M.A. / Committed interracial relationships within the South African context have been associated with controversy as these relationships were once considered immoral and illegal. Since the abolishment of the anti-miscegenation and racial segregation laws, committed interracial relationships have slowly increased but are still fraught with difficulties. The experience of discrimination remains a prominent concern for individuals in committed interracial relationships. Black male-white female interracial relationships are considered the most stigmatised form of relationship, and these relationships are at risk of experiencing the severest forms of discrimination. Various studies have examined the phenomenon of interracial relationships, considering these relationships from theoretical perspectives that sought to explain the union between individuals of different races. In addition to seeking causal explanations for the manifestation of committed interracial relationships, perspectives from family members and society as a whole have been investigated. Studies that explore the subjective experiences of individuals in committed interracial relationships are scarce, and research of such a nature is especially limited within the South African context. South African research that seeks to give a voice to white women in committed interracial relationships with black men, and in particular their experience of discrimination, is currently unavailable. Therefore, this study aimed to elicit untainted first-person descriptions of the lived experience and the associated meaning of discrimination experienced by white women in interracial relationships with black men within the South African context. A descriptive phenomenological research paradigm and method were deemed appropriate for the exploration and depiction of the phenomenon. Three white females in committed interracial relationships with black males were sourced and interviewed for the purpose of this study. These women have been in committed relationships with their partners for more than two years, and disclosed the actual experience of discrimination as a result of their relationship. Open-ended interviews were conducted in order to elicit rich and in-depth descriptions of the participants’ lived experiences of discrimination as a result of being in committed interracial relationships. The interviews were transcribed verbatim with the inclusion of non-verbal cues where relevant. The data analysis was conducted using a phenomenological approach, which involved various steps that were followed sequentially. Salient themes that emerged from the individual participant’s interview were integrated to form a structure that communicated the essence of discrimination as experienced by the particular participant. Consequently, the common themes that surfaced transversely from all three participants’ interviews were synthesised and discussed in light of the current literature. The integration and discussion of the salient themes and related literature had the purpose to identify similarities and idiosyncrasies of the lived experience of discrimination by white women in committed interracial relationships with black men within the South African context. The results of this study suggest that the experience of discrimination by white women in committed interracial relationships with black men includes several core aspects. The themes describing the phenomenon may be understood within the following broad terms: discrimination is experienced in various contexts and from various people; discrimination is experienced either directly or indirectly by an individual in an interracial relationship; discrimination manifests in either negative or positive encounters; discrimination evokes various emotional responses and is dealt with in various ways; discrimination, although a personal experience, impacts on the interracial relationship in either a negative or positive manner. Discrimination is thus both an intrapersonal and an interpersonal phenomenon. The research findings are valuable in that existing literature is verified and new insights, with regards to the experience of discrimination by women in committed interracial relationships within the South African context, are provided. Based on the conclusions of this study, several suggestions have been made to encourage further research relating to this area of study.

The proposed study was designed to evaluate a newly developed Prejudice towards Interracial/Interethnic Couples Scale (PTICS) using exploratory and confirmatory analyses. In this study, 963 workers from Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) (which was randomly split 60/40 to form the exploratory and confirmatory datasets) completed the 25 items generated for the PTICS, the Marlowe-Crone Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) Form C, the Political Correctness Ideology-Race Scale (PCIRS), the Social Distance Scale (SDS), the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) scale, the Color-blind Racial Attitude Scale (CoBRAs), the Modern Racism Scale (MRS), and a demographic survey. The researcher collected data from two different subject matter expert groups to modify the original 17 item PTICS generated from a review of the literature. AMT workers (N = 50) currently in interracial/interethnic relationships and graduate students (N = 21) enrolled in a graduate level Principles of Measurement course at the time of data collection, indicated whether the items measured prejudice towards interracial/interethnic relationships, whether the items were clearly written, types of prejudice not captured by the items, and their own experiences (if applicable) with prejudice towards interracial/interethnic relationships. Based on the feedback from the subject matter experts, items were revised and 8 additional items were added to form the final 25 item PTICS. Exploratory factory analyses of the PTICS resulted in a two factor (relationship inferiority, social disapproval) final solution containing 14 items. Reliability and validity analyses were conducted, and were especially promising for the relationship inferiority subscale (i.e., α = .900; significantly positively correlated with CoBRAS, MRS, SDS, and SDO, significantly negatively correlated with interracial/interethnic exposure), and the PTICS total score (α = .849; significantly positively correlated with CoBRAS, MRS, SDS, and SDO, significantly negatively correlated with diversity exposure and interracial/interethnic exposure); while further refinement is needed for acknowledging social disapproval (α = .706; significantly negatively correlated with CoBRAS, and MRS, significantly positively correlated with SDS). Confirmatory factor analyses showed global and local fit issues with the two-factor structure, particularly with items from the social disapproval subscale; however, when seven covarying errors were added, global fit improved and issues with local fit were eliminated. Global fit was also improved from the original two-factor model when conducting a one-factor model which included only the relationship inferiority scale, though a few areas of local misfit still remained. Reliability and validity analyses conducted with the cross-validation data further supported the strong reliability and validity for the relationship inferiority subscale (α = .897; significantly positively correlated with CoBRAS, MRS, SDO, and SDS, significantly negatively correlated with diversity exposure and interracial/interethnic exposure), and the PTICS total score (α = .849; significantly positively correlated with CoBRAS, MRS, SDS, and SDO, significantly negatively correlated with diversity exposure and interracial/interethnic exposure); and the need for further refinement for acknowledging social disapproval (α = .686; significantly negatively correlated with CoBRAS, MRS; significantly positively correlated with SDS, and diversity exposure). Cross-validation results indicate that social desirability and political correctness may be concerns for both subscales and the total score, while the exploratory data only showed issues for the social disapproval subscale. Overall, the development of a Prejudice towards Interracial/Interethnic Couples Scale (PTICS), with two subscales, is an important contribution to the field; and takes a critical step in deepening our understanding of interracial/interethnic romantic relationships and facilitating quantitative research in this domain.

