Studies Show Race is a Big Factor in Online Dating

via Flickr

Let’s be honest—when it comes to dating, the question of racial preference is an uncomfortable one. Sure, we’d all like to think we’re open to dating anyone as long as they’re a good person, but studies from OK Cupid and Facebook tell a much different story about how people actually behave.

A 2013 study that included 2.4 million heterosexual interactions on the Facebook dating app “Are You Interested” found that most men are willing to date someone out of their race, but overall Asian women were generally preferred. An analysis of messages sent over OK Cupid found that white women tend to prefer white men. Black men prefer black women and Asian men tend to get the lowest response online.

More takeaways from the studies:

-- Women get three times the responses that men do
-- Men are more interested in dating outside their race than women
-- All women except black women are most drawn to white men
-- Men of all races prefer Asian women
-- Black women respond the most
-- White men get more replies from almost every group.
-- White women prefer white men; Asian and Latina women prefer them "even more exclusively"

Are we collectively innocent of racism because no one can really choose who they’re attracted to, or are these results the symptoms of a greater societal ill? Chesca Leigh from MTV’s Decoded breaks it down in the video below.

(H / T NPR)