-race Marriages*

*From Gurung & Duong (1999)

Leslie, L.A., & Letiecq, B.L. (2004). Marital quality of african-american and white partners in interracial couples. Personal Relationships, 11, 559 - 574.

One-hundred and six African-American/Caucasian-American interracial married couples completed a survey assessing the individual's racial identity, relationship quality, social support from family and friends, and experiences of discrimination. On the whole, the race and sex of the respondent did not predict relationship quality or ethnic identity. However, African-American males in cross-race marriages experienced significantly more discrimination than Caucasian-American males and females in cross-race marriages. African-American males with Caucasian wives reported less social support from their friends than African-American females and Caucasian males and females. However, both races and sexes reported similar levels of social support from both their own families and their in-laws.

Particularly for African-Americans, but also for Caucasians to a lesser extent, racial identity was positively related to marital satisfaction and quality. Relationship satisfaction was highest for spouses with high levels of racial identity and high racial tolerance, defined by appreciation of other races and cultures. These findings contradict common folklore that people will only marry outside their racial group when they feel ambivalence or hatred toward their race (e.g., Davidson, 1992; Porterfield, 1982). These findings imply that interracial relationships will benefit from embracing the multicultural nature of the relationship instead of downplaying the role of race, which echoes the conclusions of Gaines & Brennan (2004).

Shibazaki, K, & Brennan, K.A. (1998). When birds of different feathers flock together: A preliminary comparison of intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic dating relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 248 - 256.

College students in either a same- or cross-race dating relationship (44% cross-race) completed a survey assessing relationship quality, motives for entering the relationship, and various individual characteristics of the dating partners. There were no significant differences between same- and cross-race couples with regard to relationship satisfaction, concern about others' approval, or perceived availability of romantic partners of one's own race. However, students in cross-race relationships did perceive a greater availability of dating partners of other races than students in same-race relationships. In addition, there was no difference in approval of family and friends between individuals in same- or cross-race relationships, which contradicts the findings of Miller, Olson, & Fazio (2004). This seeming contradiction could be the result of methods: Miller et al (2004) asked participants to anticipate how their parents would react while Shibazaki & Brennan (1998) asked participants to report how their family actually did react. Individuals in cross-race relationships reported significantly less self-esteem than individuals in same-race relationships, which contradict the findings of Gurung & Duong (1999). Finally, students in a cross-race romantic relationship were more willing to have someone of a different race as their roommate, romantic partner, live-in partner, spouse, or parent of their children, students in same- and cross-race relationships did not differ on their willingness to have a friend of a different race.

Vaquera, E., & Kao, G. (2005). Private and public displays of affection among interracial and intra-racial adolescent couples. Social Science Quarterly, 86, 484 - 505.

The authors interviewed over 11,500 teenagers from across the U.S. about their romantic relationships from 1994 - 1995. Adolescents in interracial dating relationships reported less public (e.g., held hands, went out together as a group, met parents) and private displays of affection (e.g., giving gifts, thinking of themselves as a couple) than teenagers in same-race dating relationships. However, the proportions of interracial couples reporting these behaviors were still very high (ranging from 69.18% to 88.77%). Same- and cross-race dating partners were equally likely to report going out alone together and saying they love one another. In addition, teenagers in same- and cross-race relationships reported equal rates of intimate displays of affection (e.g., kissing, sexual touching, and sexual intercourse). These relationships may represent early stages of cross-race relationships.

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Social Attitudes

What are the general social attitudes towards interracial relationships?

Overall, minorities appear to be more accepting of interracial relationships than Caucasian-Americans. This is evidenced by larger proportions of minorities involved in interracial relationships than Caucasian-Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), as well as many studies reporting more accepting attitudes towards interracial contact among minorities (Gaines, & Leaver, 2002; Baldwin, Day, & Hecht, 2000; Pinkney, 1993). Interestingly, among Caucasian-Americans, negative social attitudes towards other races seem to have taken the form of social distance; one study found Caucasian-American's negative racial attitudes were specific to the activities of interracial relationships (Mills, Daly, Longmore, & Kilbride, 1995).

