Date of Award
5-2018
Degree Type
Thesis
Department
Sociology
Director of Thesis
Dr. Laura Brashears
First Reader
Dr. Matthew Brashears
Second Reader
Dr. Matthew Brashears
Abstract
As ethnic diversity increases in the United States, interethnic marriages are becoming increasingly prevalent. Despite their increasing rates, interethnic unions experience lower levels of relationship quality and are at a higher risk of divorce than same-ethnic unions. Other factors that influence marital outcomes include age at marriage, education, religion, and parental divorce. However, factors that influence specifically interethnic marriages include internal stressors, such as conflicting values and relationship expectations, and external stressors, such as a lack of social support and/or legal barriers. The best theoretical framework for studying interethnic unions is interdependence theory because it analyzes these factors and their effects on relationships on a more in-depth level than the other proposed theories. As such, a study design that illustrates the application of interdependence theory is proposed here to fill in the gap in our understanding of interethnic (specifically international) marriages in the literature.
First Page
1
Last Page
21
Recommended Citation
Miles, Spring C., "Interethnic Marriages in the United States: An In-Depth Look at Marital Challenges" (2018). Senior Theses. 223.
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/senior_theses/223
Rights
© 2018, Spring C Miles
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Human Ecology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons, Theory, Knowledge and Science Commons