Dating: Getting to KnowYou(Cohen&Agiesta,2008),raceisafactorin
whomonedates.Thoughinterracialdating
isbecomingmorepopular,skincolorstill
matters.Overhalf of allAfrican-Americans,
Hispanic-AmericansandAsian-Americans
reportdatinginterracially,whileonly35%
of whiteshavedatedinterracially(Yancey,
2002).Despiteincreasesininterracial
dating,interracialmarriageaccountedfor
onlyabout5%of allmarriedcouplesin
2000(Fields&Casper,2001).Hispanicsand
Native-Americansaremostlikelytomarry
whites,followedcloselybyAsian-
Americans.African-Americansareleast
likelytomarrywhites,butthattoois
changing(Qian&Lichtor,2007).Chapter
11willdiscussinterracialmarriageinmore
depth.Sidebar4.1looksatthehistorical
impactof raceandpoliticsondating.
The Functions of Dating in
Today’s World
Theterminologyof datingischanging.
Whetheritis“hangingout,”“pairingoff,”
“seeingsomeone,”“hookingup,”or“dating,”
singlepeoplegettogetherformanydifferent
reasons.Whenwetalkaboutdatinginthe
contemporaryarena,mostconsiderdating
tobeanendinitself,ratherthanaformof
spouseselection.Sociologistshave
identifiedfourfunctionsof dating:
recreation,socialization,confirmationof
socialself,andstatusacquisition.
RecreationMost people today think of dating as a
fun activity.Although an individual can
enjoy different dating activities (attending
a movie,going out to eat) alone or with a
friend of the same gender,many say it is
more enjoyable to do these activities on a
date.So dating has become a recreational
activity,something apart from developing
a long-lasting relationship.Kimmell,a
senior at University of Arizona states,“The
start of a relationship is thrilling,
enjoyable and fun.The excitement of a
new partner can make your stomach
churn until you finally get comfortable
with each other,and that’s when all the
cute text messages and frequent phone
calls force many girls to put a label on the
relationship”(2009,1).Dating serves four functions: recreation, socialization,
confirmation of social self and mate selection.©GettyImages