Taboo or Tabula Rasa: Cross-Racial/Cultural Dating Preferences amongst Chinese, Japanese, and Korean International Students in an American University

Abstract

International students bring racial attitudes and group preferences that affect campus climates. Forty-seven Chinese, Japanese, and Korean college international students were interviewed, regarding their perceptions of race/ethnicity and nationality, when it comes to dating and romantic relationships on college campuses. Thirty-five out of forty-seven students interviewed said they would ideally want to date someone from their own cultural background, so that communication gaps would not occur, but when probed beyond language barriers, international students appeared to have a racial hierarchy when it came to dating. Students were not only influenced by parental approval of dating partners, but also US media images that helped create a racial hierarchy of dating and cultural capital. White Americans were the most desirable dating partner for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean international students; Asian-Americans were slightly below white Americans, while African-American, Latino, and Southeast Asian students were the least desirous.