J. Philippe Rushton’s genetic similarity theory (Rushton, Russell and Wells 1984; Rushton 1989) asserts that individuals tend to be more altruistic towards individuals who are genetically similar to themselves. A well-known phenomenon that is explained by the theory is positive assortive mating, that is, there is a greater tendency for people to choose a mate that resembles themselves in one more traits than would be expected by chance. However, too much genetic similarity between mates increases the chances that harmful recessive genes may combine. Van den Berghe (1983) speculated that the ideal percentage of relatedness is 12.5% identical by descent, or the same as that between first cousins.
In a brilliant and brave piece of science, Rushton introduced his race evolution hypothesis (Rushton 1995) which uses r/K selection theory (MacArthur and Wilson 1967) to explain the persistent ordering of a number of traits exhibited by the following tricochtomy of races: Mongoloids (Orientals, East Asians), Caucasoids (whites, Europeans) and Negroids (blacks, Africans). On this webpage, ‘Asians’ refers to ‘East Asians’. Using Rushton’s hypothesis in conjunction with an analysis of some of the papers below leads me to the following conclusions:
Belot and Francesconi (2006)
Abstract: "Marriage data show a strong degree of positive assortative mating along a variety of attributes. But since marriage is an equilibrium outcome, it is unclear whether positive sorting is the result of preferences rather than opportunities. We assess the relative importance of preferences and opportunities in dating behaviour, using unique data from a large commercial speed dating agency. While the speed dating design gives us a direct observation of individual preferences, the random allocation of participants across events generates an exogenous source of variation in opportunities and allows us to identify the role of opportunities separately from that of preferences. We find that both women and men equally value physical attributes, such as age and weight, and that there is positive sorting along age, height, and education. The role of individual preferences, however, is outplayed by that of opportunities. Along some attributes (such as occupation, height and smoking) opportunities explain almost all the estimated variation in demand. Along other attributes (such as age), the role of preferences is more substantial, but never dominant. Despite this, preferences have a part when we observe a match, i.e., when two individuals propose to one another."
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Carrasco (2007)
Abstract: "Attitudes towards interracial dating and marriage have historically been used as barometers of racial acceptance in this country. As such, the interracial relationships literature focuses on attitudes towards different racial and ethnic groups as potential romantic partners, and on reactions from individuals in interracial couples regarding their relationship. However, the interracial relationships literature rarely examines the specific perceptions that interracial couples elicit. The research that does examine perceptions of same-race and interracial couples suggests that participants may form different perceptions for same-race and interracial couples. Interestingly, some of this research also suggests that participants may rate Black and Hispanic targets significantly different from each other on education, social economic status, and personality variables. Unfortunately, the interracial relationships literature does not address in detail how race may alter perceived sexuality.
Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine whether individuals altered their perceptions of a couple and the individuals in the couple based on the couple’s racial composition. In addition, the current study attempted to replicate results where participants rated Black and Hispanic targets significantly different on socioeconomic, personality, and education variables. Finally, the current study examined whether variations in the racial composition of the couple would elicit different ratings of the targets’ sexuality and other relationship variables.
Participants included 270 students enrolled at Texas Tech University. These participants were recruited from the Department of Psychology Human Participant Pool and from classes in upper division psychology courses. Participants viewed pictures, read a vignette about either a same-race or an interracial couple, and then rated the individuals in the couple and the couples as a whole on several measures. These measures included a Demographics Questionnaire, a Couples Perception Questionnaire, and an adapted version of the Sociosexuality Orientation Inventory. Participants were also asked to answer supplemental questionnaires including a relationships questionnaire and two motivations questionnaires.
The results from the current study suggest that participants do not perceive Black and Hispanic targets as significantly different on socioeconomic status, personality, or education variables. However, the results also suggest that participants appear to perceive same-race and interracial couples differently on certain variables. Interestingly, participants were more able, or willing, to differentiate between the same-race and interracial couples on very general questions but not detail-oriented questions."
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Fisman, et al (2004)
Abstract: "We examine racial preferences in dating. We employ a Speed Dating experiment, which allows us to directly observe individual decisions and thus infer whose preferences lead to racial segregation in romantic relationships. Females exhibit stronger racial preferences than males. The richness of our data further allows us to identify many determinants of same race preferences. Subjects’ backgrounds, including the racial composition of the ZIP Code where a subject grew up and the prevailing racial attitudes in a subject's state or country of origin, strongly influence same race preferences. Older subjects and more physically attractive subjects exhibit weaker same race preferences."
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Fisman, et al (2006)
Abstract: "We study dating behavior using data from a Speed Dating experiment where we generate random matching of subjects and create random variation in the number of potential partners. Our design allows us to directly observe individual decisions rather than just final matches. Women put greater weight on the intelligence and the race of partner, while men respond more to physical attractiveness. Moreover, men do not value women's intelligence or ambition when it exceeds their own. Also, we find that women exhibit a preference for men who grew up in affluent neighborhoods. Finally, male selectivity is invariant to group size, while female selectivity is strongly increasing in group size."
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Hansen (1977)
Abstract: "Dating is experienced by most adolescents in our society as a prelude to mate selection. Three hundred and fifty-four white and black youth were studied to measure their dating-mating choices. Implications for teachers and practitioners, based on racial and gender differences, as well as perceived peer group influences are discussed."