Caucasian-American's attitudes towards interracial friendships seem to be neutral if not somewhat positive, but are much less accepting when it comes to interracial dating and marriage (Baldwin, Day, & Hecht, 2000). African-American college students were more accepting of interracial romantic relationships than were their Caucasian-American classmates, but both groups reported their families felt negatively towards interracial friendships and romantic relationships (Mills, Daly, Longmore, & Kilbride, 1995). Social attitudes about interracial relationships are important, particularly because fear of social reprisal may be a sufficient deterrent for initiating interracial relationships.

Social attitudes also are important from a legislative perspective. Given that juries are supposed to be representative of local populations, attributions of guilt in criminal situations should be studied for systematic differences. A set of studies into attributions of guilt in domestic violence situations found that respondents assigned more blame to the victim when she was an African-American and particularly if she had been drinking alcohol. In addition, when the abuse occurred in an interracial relationship, more blame was assigned to African-American males than Caucasian-American males. These findings imply that African-American females in interracial relationships may be most at risk for not receiving the legal and social services they need.

The findings concerning the differing interracial attitudes between the sexes have been quite mixed, where some findings report no differences, some studies report women have less tolerant attitudes, and other studies report women are more accepting of interracial relationships. These seemingly contradictory findings are probably explained by the research design of each study.

All in all, while most Americans espouse an egalitarian ideology (Katz, 1981), social attitudes towards interracial relationships remain less accepting than intergroup attitudes, as a whole. Negative social attitudes towards interracial relationships can create barriers to interracial relationship formation and even contribute to unfair guilt attributions in legislature. However, attitudes towards interracial relationships have improved over time, so hopefully this trend will sustain its present positive slope.

Gaines, Jr., S.O., & Leaver, J. (2002). Interracial relationships. In R. Goodwin and D. Cramer (Eds.), Inappropriate relationships: The unconventional, the Disapproved, and the Forbidden (pp. 65 - 78). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Gaines & Leaver explore the reasons behind cultural beliefs of interracial relationships as being "inappropriate." Anti-miscegenation laws still existed into the late 1960s, and it wasn't until these laws were abolished that social attitudes towards cross-race relationships began to change (Lee & Fernandez, 1998). They find that persons of color tend to have much more liberal attitudes towards interracial relationships than Caucasian-Americans. The authors discuss various beliefs about interracial relationships and compare these popular beliefs with research. They find interracial relationships to be less stable than same-race relationships, but that relationship satisfaction appears to be the same in both cross- and same-race relationships. All in all, this is well-written examination into the intricacies of social attitudes towards interracial relationships.

Harrison, L.A., & Esqueda, C.W. (2000). Effects of race and victim drinking on domestic violence attributions. Sex Roles, 42, 1043 - 1057.

Harrison and Esqueda investigated the amount of blame college students assigned to victims of domestic violence in interracial relationships. They presented participants with a vignette of a domestic violence incident, including transcripts of interviews with the police. They manipulated the race of the batterer (African-American or Caucasian), race of the victim (African-American or Caucasian), and whether the victim had been drinking alcohol. Overall, the participants attributed more blame to a victim who had been drinking. However, this was qualified by the race of the victim: African-American drinking victims were blamed more for the incident than Caucasian victims who had been drinking. Participants assigned more blame to the batterer when the batterer and victim constituted an interracial couple. Respondents blamed African-American batterers more when the victim was Caucasian than when the victim was African-American. The authors conclude that assigned culpability is greater in interracial relationships than same-race relationships, and African-American victims, especially if they have been drinking, are at the greatest risk for not receiving the legal and social services they would need.

