The majority of research on romantic relationships has tended to focus on marriage, with relatively less attention paid to dating. This study examined the relationship between Asian American dating, both interracial and intraracial, and a variety of factors thought to be associated with dating in this population, including acculturation, ethnic identity, attractiveness, interracial dating experience, ethnicity of friends, parental influence over dating, and density. Participants were administered measures of these variables and were asked questions regarding their likelihood of dating both Asian Americans and White Americans. An interesting pattern of results emerged when the variables were put into regression equations to predict both interracial and intraracial dating. Findings are presented and implications discussed.

The United States population is increasingly becoming more racially and ethnically diverse; indeed, a special issue of Time magazine (Jamieson & Seaman, 1993) spoke of "The New Face of America: How Immigrants Are Shaping the World's First Multicultural Society." This special issue addressed not only the changing demographics of the United States but also the way members of this multicultural society have increasingly interacted with one another in different facets of life, including marriage. Interracial relationships have been discussed in a number of forums, from scholarly journals and books to mass market magazines and newspapers, where the topic has ranged from the academic to the emotional. A general conclusion is that interracial marriage in the United States is increasing and that Asian Americans make up a significant proportion of people who are involved in such relationships.

Interracial relationships between Asians and Whites have been the subject of strong, heated debate for decades. Although these relationships in the United States have not been restricted by law for some time, such unions still invoke opinions ranging from open acceptance to rigid intolerance. The majority of research that has examined interracial unions has tended to focus on interracial marriages. Relatively less attention has been paid to interracial dating, due perhaps to the more tenuous nature of dating. Much of the information regarding interracial dating has been extrapolated from interracial marriage literature.

The subject of interracial relationships can function as a lens through which to observe intergroup relations, social distance, and racial group cohesion. Erik Erikson's influential theory of human development speaks to the necessity of forming romantic and sexual relationships as part of normal, healthy social development. His theory states that seeking romantic relationships is a pivotal element in the quest for one's personal identity (Erikson, 1950). The present study is one of the few that examine the effect that race has on Asian Americans' choice of dating partners.

Difficulties With Interracial Marriage Literature

One of the difficulties with this area of study is the meaning of different terms. For the sake of clarity, this article refers to interracial relationships as those that are between people of two different races (e.g., a White American and an Asian American). Intraracial relationships are those that occur between people of the same race, regardless of differing ethnicity (e.g., a relationship between two Asian Americans: a Japanese American and a Korean American).

Another difficulty dealing with existing research on Asian American and White American interracial marriages is the lack of standardization in how rates of intermarriage have been assessed (Fujino, 1992; Shinagawa & Pang, 1988; Sung, 1990). As Sung (1990) explained, suppose four Asian Americans, two men and two women, decided to marry. Two of the Asian Americans decided to many each other, whereas the other two Asian Americans decided to marry Whites. In actuality, 50% of the people in the group interracially married. However, there were three marriages, one of which was intraracial whereas the other two were interracial. The rate based on marriages would be 33% intraracial and 67% interracial. Thus, rates based on marriages are always higher than rates based on individuals, creating difficulties when comparing figures based on different reference groups (Sung, 1990). Most of the data citing intermarriage rates have been based on marriages as the unit of analysis, although researchers have advocated the use of individuals over marriages when calculating rates (Shinagawa & Pang, 1988).

Further complicating the comparison of interracial marriage rates from year to year are the classifications assigned to racial groups in the United States by the Census Bureau. Not until 1980 did the United States make racial distinctions beyond those of "Black" and 'White.' Therefore, it is impossible to compare accurately the rate of interracial marriage between Asian Americans and White Americans prior to 1980 with rates after 1980.

Another difficulty in comparing rates of interracial marriages through the years is due to the nature of studies that have examined this phenomenon. Most of the studies of Asian American interracial marriage have focused on the Asian American population in California (e.g., Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Kitano & Chai, 1982; Kitano & Yeung, 1982; Kitano, Yeung, Chai, & Hatanaka, 1984), New York (e.g., Sung, 1990), or Hawaii (e.g., Labov & Jacobs, 1986)-three places with relatively high concentrations of Asian Americans. Although the information from these studies has formed a solid base for research, the results of these studies are limited in their generalizability to other areas of the United States.

