As far as I've been able to tell, America has three Big Ideas about race relations:
#1: Pistols.
#2: Chumpriding.
and #3, which kind of follows from the other two: American race relations suck.
Obviously, this post isn't going to change that, but we are going to do something a little different, a thought experiment. Since most thinking about race hinges on the fact that one particular race predominates, what if, using statistical models, you could make that predominance disappear?
Right now, even on a per capita basis, whites gets more messages than non-whites on OkCupid:
But how much of this reflects whites' "popularity" and how much reflects their population? What would this graph look like in a racially-balanced world? How would people's choices change, if the people to choose from weren't mostly of one race?
This post is based on 82 million messages sent on OkCupid over the last few months. Here's what we found.
Our data set
OkCupid is actually less white than the rest of the U.S. Internet, though it's hard to make direct group-to-group comparisons because Quantcast (our national demographic source) doesn't have multiracial data.
For this post, to keep the discussion streamlined and accurate, I'll only include OkCupid's largest single-race groups: whites, asians, blacks, and latinos.
Where To Start
When you look at the messages sent by each of our four biggest racial groups, it's actually kind of amazing how much white people are flooding the market. In raw terms, everybody, whites and non-whites alike, sends white people most of their messages. Broken down by the race of the sender and the recipient, here's what we have:
The above chart actually undersells how much attention whites get, because I assigned equal widths to the four vertical bars representing the message senders. To properly present reality, we should adjust those widths according the size of each population, like so:
You can think of that whole square up there as the dating "pie", and, as it stands, whites get 89% of it. But let's look deeper into the numbers. Thus, our experiment begins.
Here's the data for Asians.
- As the chart above shows, Asians send about 3 times as many messages to whites as they send to other Asians:
- However, as we saw before, whites outnumber Asians 19:1 on the site:
- Putting this messaging and population information together, we get these ratios:
- Well, what if we rescale these ratios? What if there were 10 whites and 10 Asians instead? How many message would go to each?
- Our experiment tells us that, given equal numbers, Asians would actually overwhelming prefer to message other Asians.
It turns out that if you bust out your mechanical pencil and use it to punch the "on" button on your laptop and then, with that computer, extend the same kind of analysis to the other groups, you get a fresh sense of American race preferences.
In a world without so many white people, where everyone has an equal choice, that first graph we saw—the average monthly messages people get—would look like this:
And, going for a little more detail, this is how it would break out by age.
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="494" height="385"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
I built an interactive visualization of how the Who People Are Messaging chart we were looking at before changes when there aren't so many white people. You can toggle between states and get a sense for yourself.
|
supposing racial bias:
is like today—the chart will reflect people's current racial messaging preferences
didn't exist—the chart will suppose people are race-blind when deciding who to message
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supposing racial composition:
is like today—the chart will reflect the population's current racial composition
is equal—the chart will suppose there are equal numbers of each race
|
senders
Here's the by-age analysis for each of the four groups:
Back to reality
"What ifs" are an important part of any researcher's toolkit:
but "what ifs" are only worthwhile if they tell you something relevant in the real world. And here's the value in our thought experiment.
The kind of messaging imbalance that currently exists has observable effects on how people think about race and dating. Search for "interracial couple" on a stock photo site: you'll find a rainbow of Asians, Latinos, Black, and Indians, all hanging out with their white significant others. Or just start typing into Google and see how it completes your sentence:
But as we've seen, in a scenario where people have an equal choice of messaging options, things are very different.
In other words, person for person:
Then Latinos. Then whites, sort of. As we're seeing it now, the data is being distorted: a huge part of the country is white, and white people mostly like to talk amongst themselves. Intentionally or not, minorities are left out in the cold.
Nonetheless, people prefer their own race
Given equal choice, every race strongly prefers itself:
And white people actually prefer themselves the least, but right now there's just so many of them. It's interesting to think what things would be like if the shoe was on the other foot; if another race outnumbered whites 19:1. We ran a simulation with Asians in whites' role as the dominant group and everyone else was really on the outside looking in then.
You can actually see groups' insularity in real life when you look at cities with larger non-white user bases. Minorities tend to become more and more inward-looking as their numbers increase. The dots on the graph below represent the 150 towns with our largest black populations:
For every 1% increase in the black population, blacks send 2.5% more messages to each other. In Baltimore, for example, 1 in 5 users is black, but half the messages from black people go to other black people. The rate is over twice what you'd expect. Other groups show a similar pattern.
