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Racial Bias in Online Dating Racial preferences in picking a partner tell us a lot about society- and about ourselves

Sukhan Qureshi

9% of Americans now use online dating platforms, up from just 3% in 2005.1

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23% of people that use online dating have met their long-term partners or spouses this way.1

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With the online dating industry growing,the importance given to the way someone looks is now more relevant than ever in making decisions about mates.2

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Users of online dating are valuing and showing preference for partners based on race

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Racial bias is prevalent and rampant in online dating

“Any non-white person who has online dated will know that race comes into it.” -Radhika Sanghani3

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Sanghani quoted a response her Asian friend received by a white man on a dating website, after she messaged him: “I only do hot

white girls” “I’m just not attracted to most Asians/Indians”3

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This man showed his racial bias- a very real phenomenon in online dating

Dating Research from OKCupid in 2009 revealed that: -Black women responded the most to messages -White men get the most messages -Asian, Hispanic and White women only respond well to white men4

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In 2014, this trend became more prevalent…

Women were still unresponsive to black men5 Image  by  Sarah  

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Black women were still the least preferable for non-white men5

Another study showed that Indians and Asians showed the strongest inclination to initiate contact with same-race people6

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Why does this happen?

People see to foresee discrimination from other races, and so, are hesitant to reach out 6

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The good news is that if contact with a member of another race shows positive responses, previously held apprehensiveness seems to go away…6

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The bad news, however, is that this is only short-lived People go back to their old habits within a week6

“New found optimism is overwhelmed by the status quo”- Ellis Moore

A study published in the Review of Economic Studies was carried out using a Speed Dating Service, with graduate students from Columbia University. The researchers wanted to study the effects of race on mate selection.7  

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They found that women of all races displayed a strong preference for same-race partners7

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Why? Preference is influenced by the attitudes towards interracial marriage that participants grew up around. The more intolerant the home community, the higher the preference for same-race relationships.7

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Why does this matter? It shows us that same-race pairings are a result of personal and individual preference. Racial diversity in a given setting, or the lack of it, does not affect decisions.7

This is also important so we can gain insight into the processes that lead people to find their partners.

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This kind of understanding about partner selection can shed some light on the low rates of inter-racial marriages in Western culture7

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Racial preferences reveal a lot about society’s definition of beauty; beauty that has become synonymous with being white  

Racial bias is a very real issue, and we need to remind ourselves that it exists, so that we can begin a journey to understand why it does, what it means, and what we can do about it.

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Works Cited 1.  Smith, Aaron, and Maeve Duggan. 2013. “Online Dating and Relationships”. Pew Research Center, October 21, 2013. Web.  2. Bilton, Nick. “Tinder, the Fast-growing Dating App, Taps and Age-Old Truth.” The International New York Times, October 29, 2014. Web. 3. Sanghani, Radhika. 'I only date hot white girls': Does displaying racial bias in relationships make us racist? The Telegraph, September 12, 2014. Web. 4. Rudder, Christopher. How Your Race Affects the Messages You Get. OkTrends, October 5, 2009. Web. 5. Rudder, Christoper. Race and Attraction, 2009-2014. OkTrends, September 10, 2014. Web. 6. Moore, Ellis. "What's Race Got to do with Online Dating?" Speakin' Out News, November, 2013. Web. 7. Fisman, Raymond J., Sheena S. Iyengar, Emir Kamenica, and Itamar Simonson. “Racial Preferences in Dating.” Review of Economic Studies 75 (2007): 117-32. Web.