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An Exploratory Study of the Influence of Marital Attitudes and Skin Tone Perception on the Romantic Relationship Quality Among African American and Latinx Young Adults

Sarah N. Mitchell (University of Nevada, Reno)

Antoinette M. Landor (University of Missouri, US)

Katharine H. Zeiders (University of Arizona, USA)

Conjugal Trajectories: Relationship Beginnings, Change, and Dissolutions

ISBN: 978-1-80455-395-4, eISBN: 978-1-80455-394-7

Publication date: 15 May 2023

Abstract

Research has shown that for young adults, marital attitudes (e.g., desire, importance, and expectation) are associated with relationship quality. However, how this association plays out for young adults of color is less known. Additionally, the influence of skin tone perception on the relationship between marital attitudes and relationship quality remains understudied. To explore these associations, the authors examined African American and Latinx young adults (N = 57, M_age = 20.71 years, SD = 1.28; 75.4% female) attending a Midwestern university. Exploratory results indicated that marital expectations were positively associated with relationship quality in that young adults who expected to marry one day, reported greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, and intimacy in their current relationships. Additionally, skin tone perception moderated the association between marital attitudes and relationship quality in two ways (i.e., between expectations and satisfaction and between importance and intimacy). Collectively, findings suggest that differing levels of marital attitudes and skin tone perception contributes to young adults’ perceptions of relationship quality. Considering these psychological factors of attitudes, skin tone perception, and relationship quality, together with systemic racial/ethnic discrimination, the authors discuss future research and practice considerations.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

Work on this paper was supported, in part, by a University of Missouri Research Council Grant URC-15-073. We gratefully acknowledge graduate and undergraduate research assistants’ involvement in the project, and the participating young adults. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sarah Mitchell.

Citation

Mitchell, S.N., Landor, A.M. and Zeiders, K.H. (2023), "An Exploratory Study of the Influence of Marital Attitudes and Skin Tone Perception on the Romantic Relationship Quality Among African American and Latinx Young Adults", Hernández, A.J.C. and Blair, S.L. (Ed.) Conjugal Trajectories: Relationship Beginnings, Change, and Dissolutions (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 22), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1530-353520230000022001

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited