Full Citation

Title: Latinos' Mate Selection: National Origin, Racial, and Nativity Differences

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2004

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Abstract: We use 1990 Census data to examine how mate selection patterns differ by Latinos' national origin, race, and nativity. We compare their propensity to marry within their own groups, with non-Latino Whites and Blacks and with other Latino Whites and Nonwhites. Latinos' race plays an important role in assimilation to American society. Latino Whites are more likely than Latino Nonwhites to marry non-Latinos; US-born Latino Whites are more likely than their foreign-born counterparts to marry non-Latino Whites; and US-born Mexican Whites, with a long history in the US, are more likely to intermarry than other US-born Latino Whites. Mate selection patterns of Latino Whites closely follow the predictions of classical assimilation theory. Latino Nonwhites, however, exhibit a different pattern: the US-born are less likely to intermarry than the foreign-born. Racial barrier also is strong within each national-origin group. When Latinos marry outside their own national-origin groups, Whites tend to marry non-Latino Whites, but Nonwhites tend to marry other Latino Nonwhites. This may imply two paths of integration in American society: Latino Whites' assimilation into American society and Latino Nonwhites' formation of Latino pan-ethnicity.

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Authors: Qian, Zhenchao; Cobas, Jose A.

Periodical (Full): Social science research

Issue:

Volume: 33

Pages: 225-247

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity

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