Although there is a large literature describing the patterns, trends, and determinants of ethnic intermarriage, the comparative perspective on intermarriage has remained underdeveloped. As a result, little is known about the validity of group-level explanations of intermarriage, despite the fact that such explanations are often invoked in explaining why certain groups are ‘closed’ whereas others are relatively ‘open.’ We develop a comparative perspective by analyzing the marriage choices of almost 100 different ethnic groups in the United States, using a multilevel (logit) approach in which individual and contextual determinants of intermarriage are included simultaneously, thereby controlling for compositional influences in testing the influence of group-level explanations. Our analyses show that there are large differences in endogamy across groups. Part of these differences are related to compositional effects. After these are taken into account, however, both structural and cultural group-level factors have significant effects on endogamy. Cultural explanations – which focus on the role of norms and preferences play a more important role than structural explanations – which focus on meeting and mating opportunities. Our results reinforce the common but untested interpretation of endogamy in terms of ‘group boundaries.’ We end with suggestions for expanding the comparative approach in future research.
Presented by:
Matthijs Kalmijn (Department of Social Cultural Sciences)
Date & time:
March 10, 2008 4:00 pm - March 10, 2008 12:00 am
External seminars home