Miller, S.C., Olson, M.A., & Fazio, R.H. (2004). Perceived reactions to interracial romantic relationships: When race is used as a cue to status. Group processes and intergroup relations, 7, 354 - 369.

The authors tested the hypothesis that Caucasian women in cross-race relationships should receive the most scorn from their families as composed to Caucasian males and people of other races. They found only partial support for their hypothesis, because Caucasian women did not report more scorn from their families than other groups, but non-Caucasian males who had dated a Caucasian woman reported significantly more scorn from their partner's (Caucasian female's) families than minority-race females and Caucasians. In a second study, the authors asked Caucasian participants with high- or low-prejudiced parents to predict how their family would react if they dated someone of high socio-economic status, low socio-economic status, or another race. They included a low socio-economic status potential partner to tease apart the confounding relationship between race and socio-economic status as two different reasons family members might disapprove of a relationship. Participants who reported having non-prejudiced parents predicted their parents would only disapprove if they dated someone of low socio-economic status, but not if they dated someone of another race. Caucasian females who reported having prejudiced parents predicted their parents would disapprove of a relationship with an individual of either low socio-economic status or a different race. Surprisingly, Caucasian males who reported having prejudiced parents predicted their parents would only disapprove of a relationship with an individual of low socio-economic status, but not of a different race. Thus, it appears that non-Caucasian males dating Caucasian females may feel greater disapproval from their partner's family than other interracial compositions. However, this effect may be driven by Caucasian females with prejudiced parents, as Caucasian females with non-prejudiced parents do not anticipate family disapproval, but those with prejudiced parents expect family disapproval.

Mills, J.K., Daly, J., Longmore, A., & Kilbride, G. (1995). A note on family acceptance involving interracial friendships and romantic relationships. Journal of Psychology, 129, 349 - 351.

The authors were interested in college students' perceptions of their families' attitudes towards interracial relationships. Overall, African-American students held more favorable attitudes towards interracial relationships than Caucasians, which is consistent with other findings. Respondents perceived their families were not very accepting of interracial friendships or romantic relationships. Both African-Americans and Caucasians reported their families had equally negative views on interracial relationships. Worry about family reactions to interracial relationships may deter individuals from initiating and maintaining interracial relationships.

Baldwin, J.R., Day, L.E., & Hecht, M.L. (2000). The structure(s) of racial attitudes among White college students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24, 553 - 577.

The authors investigated the structure of Caucasian Americans' prejudicial attitudes by testing various theories of racism. They determined that theories of racial prejudice tend to fall into three structural categories: 1) "one-dimensional racism" - highly prejudiced individuals are prejudiced against all out-groups equally; 2) "racism as target-specific" - racial prejudice varies by culture and historical time period, but all members of stigmatized groups are discriminated against equally; 3) "racism as multi-faceted" - attitudes towards particular groups and group members vary by context, such as Caucasians' attitudes towards civil rights legislation benefiting African-Americans may vary from Caucasians' attitudes regarding interracial marriage. Caucasian college students completed surveys assessing attitudes towards African- and Mexican-Americans in different contexts (e.g., affirmative action, interracial dating). Using structural equation modeling, the authors found that participants' attitudes varied more according to functions of interactions with minorities than between ethnic groups. In other words, Caucasians' attitudes towards Mexican- and African-Americans were more a function of social distance (with interracial dating and marriage being the most inclusive level of social distance) than particular group membership.

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Intergroup Benefits

Despite negative social attitudes towards interracial relationships, there appear to be many benefits of cross-race friendships and relationships for intergroup relations on the whole. These benefits span from decreased prejudice to higher educational aspirations and leadership skills. Overall, studies involving both children and adults overwhelmingly support contentions that cross-race friendships increase positive intergroup relations in the U.S. There has been much replication of studies showing better cross-race attitudes among individuals with high proportions of interracial friendships. For children, the positive effects appear to span beyond intergroup attitudes to social and achievement domains. In addition, there is evidence that individual's intergroup attitudes could benefit from cross-race friendships merely by observing positive intergroup friendships among their fellow in-group members.

