Interracial dating in a "color-blind" society: romantic attraction and ideologies among college men

While there is a vast literature concerning interracial relationships, few investigations examine basic tenets of romantic attraction (e.g., similarity and familiarity) and intergroup ideologies (e.g. color-blind racial ideology or multiculturalism) simultaneously. The current study uses a person-perception or vignette methodology to explore the influence of ideologies on attraction in interracial romantic attraction among Black and White college men. After viewing the “profiles” of six women, participants indicated the extent to which they were attracted to each woman. Results indicate that although for both White and Black men perceived similarity was the greatest predictor of interracial attraction, ideology such as multiculturalism does hold predictive power above and beyond similarity. Additionally, analyses reveal that the relationships between the studied constructs vary by race. Implications and directions for future research are discussed