For white people, there are also some places where a relatively smaller population still sends a disproportionately high number of messages to themselves—aka the most racist towns in America. The white people in Greenville, MS, for instance, comprise only 59% of our user base there. However, 95% of their messages go to whites; that's 14× the expected rate.
#1 Greenville, MS
#2 Jackson, MS
#3 Montgomery, AL
#4 Memphis, TN
#5 Atlanta, GA
The most segregated city north of the Mason-Dixon line is a surprising one: New York. White New Yorkers message other white New Yorkers at about 2× the national rate, probably about Animal Collective.
Soon, there won't be so many white people
Finally, I just want to point out that the hypothetical we chose for our title isn't going to be a hypothetical for much longer. The Census Bureau has concluded that around 2050, whites will no longer be the majority in the U.S.
This is from their website:
Along with this news, I think there's an assumption that at some point all the races will just kind of come together as one, like during Michael Jackson's "Black Or White" video or like during a lawsuit against the estate of Michael Jackson.
The data we're seeing, however, just doesn't support a post-racial future, because even as the races mingle more, people still like to date someone who looks like they do. Asians strongly prefer Asians; Latinos, Latinos, and so on.
Endnote: reading level analysis
We analyzed the grade-equivalent reading level of each message in our dataset, and here's a table of how it changes, race to race, message to message.
It seems that generally, people of all races write down to blacks and Latinos and up to Asians and whites. This is a pretty crazy result: proof that race not only affects the quantity of the contacts between people, but the quality as well. For example, the average black person writes at a level almost one full grade-level higher when writing to a white person than when writing to another black person.
It would be useful if OKCupid usernames were required in commenting because this thread really brought out the racists and it would be nice to be able to avoid them.
Therese nothing offensive about this question. People arent used to hearing the truth in itself for what it is. Mostly, people disagree with what they dont understand and thats the problem. I dont see this question as being racial at all, it just brings the light of the truth out from the dark.
I think all these race talk is crap
i agree for the most part and can see the effort that has gone into the research, i cant help but feel that as it is only the US the results may differ if other countires where included.
in my experience on this site i have had contact with a mix a people not only from the UK therefore with that in mind could the results change based on this ??
Obviously, if there were less white people there would be less high-fives and less skinny jeans sales from Urban Outfitters. There would also be less flannel and fewer mustaches.
Also, I think that the level at which people write to each other should be based on the likelihood of intoxication based on the time of day we write our messages. Some of us may make the mistake of writing right after last call, after the bouncer kicks us out of the strip club, and lets face it, that is a vulnerable moment. Not all of us can live up to standards set by the likes of Charles Bukowski.
For me it’s often a cultural thing more than race or skin color. I tend to prefer the white culture more than mine (latino) because as a human I seek contrast in a partner and I’m tired of tamales and reggaeton. But overall I just seek someone that’s interesting, regardless of race.
Also, the more we talk about race, the more we make it an issue, and the farther we get from blurring those lines. That’s why I roll my eyes whenever I hear something like “But I like my black friends! They’re interesting [or any other trait]!” As if the expectation was that they wouldn’t be?
I think it would be rather interesting to see this data re-analyzed for a place where whites are not the majority. IE: (South Africa, China) Also, it could be beneficial to add in cultural mentality and expectations in each group.
i agree with chamomillionaire
I think interracial relationships are really cute, and I’d like to message people that look very different from me. My friends tease me about it actually because I kind of go out of my way to get with blacks and asians. But really, there are very few non-white people on here.
I agree with the chamomillionaire as well. I will gladly use my real name. The article was well put together, and i would like to see the break down based on age and gender. That would most likely prove the theory about the younger “texting” generation being the ones that have a tendency to talk to others on a “lower level”.
And as far as changing the title “white” to “black” to see the uproar… I feel like there would be an uproar because the number of African Americans on this site pales in comparison to the number of White Americans.
