Gender Matters: Racial Variation and Marital Stability Among Intraracial Couples

Abstract

Studies assessing differences between intraracial and interracial marriages typically use race data from one time point. Yet because racial identification can vary across time, context, or perspective, whether a relationship is defined as intraracial or interracial can also differ. We use a sample of 2,845 respondents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997, whose marriages are intraracial (based on 2002 data) to examine whether marital stability differs for those whose racial identification varied across waves and whether this effect is moderated by gender. Approximately 6% of respondents in intraracial relationships had inconsistent racial identities. We also find evidence that the association between racial variation and marital stability differs by gender. Women whose race varied are more likely to divorce than any other group, including static-race couples and men whose race varied. More attention should be given to intraracial heterogeneity, especially as groups that are more likely to have varying racial identities grow in number.