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Is there any evidence people prefer assortative mating given enough racial heterogeneity (i.e. people who look like you aren't the only choice)? I'm personally

Is there any evidence people prefer assortative mating given enough racial heterogeneity (i.e. people who look like you aren't the only choice)? I'm personally mostly sexually attracted to people who look nothing like me, and anecdotally I think most people I know are like this too? In my experience people are appealed to assortative mating since they don't live with people from other racial/ethnic backgrounds so there are cultural barriers (language, prejudice, differences in social class, education, slang etc). But in multiracial areas (e.g. the Bay Area), it seems to me that people do prefer mating with individuals from other races. Am I wrong? Any papers investigating this question?

tathougies 8y ago
In modern usage, assortative mating is less about race and more about socioeconomic group. Would you marry a woman (or man) significantly poorer than you, from a poor family, etc. I mean, my wife and I are by no means the same race, but we're absolutely the same in socioeconomic strata, which means our children will be resultingly advantaged.
- gnulinux 8y ago
  I see. I suppose I misused the terminology but your comment seems to support the hypothesis in my comment.
- virmundi 8y ago
  I don't think we're there yet. It will be interesting to see how this changes overtime. I'm curious how to works in largely homogeneous countries like Sweden. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_Un...
  - azernik 8y ago
    Sweden is no longer ethnically homogeneous; about 17% of the population was born outside of the country. While some of those are from nearby EU countries (Finland and Poland), most are refugees from the Middle East (esp. Syria and Iraq), Africa, and the Balkans resettled under Sweden's generous asylum policies.
- adamc 8y ago
  Also, there tends to be assortative mating in terms of attractiveness.
  - abainbridge 8y ago
    Which is partly a genetic trait. This is getting complicated...
- ip26 8y ago
  It doesn't even necessarily have to be a matter of preference- in general, throughout life you'll most likely meet more people of your own socioeconomic group, and less people of other groups. From there, simple probability predicts assortative pairing.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
For most people "people who look nothing like me" is the opposite sex.
- gnulinux 8y ago
  Sorry but how is this comment helpful? I was clearly talking about phenotypical resemblance e.g. hair, eye, skin color, height, face shape etc... Gender or sex is irrelevant. Obviously heterosexual men are attracted to women but the question is given enough racial diversity are white heterosexual men mostly attracted to white women or not.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    I think you're over estimating how much those sorts of individual physical things impact people's choice of long term spouse. Nobody (or at least very few people) is putting off marrying someone they otherwise would marry because they don't have their preferred hair/eye/skin color. I also think you're underestimating how much those physical features are mapped to personality/cultural features. People want to date and marry people who they have a lot in common with. Once people have found someone they're very compatible with on a personality level I think they tend to be less choosy about the physical stuff. Yes, I was being snarky initially. I was trying to imply that being the opposite sex is enough difference to satisfy most people's minimum requirement.
    - gnulinux 8y ago
      I would guess you're correct (I'd still be interested to see data) for long-term relationships but I wouldn't agree with you on short-term attraction i.e. seeing people on the street and finding them attractive. This is purely physical (even non-physical aspects e.g. associating someone's appearance with a certain type of personality have a physical source) so it is possible hair/eye/skin color can matter, so whether people prefer people looking similar/dissimilar to them is still an open question, I think. EDIT: But of course, since we're talking about reproduction, you have a good point I think.
Mikeb85 8y ago
> But in multiracial areas (e.g. the Bay Area), it seems to me that people do prefer mating with individuals from other races. Am I wrong? In my experience it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture and socioeconomic status. Odds are there's more mixed marriages in SF because it attracts those with a certain socioeconomic status (given how expensive it is) and people assimilated into the culture. It's much easier to make a life with someone who has similar desires, beliefs, food preferences, holiday celebrations, etc..., versus having to constantly compromise and bicker over every tiny, normally insignificant life choice.
fossuser 8y ago
My intuition is the opposite of yours so I'd need some sort of data to get at the truth. I think people tend to date people that look similar to themselves, similar features, similar faces, etc. My guess is there's just generally a mix.
fipple 8y ago
The interracial relationships of the Bay Area are purely a result of the numbers. If you’re in the Google employee socioeconomic class, your social environment is about 30% Indian, 20% Asian, 20% American born white, and 20% other. The chance that you’ll marry someone of a different race, with no preference, is >70%. However relationships are very homogenous on social class, education, values, politics, and physical attractiveness.
- toasterlovin 8y ago
  Can’t comment on the Bay Area, but I’m familiar with Los Angeles and Portland. In my experience, there isn’t actually much intermarriage between races. And the intermarriage that does take place tends to follow very specific patterns: Asian woman + white man, white woman + black man, etc.
OpenBSD-reich 8y ago
I live in southern Cali and so I am not in a racially homogeneous environment. I have a very strong preference for women who look like me (white, northern euro). I mean very strong, as in latinas, asians, and black women are as attractive as dudes are (I'm 0% gay, so completely uninteresting). I have no interest in sexual intercourse with those groups for fear of a mixed pregnancy. It bewilders me why people sometimes ignore it, though usually it's those who tend to signal 'inclusiveness' virtues who do.
dorfsmay 8y ago
Sexual attraction is complicated. There are cultural influences, especially when it comes to races, at specific time periods some races are seen as cool to date, some are fetishisized, while others are avoided: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_racism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_racism Interesting article based on studies from tinder an okcupid: https://www.inverse.com/article/36379-tinder-black-women-asian-men-racism https://www.inverse.com/article/36379-tinder-black-women-asi... Even if you completely ignore race an society's influence, we seem to be both attracted by genetic differences AND similarities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Wedekind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Wedekind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction

tathougies 8y ago

In modern usage, assortative mating is less about race and more about socioeconomic group. Would you marry a woman (or man) significantly poorer than you, from a poor family, etc. I mean, my wife and I are by no means the same race, but we're absolutely the same in socioeconomic strata, which means our children will be resultingly advantaged.