Ratios and Trends

To compensate for the potential difficulties, particularly with rate calculation, I describe Lee and Yamanaka's (1990) study briefly here. Using the individual as the unit of measurement for rate calculation, Lee and Yamanaka analyzed U.S. Census data and found that the overall rate of interracial marriage for all Asian Americans across the United States was 25.4%. More specifically, they found interracial marriage rates of 15.7% for Chinese Americans, 34.2% for Japanese Americans, and 31.8% for Korean Americans.

One of the few studies to assess rates of interracial and intraracial dating was conducted by Fujino (1992), who used the individual as the unit of measurement in examining Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans in a West Coast university. She found that rates of interracial dating by ethnicity and sex ranged from 18.8% to 44.6%. Rates of intraracial dating tended to be much higher, ranging from 36.8% to 67.3%. In general, Fujino found that people within her Asian American sample tended to date intraracially at a much higher rate than they dated interracially. The only exception was for Japanese American women, who had a higher rate of interracial dating than they did of intraracial dating.

A few patterns or trends within the interracial dating and marriage literature appear to be relatively consistent: (a) Asian American women date and marry White men at a higher rate than Asian American men date and marry White women (Kitano & Chai, 1982; Kitano & Yeung, 1982; Kitano et al., 1984), (b) the rate of Asian-White interracial relationships is considerably higher than it is for other U.S. ethnic groups with White Americans (Lee & Yamanaka, 1990), and (c) if Asian Americans do not marry someone from their specific ethnic group, their next most likely choice is a White American over other Asian ethnic groups (Fujino, 1992; Lee & Yamanaka, 1990).

Many of the studies that have examined Asian American romantic relationships have described how a variety of demographic factors (e.g., age, income level, generational level, occupation) affect partner choice for Asian Americans. And although the literature dealing with Asian American relationships covers a broad spectrum of motives for and emotional responses to choosing a partner, much of the information thus far obtained has been culled from personal first-hand accounts, rather than from empirical study. Variables that are often cited as important factors influencing the dating behaviors of Asian Americans include familiarity with mainstream American culture, pride in one's ethnic group, personal definitions of attractiveness, dating experiences, ethnicity of friends, parental influence, and density of ethnic groups and community members. These were the variables that were investigated in this study.

Acculturation

American anthropology in the 1920s when researchers became interested in contact between "primitive" and "civilized" cultures (Keefe & Padilla, 1987). Acculturation is defined essentially as change occurring as the result of continuous contact between cultural groups. Although acculturation may affect both cultural groups in contact with one another, the term is generally used to refer to the change within an immigrant or minority ethnic group whose culture progressively emulates that of the dominant majority group. For Asian Americans, therefore, the more acculturated an individual, the more that person has adopted the values and norms of the mainstream White American culture (Huang & Ying, 1991).

Research has suggested that Asian American women tend to acculturate at a faster rate compared with Asian American men (Meredith & Meredith, 1966; Sue & Morishima, 1982; Weiss, 1970). Researchers have speculated that ethnic minority women pose less of a threat to society than do ethnic minority men. Asian American women, therefore, might be more accepted by society and acculturate faster than Asian American men do. This might be a factor in the explanation for the higher interracial dating and marriage rates between Asian women and White men than that of Asian men and White women.

Although researchers have stressed the importance of acculturation on Asian American interracial relationships, its effect has never been assessed directly. Instead, research often has focused on other factors that have been shown to be correlated positively with acculturation. A host of studies have examined generational level (Kitano et al., 1984; Sung, 1990; Tinker, 1982; Weiss, 1970), whereas other studies have examined length of residence in the United States (Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Lee & Yamanaka, 1990). Even studies that directly mention the relationship of acculturation to interracial dating (e.g., Weiss, 1970) present no evidence as to how they have measured this construct. The present study used the original 21-itern Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation (SLASIA) scale (Suinn, Rickard-Figueroa, Lew, & Vigil, 1987). I predicted that acculturation would be positively related to interracial dating and negatively related to intraracial dating.

Ethnic Identity

Ethnic identity is often at the heart of discussion over interracial relationships. When Asian Americans are accused of 'selling out' by dating White Americans, the assumption is that they have little pride in their own ethnic group, its members, or even themselves.

