Attitudes on Interfaith Dating Among Jewish Adolescents

Abstract

Attitudes toward interfaith dating are a pertinent topic to investigate among groups characterized by endogamous marital patterns. In the present investigation, this topic is examined among Jewish adolescents living in minority and majority community contexts. This study offers an extension of previous research by drawing on theory from the social psychology of attitudes to explore the roles of various contextual and developmental variables in attitudes toward interfaith dating. Qualitative analysis was employed to identify attitudes and issues indicative of varying degrees of willingness to interfaith date. Quantitative analysis (using discriminant function analysis) was employed to explore the roles of various contextual and developmental variables in the attitudes and issues expressed. More restrictive attitudes toward interfaith dating were associated with majority adolescents, greater Orthodoxy, and more frequent religious participation.