What are the benefits of cross-race friendships for school children?

Among school children, greater interracial friendliness has been associated with beneficial outcomes in both achievement and social domains. One study reported greater social competence, increased minority acceptance, and less desire for social distance from ethnic minorities among female 5^th graders (Hunter & Elias, 1999). Other studies found higher educational aspirations and outcomes among students with high proportions of cross-race friendships (Hallinan & Williams, 1990). In addition, students with high proportions of cross-race friendships show no difference in attitudes towards their same- and cross-race friends, whereas students with low quality or no interracial friendships consistently rated their same-race friends more positively on personality measures. Therefore, cross-race friendships among children can improve their academic motivations, their feelings about same- vs. cross-race friends, and their social competence.

Hallinan, M.T., & Williams, R.A. (1990). Students' characteristics and the peer-influence process. Sociology of Education, 63, 122 - 132.

A large, national sample of high school sophomores and seniors revealed beneficial outcomes of interracial friendship for academic success and leadership. Overall, African-Americans had higher educational aspirations than Caucasians. However, both African-American and Caucasian students with cross-race friends had higher educational aspirations and outcomes. The authors conclude that interracial friendships appears beneficial for educational and achievement domains.

Hunter, L., & Elias, M.J. (1999). Interracial friendships, multicultural sensitivity, and social competence: How are they related? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 20, 551 - 573.

Hunter and Elias examined the social competence and multicultural sensitivity of 5^th graders who had no or low quality interracial friendships or high quality interracial friendships. Among the female students, interracial friendships were associated with greater social competence (more sociable, less aggressive) and multicultural sensitivity (increased minority acceptance, lowered desire for social distance from other ethnic groups, more diverse social networks). This effect was not found for male students, indicating that male students' social competence and multicultural sensitivity cannot be explained through prevalence of interracial friends in their social networks.

Damico, S.B., Bell-Nathaniel, A., & Green, C. (1981). Effects of school organizational structure on interracial friendships in middle schools. Journal of Education Research, 74, 388 - 393.

The authors examined how positively students viewed their same- and cross-race friends on a variety of personality characteristics. Overall, African-American students rated their African-American and Caucasian friends equally positively, but Caucasian students rated their African-American friends less positively than their Caucasian friends. However, when interracial friendships were taken into account, Caucasian students who reported having even "some"African-American friends rated their African-American friends more positively than Caucasian students who reported "almost none" of their friends were African-American. The authors conclude that even a small increase in interracial friendships significantly improves Caucasian students' interracial attitudes.

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What are the intergroup benefits of cross-race friendships for adults?

For adults, interracial friendship has been most commonly associated with decreased prejudice (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe, & Ropp, 1997; Sigelman & Welch, 1993; Wright, Aron, & Tropp, 2002). Sigelman & Welch (1993) report U.S. adults with interracial friendships have more positive intergroup attitudes and were more oriented towards actively pursuing more positive intergroup relations. A meta-analysis of over 500 studies of intergroup contact (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2007) revealed that cross-race friendship was the strongest predictor of reductions in prejudicial attitudes (footnote 4). The effects of cross-group friendship on intergroup attitudes and experiences have been recently shown to be causal. A large-scale longitudinal study found that the development of cross-race friends in the beginning of college predicted improved intergroup attitudes and reduced intergroup anxiety at the end of college (Levin, van Laar, & Sidanius, 2003). Recent experimental work on cross-group friendship - where friendships are induced between same-group and cross-group pairs in the laboratory - consistently show that making a new cross-group friend decreases intergroup anxiety and improves intergroup attitudes (Page-Gould, Mendoza-Denton, & Tropp, 2008; Paolini, 2005; Wright, Aron, & Tropp, 2002). Finally, in a study that created a competitive team atmosphere, but then manipulated a friendly, neutral, or negative intergroup interaction between actors in front of the participants showed that even the knowledge that another in-group member has an out-group friendship increases the positivity of out-group beliefs (Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe, & Ropp, 1997). Altogether, both correlational and experimental studies alike converge in finding that cross-group friendship improves experiences between people from different social groups.