Ethnic identity is a broad construct concerning the psychological relationship of ethnic and racial group members with their own group (Phinney, 1989). Ethnic identity encompasses issues such as the quality and length of involvement one has with one's own cultural heritage. Another important aspect of ethnic identity is directly related to ways of responding to and dealing with the majority culture's views of the minority group. Because ethnic identity research has gained social prominence and importance only within approximately the last 30 years (Phinney, 1992), there has been little more than speculation as to how ethnic identity might affect an Asian American's decision about the ethnicity of potential dating partners. Intuitively, on the basis of theories advanced by ethnic identity researchers, a per- son with lower ethnic identity might be more likely than a person with higher ethnic identity to date interracially. However, there is some qualitative research that contradicts this claim. Sung (1990) interviewed Asian Americans who voiced strong pride in their ethnic group, yet were married to White Americans. Thus, an aim of this study was to investigate how ethnic identity related to both interracial and intraracial dating.

Heterosexual Attractiveness

An important factor in interpersonal attraction is physical attractiveness (Berscheid & Walster, 1978). However, psychological research on physical attraction has tended not to focus on the impact culture has on shaping standards of beauty (Hall, 1995). Research that has been conducted on Asian Americans and physical attractiveness has come to two conclusions: (a) Asian Americans do not believe they are physically as attractive as White Americans (Arkoff & Weaver, 1966; Chen & Yang, 1986; Huang & Ying, 1991; Pang, Mizokawa, Morishima, & Oistad, 1985; Sue & Morishima, 1982), and (b) Asian Americans impart more positive qualities to Whites than to their own ethnic group (Fujino, 1992; Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Weiss, 1970). These conclusions have obvious ramifications for Asian American dating relationships.

Researchers have highlighted a sex difference when it comes to stereotypes imputed to Asian American men and women. Despite evidence that Asian American women do not feel that they are as attractive as their White counterparts, the stereotypes often imputed to them include being exotic, subservient, or simply nice, making them highly desirable dating partners for White men (Fujino, 1992; Williams, 1994). On the other hand, Asian American men especially feel that they are less attractive than White men (White & Chan, 1983). Mainstream media in the United States reinforce this picture of Asian men by often portraying them as sexless and lacking in the social skills and physical appearance that attract women in U.S. society. Asian American women appear to believe in this message to a certain extent, often citing the relative un- attractiveness of Asian American men as reasons for preferring to date White American men (Houston, 1980; Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Prosser, 1992; Weiss, 1970). Researchers have speculated that belief in these stereotypes may contribute to the imbalance in the pairing of Asian women with White men as compared with the pairing of White women with Asian men. Finding Whites more attractive than Asians might lead to a preference for interracial dating over intraracial dating.

Interracial Dating Experience

Previous research has sometimes focused on current romantic relationships while neglecting to investigate prior dating history. Weiss (1970) found that Asian American women who had dated White Americans preferred to continue to date Whites rather than Asian Americans. It has been argued that, the more experience a person has with dating a certain ethnic group, the more likely that person would be to date that ethnic group in the future (Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Weiss, 1970).

Asian American Friendship

Ethnicity of a person's friends is another variable that has been speculated to be related to choice of dating partners (Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Spickard, 1989; Sung, 1990; Weiss, 1970). The pool of friendships one has may greatly influence the selection of potential dating partners. Thus, an Asian American who has many Asian American friends may be more likely to date intraracially as compared with an Asian American with few Asian American friends.

Parental Influence

The most prominent obstacle in pursuing an interracial relationship has been said to be parental objections (Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Kitano et al., 1984; Shon & ja, 1982; Spickard, 1989; Sung, 1985, 1990). Although traditional Asian values regarding dating and marriage are undoubtedly diluted for many present-day Asian Americans, some traditional Asian family values have continued to endure (Sung, 1985). Asian American adolescents may not be encouraged to date (Sung, 1985; Weiss, 1970) as much as their White counterparts. In addition, many Asian Americans have been disowned or cut off from their families for dating non-Asians (Fentress, 1992; Nachman, 1987; Sung, 1990). Asian Americans, therefore, who perceive their parents as having a lot of influence over partner choice may be more likely to date intraracially than Asian Americans who do not perceive parental influence over their dating.