Research shows that interracial relationships are more likely to dissolve than same-race relationships (Bratter and King, 2008), with evidence suggesting social disapproval may play a role (Lehmiller and Agnew, 2006). However, people seem to overlook external attributions for failures and minimize internal attributions for successes when judging interracial relationships (Ellithorpe, Colvin, Missel, and Sinclair, 2012), thus making the ultimate attribution error. To test whether individuals make this error, 642 participants read one of 16 vignettes manipulating the race (Caucasian vs. African American) of relationship partners and the opinions of their parents (Approving vs. Disapproving). Participants predicted the likelihood of relationship success and indicated reasons for potential relationship outcomes. Participants were more likely to predict success for relationships that had approval, but were significantly more likely to predict failure for interracial relationships. Consistent with ultimate attribution error theory, individuals scoring high in prejudice were more likely to make these attribution patterns.

An Examination of Perceived Discrimination and Stress in Interracial Relationships by Sharon Sirmons Conger MS, Troy University, Florida Campus, 2006 BA, Baptist College of Florida, 2003 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy General Psychology Walden University February 2015   There is a potential increase in stress for White women in interracial relationships with Black men due to perceived racial discrimination that may not have been previously experienced. The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure stress before and after the relationship due to perceived racial discrimination for these women. Guided by the status exchange theory and the stress process model, it was hypothesized that White women in interracial relationships with Black men would not experience stress due to racial discrimination prior to the relationship but would experience stress once in the relationship. Paired-sample t tests were used to measure the statistical significance between the mean scores from the General Ethnic Discrimination Scale (GED, before the relationship) to the corresponding questions on the GED-Revised (after involvement in the relationship) and the level of stress experienced due to perceived racial discrimination among a sample of 39 White women. A standard multiple regression was used to examine whether the perpetrator (family, friends, or strangers) of the perceived discrimination affected the amount of total stress experienced. The results indicate that the participants experienced an increase in perceived racial discrimination after their involvement in an interracial relationship in most areas identified in the study with a significant increase in stress; family was the most stressful. The results of the study could be used by members of interracial relationships and by counselors who work them to facilitate social change by offering more effective coping skills on how perceived racial discrimination affects stress for White women in interracial relationships.

