Oh dear! We knew there were the occasional individuals who outspokenly refuse to date members of a certain race, but new research suggests that race plays a significant role in who people choose to date. The dating app Are You Interested recently performed a study in which they compared numbers on who picks whom as a romantic prospect based on racial identity. And the results are what some are calling “weirdly racist.“
According to their data, most men– with the exception of Asian men, who are generally reported to prefer dating Hispanic women– would most like to date an Asian woman. White, Asian, and Hispanic women want to date caucasian men, while caucasian men tend to pick women of all races before picking a white one. African-American men also prefer dating members of all races except African Americans. Shockingly, a white woman is twice as likely to pick a white man than an African-American man. African-American women are quite likely to pick African American men, but African-American men prefer other races when looking for romantic partners. Who knew race played such a significant role in our dating preferences? These issues are complex, so we can’t say “racism” is necessarily the only reason behind the numbers, but what assumptions and prejudices might go into who we choose to date?
Perhaps online dating will help alleviate prejudices because it opens individuals up to more options, but I also worry that we’re entering into a territory where physical appearance truly is the #1 thing people look for in a partner, where race is a deciding factor and where stereotyping runs rampant. What do you think?
Images via Angel Lazer