As a black woman, I’ve gotten my share of messages from all men of different races. And I will admit that I have had a tendency to message white people more than black, but that isn’t because it’s what i know, it’s based on attraction, profile completion, and profile consistency. and i guess in my area more minorities tend to leave a profile unfinished, where as a non minority usually finishes their profile and it is more complete. at least in my area. This is not to say that All minorities have unfinished and inconsistence profiles. Just the ones that I’ve run into.
and if you would like to debate anything I’ve said, feel free to message me. I’m always up for a debate.
It all has to do with how a person is raised. My mother taught me that everyone is a person with a beating heart and deserves to be treated and accepted equally. No one is a better person for me just because of their color. I look for someone who is smart, funny, strong willed, hard working, and has a good heart. That’s what makes the man.
@ Rock. Its very offensive that you think the STD’s are nastier from other races. The problem is not with white men…it’s with men in general. More than just white men try to sleep around and use women and cheat. Maybe you should brush up on your history and culture lessons.
Shh… what’s that sound I hear? It’s the sound of millions of white men’s egos shattering! =D
As a black chick, I don’t think at all about dating inside my race. I don’t understand why people are so dead set on dating inside their race. People are people. And beautiful people come in all shapes and sizes. Those that want to limit themselves based on race are losing out. I get asked from time to time do I date outside my race. I shouldn’t have to be asked. It should be assumed. That my friends, shows that there is something innately wrong with how society at large thinks about race.
Not everyone fits into the stereotype of preferring ones race before their own when dating. For me, I’d flip the “Messaging Preferences By Age: in a race balanced world” chart upside down because I prefer to date outside my race in general. I can also explain why blacks talk a certain way amongst themselves. We feel more relaxed with our dialect. It’s not that we are talking down to each other, it’s the fact the people in general want to relate to one another. I sure hope someone doesn’t choose to talk down to me because they think that’s all I’ll understand. Idk lol. I’ve kind of ranted on but I hope I’ve opened up a few peoples eyes.
As much as White people may be messaged, I think you should consider the percentage of white people on okcupid, the vast majority, hence they would get the most messages.
For instance, perhaps 47/50 people on my match search results are White, maybe 2 Black, and 1 Asian. The likely hood that I will message a White person is quite high because of this. Though I search “anywhere” I wouldn’t be surprised if this reflected the general demographics of okcupid.
There will always be people who like to date out side of their race and there will always be those that don’t. This is NOT a question of racism. It’s just a preference. I always laugh when someone pulls the race card because you won’t sleep with them.
I’d like to see the last data set normalized. For instance, do the group of Blacks who write Blacks write a half grade level down from the group of Blacks who write Asians? Or, does an individual Black person writing another Black write a half grade level down from when that same Black person writes an Asian? Also, what measurements were used to determine grade level? Spelling mistakes indicate something different than vernacular choice.
I am a white female that has always had a preference for non whites. My family was very rascist [wasn't allowed to watch the cosby show], and I am from a rascist all white town in the south. I remember being a kid and picking up a mariah carey cd and a lenny kravitz cd because I thought that they were the most attractive. I have spent the last year trying to break my obsession with this one group to no avail. The man I see in my dreams is tall, strong, silent, and probs. african american.
Please add in a cut to show gender stats for each race. I’m guessing that black women/Asian men are messaged far less frequently than black men/Asian women.
Thoughts?
Man, WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!!!
United we stand, Divided we fall!
OkCupid is based in the US and most of its clientele are in the US, so statistics for other countries would have a much smaller sample size and therefor have larger margin of error. That said, they could write a similar article entitled “What If There Weren’t So Many Americans?” to analyze non-US members. I wonder if there are any other countries with enough members to make that analysis worthwhile…
Read the following statements and tell me what you think:
What if there weren’t so many black people?
What if there weren’t so many asian people?
What if there weren’t so many purple people?
Racism is racism, regardless of who it’s directed against.
Cut it out, OKCupid and take down this inflammatory article. It’s reverse racism, which is still racism.
Let me first start by saying thank you ok cupid for not needing to post your race on any profile page, it says a lot. Now I thought it was because I never put any effort into online dating was the reason I got very little messages. I also thought lack of special information or lack of great photos was the reason, but after reading the statistics and comments I’ve come to learn it is the racist fault! That takes a big load off my shoulders, here I thought it was because I did not put the time and effort into this endeavor, stupid me.
I can agree when it comes to finding a long term relationship it seems Black folks or should I say Black males don’t get the same amount of action other races do. The only action I get from dating sites or any club scene for that matter is White girls desiring to have sex with me. That right folks don’t have to wine and dine them, bring gifts or even be a gentlemen, how fair is that? Some guys get the waiting game, eating out , going to the movies, buying flowers, candy and all I get is sex sex sex. I’m afraid to actually put in a serious effort on ok cupid, I mean just how much sex can one brother have?
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I’m working on a roofing crew consisting mostly of Hispanics. During lunch when I was chatting with one fellow, getting to know each other,i pointed out that most white people don’t like each other. In the construction trades, there’s a lot of hostility between men, and weird s&m dynamics. The Hispanic crews I’ve been on are kinder to each other. The above quote supports that perspective.
But what if you look at that sentence in the mirror? It could be interpreted as white people are less racially biased than other races, or more willing to look outside their own race.
Peace,
Wow! I didnt expect there to be couward racists on this site calling people out and judging them for an opinion that has something to do with stereotype. Showing your true colors behind a keyboard is extremely weak and cowardly. Youre true colors MUST be ugly. DLJohnson said this.
dude I thought this was America? aren’t we all American? why can’t we just drop the labels? I don’t view color or “race” if you will when I decide on a partner. I try to view the person themselves. Everyone can or cannot be attractive in their own way.
I find this topic title offensive and racist. What if it read “What is there weren’t so many black people” or “What if there weren’t so many brown people”? How would that sound? There are things to discuss amongst races, but it this really the way by making light or fun of one race or color?
I’d say I agree with the data here because it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’m a mentally “white” black woman who will only date mentally “white” white men. Yes, there is a disparity in the mentalities of ‘blacks’ and ‘whites’. The cultures place very different levels of emphasis on education (and not to say there aren’t circles of Ivy League, genius-level blacks or high school dropout, trailer trash whites) but I’ve come to find through my life, the more my mind has developed intellectually, the less I became attracted to people of a darker color until I was basically dating in a segregated pool of “whites only”. And by that time, it applied to both skin and mental state. Now the question here is, do we point the finger at society or is this a natural difference between the cultures that can’t be avoided?
Keep in mind, I was raised by a well-educated white mother so that’s likely how my thinking began its sway.
P.S. There is a line between racist and prejudice here, folks, let’s observe that.
Were these first time contacts or were they email “conversations?”
When I was dating, I spent a lot of time going back and forth with the same person. Looking at just numbers, I got a lot of email – but I was only talking to 2 or 3 people.
I like the younger white guys around 30 to 37
Azrael has a good point: “It ignored the fact that blacks are a significant minority on this site, meaning that even if a white or a asian or whatever would be open to a relationship with a black person, they are much less likely to find one that they are interested in seeing.”
I receive several messages from people of all races, and I rarely respond to any because I find almost all of them completely boring or piggish. The random ones that I do respond to (and by the way, one response does not mean I actually keep talking to them! That’s another factor.) may very well be mostly white, (or mostly black, explained below) simply because there are more whites on this website than any other race. It’s just more likely for one of them to be interesting.
Also, it may be the city I live in, but I think I get a lot more messages from blacks, actually… *shrug* Oh well, interesting article indeed.
Sorry for being white everyone, I didn’t do it on purpose I swear! I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.
XenosBikerBabe- Generalizing Black people bcuz of an email response from other Blacks on this site is plain prejudice.
Whatever demographic group is largest, and therefore in power, will always look down on others.
Imagine for a second I am not from this planet, and can see that you are all equally interesting and beautiful. But then I am witness to intolerance, prejudice and cruelty.. I would not see those traits as interesting, beautiful, or desireable and all humans have them to some degree, but the more of those traits you have, the uglier you are. Beauty or attractiveness has little to do with what race you come from. I am a white guy living in South Africa, and have seen with my own eyes, if you are racist you make slaves of your own children, when you do evil and other evil people gain power over you, your children suffer for your fears that turn to hate, be you any race. Whites are not the majority here, and love is.. as it is everywhere else, unpredictable, beautiful and personal…. not a bunch of graphs telling you what to believe, what to fear and how to think. If you like someone, you like them. If you are a big black man and want to ride piggyback on a cute Asian girl’s back, good for you.. because I don’t see nearly enough photographs like that![:)](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="15" height="15"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Seriously, people make you scared so you can hate, make you hate so you can be used, then use you to make cash.. that is all racism is, greed’s triumph over love.. so love and don’t stop, even if you love an alien, illegal or extra-terrestrial I don’t care.. Love love love love! That is what this site is a about.. LOVE! ![:)](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="15" height="15"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
XXX
Need to do similar research re: religions, i.e., preferences in a religion-balanced world.
People who are calling this racist, get a grip. It’s theoretical — “what if for whatever reason the ethnic makeup of our country were different?” That’s it. Relax.
This has be the most interesting article i have read thus far. Please excuse me “writing up” for this article as i do not know who is reading it. No, seriously great data set and great non-biased return of results… look forward to more like these guys (and girls… don’t wanna get ripped a new one for being “sexist”)!!!
As soon as I saw the name of the article, I just had to check it out. One of my friends is annoyingly racist, and he’s really big on how “whites are going extinct.” Yes, not just becoming less than the majority – going extinct. So a theoretical projection about changes in the dating scene during the fall of the white race (laughing as I type that) intrigued me.
Personally, I technically prefer to date within my own race, but it’s not because it’s my race. I just really like pale skin, and facial structure more typical of white girls. I’ve seen some really stunningly beautiful mixed-race girls and I’ve been attracted to girls that were completely non-white before, and I don’t hesitate to go for it (unless I get all shy and nervous as I am wont to do), but for the most part I just find white girls more attractive.
The point of all this – I think with a lot of people it’s not about the idea of race, it’s about the biology. Evolution. A girl/guy of your own race is gonna pass on genes more similar to your own, and evolution is all about passing your own genes on, so it’s only natural the tendency would be to find your own race attractive.
To anyone who says this article is racist – think about the meaning of the word. Is the article at all discriminatory? Does it claim superiority of one race over any other? No. It presents only numbers, titled based on the majority race at this time (said another way, based on numbers). The title and article are racial by content, but that doesn’t make them racist.
People these days are way too quick to play the race card. Honestly.
I actually prefer Asian and Latina women than anything else and message them accordingly. I think things like internet dating can help break barriers between races. I also believe that white people are more prone to having constant internet access by dint of the fact that fewer white people, especially in this country, live in poorer living conditions than other races. I don’t mean this as a jab towards non-whites. Latinos are fast out-growing whites in population and soon, whites will be a minority. This means when “minority” populations are no longer “minorities” and have the leverage to live in the better funded, equipped, and higher informational access areas they deserve in this country, the number of Caucasian people interacting in groups like these will drop significantly. Fewer whites wouldn’t be worse or better, just different. (And hopefully, I would have more beautiful, intelligent, and wonderful brown girls to appreciate!)
Similar people often gravitate towards each other, be it hobbies or music. There really isn’t any surprise that African Americans dig other black people. Its not a surprise that in ANY ethnic group, their is a natural predilection for ones own race. I am not saying it is weird too be into someone of another race. everyone has their own preferences. This article however, as as stated above, is inflammatory. black, white, latino, or asian, dont care about the race. most important thing is finding a girl that’s Trustworth(at least to me) .
The one thing that I’m very glad this article decided to point out is this..
“The most segregated city north of the Mason-Dixon line is a surprising one: New York. White New Yorkers message other white New Yorkers at about 2× the national rate, probably about Animal Collective.”
After living in New York City for well over seven years now, this statement doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m the kind of black guy who loves Animal Collective and other musicians within the same genre. I guess you could say that I don’t really fit the social norm within my own nationality, and I refuse to date someone whose personality doesn’t suit my own. Now usually, on the site, the kind of girls that have the attitude I tend to like are white girls, and sometime other races, but rarely black girls….but all I tend to get messages from are black girls with nothing in common with me other than our skin color. and I occasionally get responses from all races, but let’s face it people on this site generally suck on following through with things…success rate needs to be the next topic, I feel Cupid would probably lose the war on that one!
This is no surprise. Whites are actually a minority, only making up no more then 10% of world’s population. They are also the only race with it’s own form of beauty (i.e., blonde hair, brunette, green eyes, blue eyes, etc.)
I’m Hispanic of mainly European ancestry, though I consider myself White; again this was to no surprise.