Thesis advisor: Zine Magubane / Interviews with 20 members of Black female-White male intimate couples were conducted and, utilizing a grounded theory approach, revealed multiple situations where members of these couples had to self-disclose to others that they were romantically involved with a person of a different race. Using one of the largest study samples to date of Black female-White male couples, I demonstrate how race and gender affect these unplanned and strategic self-disclosure events that members of these couples engage in, and how members of these couples make sense of these public inquires that are the remnants of our country's racially-charged history. I argue that the ways in which privilege is uniquely distributed within these relationships -- where White men simultaneously possess racial and gender privilege and Black women possess neither -- makes these couples structurally and fundamentally different than other interracial couples, and, ultimately, exemplifies that race and gender matter in the experiences of these couples and how society-at-large views them. Therefore, it is pivotal that experiences of interracial couples are not generalized and that each race and gender pairing receives its own individualized study. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Thesis advisor: Zine Magubane / One of the common beliefs in American society is that interracial couples transcend race. It is a curious belief considering that there is not a parallel logic that heterosexual couples transcend sexism. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 55 members of heterosexual Black/White intimate couples, I have investigated the internal dynamics involved in maintaining a relationship across race in our racially stratified society in three areas of these couples’ lives: public interactions, racial discussions, and childrearing. Most literature about interracial couples looks at race as the main determinant of the experience of these couples as a unit and as individuals. However, I argue that race, gender and racialized gender ideologies interact to shape how members of heterosexual Black/White intimate couples perceive certain social situations and their options for negotiating social norms and issues. Not only has the intersection of race and gender been under-theorized in research on interracial couples, racialized gender ideologies have been virtually absent. In particular, these racialized ideologies of gender result in situational privilege at different times for Black women and Black men, thus nuancing our understanding of how racism operates. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Geosocial apps on mobile phones use location data to introduce many young adults to other people to initiate various types of relationships. This study examined how established racial preferences affect Straight White Men's (SWM) selection decisions of potential partners in a pseudo-geosocial app when controlling for age, attractiveness, and other profile factors of potential matches. A sample comprising exclusively of SWM was selected because historically, this demographic has benefited most from gender and racial inequalities (Thompson, 2009), and they make up the largest portion of people in interracial relationships in the United States (Livingston & Brown, 2017). We found that SWM were significantly less likely to select profiles of women of color compared to profiles of White women when considering friendship, sexual encounters, dating relationships, or long-term committed relationships such as marriage. Established predictors of negative attitudes toward interracial relationships (e.g., religiosity, political beliefs) had no correlation with SWM's selection behavior in the app, but self-reported openness had a consistent correlation to higher odds of selecting women of all races.

No description available.

Although both the Immorality Act and the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act were repealed in 1985, for the most part, interracial intimate relationships continue to be fraught with controversy. It was hypothesised that discourses on interracial intimate relationships in post-apartheid South Africa would intersect with racist and/or antiracist discourses. This study sought to identify and explore discourses on these relationships, and to investigate the possible intersections with discourses on racism. Thompson’s method of depth hermeneutics (of which critical discourse analysis was a component) was employed to analyse data generated by two focus group discussions and two interviews with interracial couples. The study yielded a wealth of data. This research report presents significant findings in terms of how discourses on interracial intimate relationships in post-apartheid South Africa intersect with discourses on race and racism. The three main discursive themes were on race, whiteness, and interracial intimate relationships, with the latter theme dominating. Of particular significance was how discursive strategies were employed in order to deny, negate and justify racism. The most striking findings relate to how discourses on interracial relationships intersect with discourses on three main themes: i) experimentation, as depicted by discourses on developmental psychology, ii) geographical locations, socio-economic status, and class, as manifested in the discourse of “It depends on where you go”, and iii) the ideological construction of the family, which functions to maintain a racially stratified society that maintains the status quo.

This research is a qualitative, heuristic study involving in-depth interviews with eight white, professional heterosexual women in interracial relationships. The women were found through an opportunistic or snowball approach. The participant women were in the age range 25-60. Six were married and two were in long term relationships. All women had children, seven having mixed-race children between 18 months and 23 years of age. Four women had partners of African-Caribbean heritage, three had partners of African heritage and one had a partner of Nepalese heritage. The women shared their reflections on having to confront the realities of racism, coming to terms with their own ambiguous racial position, facing the notion of whiteness and considering their social position as white women. The research was conducted using a heuristic methodology to explore white women's experiences, using creative images and personal reflective and reflexive narratives integrated throughout the text. The research offers insight into how the social experiences of being in an interracial relationship impacts on white women; as individuals, partners and in their role of mother. Implications for themselves as mothers and parenting their children in a racist context are explored and discussed. The findings suggest the women can feel caught between the known (whiteness) and the unknown (blackness). Having crossed a 'socially unaccepted racialised boundary' and challenging explicit dominant social, gendered and racialised beliefs, the women stepped into the unknown involving experiences of changes in status, challenges to assumptions of their maternal competence and living in a world which involved a continuous process of deconstruction and reconstruction of a new, unforeseen racialised identity. The white women moved from being an 'insider' within their own dominant social experiences, to becoming an 'outsider' within another cultural context, sometimes experiencing uncertainty about where they belonged. The white women experienced a shift of reference group orientation, with a new experience of continuous external scrutiny unfolding. These newly encountered social and personal events challenged the white women to review how they previously saw themselves, with this all impacting on their previously taken for granted social status. These experiences impacted at emotional and cognitive levels. As a consequence, the white women often found themselves occupying a liminal or unknown space where a process occurs of attempting to come to terms with the new experiences, new learning and adopting alternative strategies to deal with these different experiences. Implications for counsellors working with white women in interracial relationships are considered and suggestions for therapeutic engagement are made.