The sweetness of forbidden fruit: Interracial daters are more attractive than intraracial daters

Posted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, Social Science, United States on 2015-07-17 15:40Z by Steven

The sweetness of forbidden fruit: Interracial daters are more attractive than intraracial daters

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
Volume 32, Number 5 (August 2015)
pages 650-666
DOI: 10.1177/0265407514541074

Karen Wu
Department of Psychology
University of California, Irvine

Chuansheng Chen, Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior and Education
University of California, Irvine

Ellen Greenberger, Recall-Faculty and Professor Emerita of Psychology and Social Behavior
University of California, Irvine

Past research on interracial dating has focused on demographic and adjustment factors while ignoring the traits most valued in romantic partners. We examined whether interracial and intraracial daters differ in the extent to which they possess various desirable attributes. In Study 1, undergraduates estimated their partners’ ratings of them on 27 attributes. A factor analysis yielded attractiveness (e.g., physically attractive), cerebral (e.g., intelligent), relational (e.g., compassionate), and vibrancy (e.g., confident) attributes. Compared with intraracial daters, interracial daters reported that their partners saw them more positively on attractiveness, cerebral, and relational attributes (Study 1), rated their partners more positively on attractiveness and cerebral attributes (Study 2), and were rated by independent coders as more physically attractive (Study 3). Implications are discussed.

Read or purchase the article here.

Tags: , , ,

The sweetness of forbidden fruit: Interracial daters are more attractive than intraracial daters

Posted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive on 2014-07-24 06:49Z by Steven

The sweetness of forbidden fruit: Interracial daters are more attractive than intraracial daters

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
Published online: 2014-07-09
DOI: 10.1177/0265407514541074

Karen Wu
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior
University of California, Irvine

Chuansheng Chen, Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior and Education
University of California, Irvine

Ellen Greenberger, Research Professor and Professor Emerita of Psychology & Social Behavior
University of California, Irvine

Past research on interracial dating has focused on demographic and adjustment factors while ignoring the traits most valued in romantic partners. We examined whether interracial and intraracial daters differ in the extent to which they possess various desirable attributes. In Study 1, undergraduates estimated their partners’ ratings of them on 27 attributes. A factor analysis yielded attractiveness (e.g., physically attractive), cerebral (e.g., intelligent), relational (e.g., compassionate), and vibrancy (e.g., confident) attributes. Compared with intraracial daters, interracial daters reported that their partners saw them more positively on attractiveness, cerebral, and relational attributes (Study 1), rated their partners more positively on attractiveness and cerebral attributes (Study 2), and were rated by independent coders as more physically attractive (Study 3). Implications are discussed.

Read or purchase the article here.

Tags: , , ,

Creating positive out-group attitudes through intergroup couple friendships and implications for compassionate love

Posted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology on 2014-06-23 02:34Z by Steven

Creating positive out-group attitudes through intergroup couple friendships and implications for compassionate love

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
Published online before print: 2014-02-10
DOI: 10.1177/0265407514522369

Keith M. Welker
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

Richard B. Slatcher, Associate Professor of Psychology
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

Lynzey Baker
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

Arthur Aron, Professor of Psychology
State University of New York, Stony Brook

Building personal relationships with out-group members is an important catalyst of positive intergroup attitudes. In a 2 × 2 experimental design, Caucasian and African American individuals and couples were randomly assigned to interact in either cross-race or same-race individual dyads and couple pairs. Participants completed pretest measures of race attitudes and engaged in a high self-disclosure closeness-induction task with an in-group or out-group race member in pairs of couples or individuals and completed measures of self-disclosure and intergroup attitudes. These results suggest that intergroup contact in the presence of romantic partners may be particularly effective for improving intergroup attitudes. We explore the implications of these results for developing compassionate love toward out-groups.

Read the entire article here.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Racial Ambiguity and Relationship Formation in the United States: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, Social Science on 2010-09-06 20:13Z by Steven

Racial Ambiguity and Relationship Formation in the United States: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
Volume 20, Number 2 (April 2003)
pages 153-169
DOI: 10.1177/02654075030202002

Angela D. James, Associate Professor of African American Studies
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

M. Belinda Tucker, Social Psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
University of California, Los Angeles

This article explores in conceptual terms the nature of romantic relationship formation and maintenance when a potential or actual partner does not fit into the dominant racial schema – a situation we define as ‘racial ambiguity.’ When a potential other cannot be classified according to one’s existing notions of racial organization, how does this ambiguity affect approach and maintenance? In the discussion, we first explore the concept of racial ambiguity as a function of the peculiar and distinctive American construction of race. Next, we examine conceptual perspectives that can be used to understand the role of racial classification and racial ambiguity in personal relationship formation and maintenance. And, finally, we discuss strategies for incorporating more fluid understandings of race into research on personal relationships.

Read or purchase the article here.

Tags: , , ,