Levin, S., van Laar, C., & Sidanius, J. (2003). The effects of ingroup and outgroup friendships on ethnic attitudes in college: A longitudinal study. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 6, 76 - 92.

The authors conducted a longitudinal study of changes in intergroup attitudes and anxiety among more than 2100 college students. The sample was diverse, with large numbers of participants from Asian, Black, Latino, and White ethnic backgrounds. The students first completed a survey of their intergroup attitudes and anxiety prior to arriving on campus for their freshman year of college. During the spring semesters of each of their four years at college, they completed phone interviews where they were asked about a number of aspects of their college experience - including the amount of their college friends that were of different ethnic backgrounds - as well as their current levels of intergroup anxiety and racial bias. The authors controlled for preexisting intergroup attitudes and anxiety in their analyses so that they could assess changes in intergroup bias as a function of forming diverse friendships. They found that the formation of cross-ethnic friendships during the early years of college predicted significantly reduced bias in favor of their ethnic ingroup and significantly less anxiety about interacting with people from different ethnic groups, and this effect seemed to hold for all ethnic groups represented in the sample. Because the authors statistically controlled for prior intergroup bias and anxiety, they were able to rule out the alternative interpretation that less bias and anxiety at the end of college was observed among people who made cross-group friends because less biased people are more likely to make cross-group friends. Rather, due to their analytic choice, the results demonstrated that making cross-group friends at college predicted less intergroup bias and anxiety at the end of college above and beyond the preexisting intergroup attitudes and emotions of the participants.

Page-Gould, E., Mendoza-Denton, R., & Tropp, L. R. (2008). With a little help from my cross-group friend: Reducing anxiety in intergroup contexts through cross-group friendship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1080 - 1094.

We began this study with the hypothesis that making a new cross-group friend would decrease hormonal stress responses during cross-race interactions and improve daily intergroup experiences specifically for the people who are most likely to become anxious in intergroup situations. To test this hypothesis, we randomly assigned Latino and White students into same- and cross-group pairs and had them complete a series of friendship-building tasks over 3 weekly friendship meetings. Before the participants ever met, we measured their preexisting levels of “implicit” racial bias using an Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, Nosek, & Banaji, 2003) and the degree to which participants anxiously expected social rejection on the basis of their race using a scale of race-based rejection sensitivity (Mendoza-Denton, Downey, Davis & Pietrzak, 2002). We expected that making a new cross-race friend would only change the responses of participants who were initially biased or high in race-based rejection sensitivity (RS-race), because people who were low in these characteristics were not expected to react negatively to outgroup members in the first place. To measure anxiety, we collected saliva samples before and after each friendship meeting to assess changes in cortisol, a catabolic stress hormone, over the course of the friendship meeting. Following the final friendship meeting, participants completed diary-style web surveys each night where they reported on their daily anxious mood and the social interactions they had that day. As hypothesized, participants who were high in prejudice had increases in cortisol the first time they met with a cross-ethnic friendship partner, but not when they were paired with a partner of their own ethnicity. Participants who were low in prejudice had significant decreases in cortisol when paired with either a same-group or cross-group friendship partner. However, the stress response of prejudiced participants in the cross-group condition attenuated over multiple meetings; by the very next meeting, they exhibited decreases in cortisol while interacting with their cross-ethnic partner just like the other participants and these decreases in hormonal stress continued through the 3rd friendship meeting. Parallel effects with cortisol were found for participants high in RS-race as those who were high in prejudice. Analyses of the diary data indicated that making a new cross-group friend increased the proportion of cross-ethnic interactions sought out by prejudiced participants. That is, prejudiced participants who made a same-group friend in the lab started significantly fewer daily social interactions with people of other ethnicities than participants who were low in prejudice. However, prejudiced participants who had been randomly assigned to make a cross-group friend in the lab, initiated significantly more cross-ethnic social interactions in the 10 days after the final friendship meeting than their counterparts in the same-group friendship condition. Thus, it appears that the people who hold the most biased attitudes about people of other races are the same people who benefit the most from making a new cross-group friend.

