BIRACIAL MARRIAGES IN THE UNITED-STATES - AN ANALYSIS OF VARIATION INFAMILY MEMBER SUPPORT

This paper focuses on family member support of the decision of respond ents to marry biracially. Through the use of assimilation theory and m arital assimilation as a subprocess, it was hypothesized that African American spouses in biracial marriages experienced more support and ac ceptance from family members than White and Mexican American spouses r eceived from theirs. In addition, individuals in Black/White marriages were asserted to have experienced less support and acceptance from fa mily members than those in Mexican American/White marriages. A nonprob ability sample of 337 biracially married individuals was utilized to i nvestigate the research hypotheses. Through correlation and regression analysis, the research hypotheses were generally supported. African A merican family members were perceived to be the most supportive and ac cepting of biracial marriages involving one of their own, and White fa mily members were seen as the least supportive. Length of marriage was found to influence support variables, in that those who were married longer tended to say their family members were less supportive of the decision to marry biracially. Personal income, length of marriage, age , and educational achievement had no influence on variation in family member support. Biracial marriage appears to invoke a level of societa l nonacceptance that is reflective of racial caste history in the Unit ed States. The research establishes an empirical foundation for resear ch into this social phenomenon.