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Harris and Kalbfleisch (2000)
Abstract: "Currently, limited research exists that explores the socially taboo topic of interracial dating between African Americans and European Americans. Historically, African Americans and European Americans have had a highly destructive relationship of enslavement and oppression, which has resulted in a history of mistrust, according to P. H. Collins (African American Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, New York, Routledge, 1990). As a result, this relationship symbolizes the institutionalized oppression embedded in race relations despite the very intimate nature of this romantic relationship. Using the centrality of race within the context of romantic relationships, this study was designed to determine how race influences the communicative process. Q-sort methodology was used, which required participants to determine what waiting, hinting, direct, and third-party intervention strategies they would use to initiate a date in both same-race and interracial contexts. Findings reveal that when comparing verbal strategies across both contexts and open-ended responses to likelihood or reality of dating interracially, participants were resistant to the idea of dating a person from another race. External factors such as family and society were cited as primary deterrents to involvement in an interracial romantic relationship. In general, participants in this study used more social distancing strategies for initiating interracial dating relationships than same-race dating relationships."
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Hitsch, Hortacsu and Ariely (2006)
Abstract: "This paper uses a novel data set obtained from an online dating service to draw inferences on mate preferences and to investigate the role played by these preferences in determining match outcomes and sorting patterns. The empirical analysis is based on a detailed record of the site users’ attributes and their partner search, which allows us to estimate a rich preference specification that takes into account a large number of partner characteristics. Our revealed preference estimates complement many previous studies that are based on survey methods. In addition, we provide evidence on mate preferences that people might not truthfully reveal in a survey, in particular regarding race preferences. In order to examine the quantitative importance of the estimated preferences in the formation of matches, we simulate match outcomes using the Gale-Shapley algorithm and examine the resulting correlations in mate attributes. The Gale-Shapley algorithm predicts the online sorting patterns well. Therefore, the match outcomes in this online dating market appear to be approximately efficient in the Gale-Shapley sense. Using the Gale-Shapley algorithm, we also find that we can predict sorting patterns in actual marriages if we exclude the unobservable utility component in our preference specification when simulating match outcomes. One possible explanation for this finding suggests that search frictions play a role in the formation of marriages."
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Kurzban and Weeden (2005a)
Abstrct: "To investigate the choices that people make in dating partners, we analyzed data provided by HurryDate, a commercial dating service aimed at adult singles living in major metropolitan areas. Here, we report data from 10,526 participants in HurryDate sessions, in which roughly 25 men and 25 women interacted with each other for three minutes and subsequently indicated which of the people they met they would be interested in having contact with in the future. We had general survey information collected by HurryDate for all the participants and additional survey information for 2,650 participants. Our main findings are that (1) HurryDate interactions are driven primarily by generally agreed-upon mate values and less by niche-based or assortative patterns, (2) the agreed-upon mate values for both men and women derive almost exclusively from physically observable attributes like attractiveness, BMI, height, and age and are not substantially related to harder-to-observe attributes such as education, religion, sociosexuality, having children, or desiring future children, and (3) small positive assortative trends arise in the areas of race and height. Our results provide rare behavioral evidence regarding people's preferences in dating partners."
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Kurzban and Weeden (2005b)
Abstract: "The availability of self-reported mate preferences for people who had participated in “speed dating” events afforded the possibility of comparing participants’ stated mate preferences with their preferences as revealed by their selection of events to attend and their selection of potential partners at these events. We find that our participants showed usual sex differences and assortative patterns when stating their mate preferences and that our participants’ decisions to attend particular events were coherently related to these advertised mate preferences. However, decisions within events were largely not related to advertised preferences, except with regard to race. These analyses suggest that self-reported preferences predict behavior in the mating domain in some contexts but not others. We conclude by speculating that proximate cues of the speed-dating environment might disrupt the connection between stated and revealed mate preferences."
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Phua and Kaufman (2003)
Abstract: "The authors examine 2,400 personal ads from male advertisers collected from the Internet, focusing on issues of race and sexual orientation. They look at advertisers’ desire for a partner of a particular race and the effect of their race and sexual orientation on their choices. The data indicate that Black, Hispanic, and Asian men are more likely than White men to have a race preference for a partner. Additionally, gay men are more likely to mention race than straight men. However, gay Black men and gay Hispanic men are less likely to have a race preference. The authors explain the differences in terms of race sensitivity and how preferences reflect the current racial hierarchy."
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Yancey Yancey (1998)
Abstract: "Caste and exchange theories predict that Whites who enter into interracial relationships seek to trade their racial status for relational capital (i.e., physical attractiveness, financial security). Racial minorities, on the other hand, are likely to trade such assets for higher racial status. However, previous research concerning interracial relationships has concentrated on couples who are already established; thus, the existing literature is of limited use in examining the initial decisions of individuals choosing to date interracially. In this article, content analysis of personal advertisements is reported. It was found that race is insignificant as to whether the advertisers desired or sought physical attractiveness or financial security. Increased availability, not factors predicted by caste and exchange theories, is more explanatory as to why individuals enter into interracial relationships."
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