Generational Differences in Perceptions of Interracial, Interpolitical, and Interreligious Relationships
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Previous research in this series suggested that young adults feel positively toward interracial, interreligious, and inter-political relationships. They were especially supportive of interracial relationships and most concerned about interreligious pairings. When asked how their parents would feel, these young adults believed that their parents would agree with their stance on religious similarities, but would be less accepting of interracial relationships than their generation. In order to investigate this idea, I am examining young, middle, and older adults' perceptions of interracial, interreligious, and interpolitical relationships. Participants are currently being recruited through an online format. Each participant will respond to a scale that assesses attitudes toward interracial romantic relationships. Participants will then respond to the same scale; however, “interracial” will be replaced with “interreligious.” Interreligious is defined as two people of different religious belief systems. Participants will encounter the same questions, but this time they will refer to an “interpolitical” relationship, defined as two people with different political belief systems. Participants will also rank how important race, politics, and religion are when choosing a romantic partner. My goal is to compare different age groups' views on this topic in order to find out if there are major generational differences in acceptance levels.
Honors Thesis Committee
Merry Sleigh, Ph.D.; Darren Ritzer, Ph.D.; and Donna Nelson, Ph.D.
Start Date
20-4-2018 1:30 PM
Generational Differences in Perceptions of Interracial, Interpolitical, and Interreligious Relationships
DIGS 221
Previous research in this series suggested that young adults feel positively toward interracial, interreligious, and inter-political relationships. They were especially supportive of interracial relationships and most concerned about interreligious pairings. When asked how their parents would feel, these young adults believed that their parents would agree with their stance on religious similarities, but would be less accepting of interracial relationships than their generation. In order to investigate this idea, I am examining young, middle, and older adults' perceptions of interracial, interreligious, and interpolitical relationships. Participants are currently being recruited through an online format. Each participant will respond to a scale that assesses attitudes toward interracial romantic relationships. Participants will then respond to the same scale; however, “interracial” will be replaced with “interreligious.” Interreligious is defined as two people of different religious belief systems. Participants will encounter the same questions, but this time they will refer to an “interpolitical” relationship, defined as two people with different political belief systems. Participants will also rank how important race, politics, and religion are when choosing a romantic partner. My goal is to compare different age groups' views on this topic in order to find out if there are major generational differences in acceptance levels.