Pettigrew, T.F., & Tropp, L.R. (2000). Does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Recent meta-analytic findings. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination, "The Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology" (pp. 93-114). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Pettigrew and Tropp conducted a detailed meta-analysis of studies which measured the association between intergroup contact and decreased prejudice. In addition to intergroup contact, the authors examined 39 tests which specifically investigated the positive effects of intergroup friendship on levels of prejudice. They found that intergroup friendship was highly associated with decreased intergroup prejudice. Since these reports are from a meta-analysis, the authors' findings are especially compelling. These findings support the contention that cross-race friendship is a key factor in reducing intergroup prejudice, mistrust, and discrimination.

Sigelman, L. & Welch, S. (1993). The contact hypothesis revisited: Black-White interaction and positive racial attitudes. Social Forces, 71, 781 - 795.

Sigelman and Welch analyzed data from a national telephone survey of American adults. They were interested in how interracial friendship effected perceptions of anti-African-American sentiment. In general, African-Americans were much more likely than Caucasians to endorse items stating most Caucasians shared beliefs with the Ku Klux Klan and perceive rising levels of racism nationwide as well as in their neighborhood. Interestingly, African-Americans were also more likely than Caucasians to perceive rising anti-Caucasian sentiment among African-Americans. However, interracial friendship moderated these effects. For African-Americans, interracial friendships were associated with less belief in the prevalence of Klan-like attitudes, and less perceived increase in racism in their neighborhood. In addition, African-Americans with interracial friends perceived less anti-Caucasian sentiments. For Caucasians, interracial friendship was associated with less perceived anti-African-American sentiment in their neighborhood. In addition, Caucasians with interracial friends had a greater commitment to African-American-Caucasian interaction than Caucasians without cross-race friends.

Wright, S.C., Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., & Ropp, S.A. (1997). The extended contact effect: Knowledge of cross-group friendships and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 73 - 90.

The authors propose that an individual's racial attitudes can be improved vicariously by knowing a friend with an interracial friendship. They found Caucasians who report knowing another Caucasian with a cross-race friend had less negative attitudes about non-Caucasians, regardless of the respondent's direct level of contact with non-Caucasians. The authors created competition between two groups of randomly assigned participants who thought the groups had been formed on the basis of similarity. After intergroup hostility had been established, the participants observed one member of their in-group (an actor) complete a puzzle task with a member of the out-group (also an actor). Depending on condition, the participants observed the actors react 1) positively to each other (the "friend" condition; e.g., hugged and greeted each other as pre-existing friends), 2) neutrally (the "neutral" condition; e.g., were polite, but not necessarily warm), or 3) in a hostile manner (the "hostile" condition; e.g., acted as if they were pre-existing enemies). As can be seen in the graph below, compared to the hostile and neutral conditions, participants who observed a member of their in-group interact positively with an out-group member rated the out-group more positively on both positive characteristics (labeled "positive affection" below; e.g., intelligent, confident) and negative characteristics (labeled "negative affection" below; e.g., indifferent, inflexible). The authors conclude that merely observing an in-group member act friendly towards an out-group member increases positive feelings towards that out-group. This finding is very optimistic for social change, as it implies that the positive effects of interracial friendship extend beyond the immediate friendship; increased positive attitudes towards other races may increase exponentially as more interracial friendships are formed.