gnulinux 8y ago
I see. I suppose I misused the terminology but your comment seems to support the hypothesis in my comment.
virmundi 8y ago
I don't think we're there yet. It will be interesting to see how this changes overtime. I'm curious how to works in largely homogeneous countries like Sweden. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_Un...
- azernik 8y ago
  Sweden is no longer ethnically homogeneous; about 17% of the population was born outside of the country. While some of those are from nearby EU countries (Finland and Poland), most are refugees from the Middle East (esp. Syria and Iraq), Africa, and the Balkans resettled under Sweden's generous asylum policies.
adamc 8y ago
Also, there tends to be assortative mating in terms of attractiveness.
- abainbridge 8y ago
  Which is partly a genetic trait. This is getting complicated...
ip26 8y ago
It doesn't even necessarily have to be a matter of preference- in general, throughout life you'll most likely meet more people of your own socioeconomic group, and less people of other groups. From there, simple probability predicts assortative pairing.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

For most people "people who look nothing like me" is the opposite sex.

gnulinux 8y ago
Sorry but how is this comment helpful? I was clearly talking about phenotypical resemblance e.g. hair, eye, skin color, height, face shape etc... Gender or sex is irrelevant. Obviously heterosexual men are attracted to women but the question is given enough racial diversity are white heterosexual men mostly attracted to white women or not.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  I think you're over estimating how much those sorts of individual physical things impact people's choice of long term spouse. Nobody (or at least very few people) is putting off marrying someone they otherwise would marry because they don't have their preferred hair/eye/skin color. I also think you're underestimating how much those physical features are mapped to personality/cultural features. People want to date and marry people who they have a lot in common with. Once people have found someone they're very compatible with on a personality level I think they tend to be less choosy about the physical stuff. Yes, I was being snarky initially. I was trying to imply that being the opposite sex is enough difference to satisfy most people's minimum requirement.
  - gnulinux 8y ago
    I would guess you're correct (I'd still be interested to see data) for long-term relationships but I wouldn't agree with you on short-term attraction i.e. seeing people on the street and finding them attractive. This is purely physical (even non-physical aspects e.g. associating someone's appearance with a certain type of personality have a physical source) so it is possible hair/eye/skin color can matter, so whether people prefer people looking similar/dissimilar to them is still an open question, I think. EDIT: But of course, since we're talking about reproduction, you have a good point I think.

Mikeb85 8y ago

> But in multiracial areas (e.g. the Bay Area), it seems to me that people do prefer mating with individuals from other races. Am I wrong? In my experience it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture and socioeconomic status. Odds are there's more mixed marriages in SF because it attracts those with a certain socioeconomic status (given how expensive it is) and people assimilated into the culture. It's much easier to make a life with someone who has similar desires, beliefs, food preferences, holiday celebrations, etc..., versus having to constantly compromise and bicker over every tiny, normally insignificant life choice.

fossuser 8y ago

My intuition is the opposite of yours so I'd need some sort of data to get at the truth. I think people tend to date people that look similar to themselves, similar features, similar faces, etc. My guess is there's just generally a mix.

fipple 8y ago

The interracial relationships of the Bay Area are purely a result of the numbers. If you’re in the Google employee socioeconomic class, your social environment is about 30% Indian, 20% Asian, 20% American born white, and 20% other. The chance that you’ll marry someone of a different race, with no preference, is >70%. However relationships are very homogenous on social class, education, values, politics, and physical attractiveness.

toasterlovin 8y ago
Can’t comment on the Bay Area, but I’m familiar with Los Angeles and Portland. In my experience, there isn’t actually much intermarriage between races. And the intermarriage that does take place tends to follow very specific patterns: Asian woman + white man, white woman + black man, etc.

OpenBSD-reich 8y ago

I live in southern Cali and so I am not in a racially homogeneous environment. I have a very strong preference for women who look like me (white, northern euro). I mean very strong, as in latinas, asians, and black women are as attractive as dudes are (I'm 0% gay, so completely uninteresting). I have no interest in sexual intercourse with those groups for fear of a mixed pregnancy. It bewilders me why people sometimes ignore it, though usually it's those who tend to signal 'inclusiveness' virtues who do.

dorfsmay 8y ago

Sexual attraction is complicated. There are cultural influences, especially when it comes to races, at specific time periods some races are seen as cool to date, some are fetishisized, while others are avoided: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_racism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_racism Interesting article based on studies from tinder an okcupid: https://www.inverse.com/article/36379-tinder-black-women-asian-men-racism https://www.inverse.com/article/36379-tinder-black-women-asi... Even if you completely ignore race an society's influence, we seem to be both attracted by genetic differences AND similarities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Wedekind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Wedekind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction