The Sociology of Love
Rooted in Distance/Similarity
• Age
– Vast majority of us marry someone who is within 3 years of us
• Spatial
– 50/50 chance that you will marry someone who lives within
walking distance of your home
• Cultural
– Most of us marry within our faith
• Class
– 60% of all marriages are between people of the same social
class
– 95% are between people no more than one class apart
• Race
Interracial Dating
• One half of all Americans have dated across
races by 2005
• The percentage of all U.S. married couples that
are interracial nearly doubled from 2.9 percent in
1990 to 5.4 percent in 2000
• In 1986, 70% of Americans approved
• In 2005, 83% of Americans approved
– 95% of Americans 18-29 years of age
– 45% of Americans 65 or older
Who dates across racial lines?
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45% of white Americans
52 percent of African Americans
69 percent of Hispanic Americans
57 percent of Asian Americans
Men and those who attend racially or
ethnically integrated schools are
significantly more likely to interdate
Who do whites date across racial
lines?
• 29% said they have dated an Hispanic
• 24% said they have dated an African
American
• 18% said they have dated an Asian