Figure 6: Intergroup Affect after Observing an In-group Member behave Positively, Neutrally, or Negatively to an Outgroup Member*

*From Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe, & Ropp (1997)

Ying, Y., Lee, P. A., Tsai, J. L., Hung, Y., Lin, M., & Wan, C. T. (2001). Asian American college students as model minorities: An examination of their overall competence. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 7, 59 - 74.

The diversity of college students' social networks were assessed to determine if the number of races represented among one's friends relates to an overall sense of life coherence. In this study, overall coherence is defined by 3 components: 1) How predictable the world seems; 2) How competent one feels about facing life's challenges; and, 3) How meaningful life feels. The ethnic groups surveyed had significantly different numbers of outgroups represented among their close friends, with Asian Americans having the fewest cross-racial groups represented among their friends compared to all other groups studeid, Caucasians having less diverse social networks than Latinos, and multiracial individuals having the most diverse social networks compared to all other ethnic groups. Among Asian Americans, more diversity among close friends predicted a greater sense of life coherence. Thus, among some minority groups, greater interracial friendship affected the extent to which college students' lives were perceived as predictable, manageable, and meaningful. Furthermore, evidence was found that multiracial individuals are more interracially friendly.

Ying, Y., Lee, P. A., Tsai, J. L., Lee, Y. J., & Tsang, M. (2001). Network composition, social integration, and sense of coherence in Chinese American young adults. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 3, 83 - 98.

The authors were interested in the diversity and characteristics of Chinese American undergraduates' close social networks and the relation of network diversity to students' overall sense of life coherence. At a large research university in the United States with a majority of Asian American undergraduates, 353 Chinese American students completed a survey for course credit, in which they listed the 5 people who were closest to them and various information about each close person listed, including the ethnicity (Chinese, Non-Chinese Asian, and Non-Asian) of each person and whether fellow network members were close with each other ("network integration"). Over half of the participants surveyed had only ethnically-same individuals in their close networks (55.5%), about 20% had racially-same networks (Chinese and Non-Chinese Asians; 19.3%), 11.9% had racially mixed networks (Chinese and Non-Asians), and 13.3% had ethnically and racially mixed networks (Chinese, Non-Chinese Asians, and Non-Asians). Furthermore, social networks which were similar in ethnic composition were more integrated than those which were racially diverse and , meaning that Chinese American friends and family members are more likely to know each other than they are to know non-Asian friends. Finally, the authors examined the relation between social network diversity and overall sense of life coherence (e.g., feeling confident about one's ability to handle the responsibilities and unexpected occurrences in life). Chinese American students who reported interethnic AND interracial social network diversity (those with Non-Chinese Asians and Non-Asians among their closest friends) reported greater sense of life coherence.

It is important to emphasize that the study was conducted in a context where Chinese American undergraduates would have relatively ample opportunity to choose to be friends with whomever they wanted, given the plurality of ethnicities in their environments, therefore this study likely reflects the personal choices of the undergraduates more than environments where the vast majority of people are outgroup members. In the latter case, Chinese American students may have more outgroup friends in their close network. Altogether, this study provides an interesting glimpse into the demography of young Chinese Americans' close social networks. The findings imply that researchers interested in intergroup friendships among Asian Americans will find more reliable results if they focus on specific cultures/ethnicities (e.g., Chinese, Laotian) instead of the overall groups of Asians or East Asians. It is especially interesting that intercultural relationships (relationships with non-Chinese Asians) were about equally likely than interracial relationships (relationships with non-Asians), as is demonstrated in the Figure 4 Venn diagram among all networks involving non-Asians (irrespective of whether they involve non-Chinese Asians). Thus it seems that breaking the cultural divide when forming close relationships is reasonably equivalent to breaking the racial divide among these Chinese American students.

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Ian Dennis Miller took the original photograph, from which the banner image is a subset. The photograph is of an iris during early summer in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. The image is presented here with permission of the artist.