Density

A final factor often cited as influencing the dating behavior of Asian Americans is density (Kikumura & Kitano, 1973; Kitano et al., 1984; Labov & Jacobs, 1986; Lee & Yamanaka, 1990; Sue & Morishima, 1982). Density refers to the relative proportion of a person's ethnic group in comparison with other ethnic groups in the community in which that person grew up. For Asian Americans, therefore, density refers to the percentage of Asian Americans in one's neighborhood while growing up. If the number of Asians or Asian Americans where a person grew up was negligible, one's choices for potential intraracial dating partners would be drastically limited. It seems likely then that density of Asians or Asian Americans in one's community while growing up would be correlated negatively with the likelihood of dating White Americans, and correlated positively with the likelihood of dating Asian Americans.

Objectives of the Present Study and Hypotheses

In summary, the objectives of the present study were to (a) ascertain the rates of interracial and intraracial dating among Asian American college students by using the individual as the unit of analysis; (b) examine empirically the relationships of acculturation, ethnic identity, perceptions of heterosexual attractiveness, interracial dating experience, Asian American friendship, parental influence, and density to both interracial and intraracial dating; (c) determine predictors of interracial dating relationships; and (d) determine predictors of intraracial dating relationships. The following specific hypotheses were proposed:

Hypothesis 1: Likelihood of dating White Americans will be correlated positively with acculturation, perceiving Whites as more attractive than Asians, and interracial dating experience.
Hypothesis 2: Likelihood of dating White Americans "I be correlated negatively with ethnic identity, Asian American friendship, parental influence, and density.
Hypothesis 3: Likelihood of dating Asian Americans will be correlated positively with ethnic identity, Asian American friendship, parental influence, and density.
American friendship, parental influence, and density.
Hypothesis 4: Likelihood of dating Asian Americans will be correlated negatively with acculturation, perceiving Whites as more attractive than Asians, and interracial dating experience.

Note:  Methods and much of the Results section are skipped here. Also, the Reference section. Please see your professor for the full article,if interested.

Results

Rates of dating were calculated on the basis of the information as to participants' cur- rent dating status. With only one exception, participants who were currently dating indicated either Asian Americans (60%) or White Americans (39%) as their partners. There were no significant differences between men and women in terms of the ethnicity of their dating partners or the frequency that they were dating, x 2(l , N= 67) = 0.89, p > .34. Of the 157 participants, a total of 67 indicated that they were dating currently. Forty Asian Americans (19 women and 21 men) were intraracially dating, whereas 27 (16 women and 11 men) were interracially dating.

Implications and Conclusions

This study was useful in articulating factors that are related to Asian Americans' dating likelihoods. It assessed actual rates of dating and examined a host of variables that appear to be good predictors of Asian American romantic relationships. A strength of this study comes from its sample, as there is a paucity of research on Asian Americans in the Midwest.

Of interest was the finding that two distinct models predicted likelihood of dating White Americans and likelihood of dating Asian Americans. This suggests that different factors are salient in choosing either to date interracially or to date intraracially, and that, contrary to the simple zero-order correlations, a choice to date Whites is not simply the mirror opposite of a choice to date Asians.

In terms of likelihood of dating Whites, ethnic identity was a nonsignificant predictor, whereas acculturation was a significant predictor. The implication of this is that likelihood of dating White Americans might be influenced more by higher levels of acculturation rather than by lower ethnic identity. In other words, the degree to which the dominant White culture is seen as the reference group may be more important than lack of identification with one's own ethnic group. Finding that ethnic identity is less powerful a force than acculturation speaks to the most charged claims made against interracial daters: that they are "sell-outs" to their race. Although ethnic identity is related to some degree to likelihood of dating White Americans, these findings demonstrate that how an Asian American feels about his or her race may not be as important a factor for determining likelihood of interracial dating as is acculturation.

This study was also able to delineate some interesting findings related to the nature of the SLASIA scale as a measure of acculturation. Perhaps the SLASIA scale, as it was used in this study, was not a thorough enough assessment of acculturation to predict intraracial dating behavior among Asian Americans. When put into a regression equation, the SLASIA scale was more useful as an error reducer than as a predictor itself. However, it was found to be a useful-and highly significant-predictor of dating behavior at a zero-order level. Further research might probe into what specific aspects of acculturation might signal a willingness to date either interracially or intraracially.