{"id":232,"date":"2019-02-05T14:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/?p=232"},"modified":"2019-03-21T15:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T15:08:00","slug":"ethnicity-and-dating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/ethnicity-and-dating\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethnicity and Dating"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before dating someone, there is a lot of thought that goes into that decision. After all, every relationship is full of potentials: potential break-ups, potential dates, potential memories, potential engagements, potential families, potential tears, potential laughs. And, if you are blessed enough, there&#8217;s\u00a0 a potential happily-ever-after.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No two people are alike, which is why relationships in themselves are hard. Adding another layer of dissimilarity, then, may make things even more difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I recently conducted a survey trying to find out a bit more about one of those extra possible layers. There were 103 participants, and I\u00a0 asked them all the same question:<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #993366;\"><b>Would you rather date someone who belongs to a similar ethnicity as yours or someone who is from a different ethnicity?<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before sharing the results (and votin<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">g for yourself), you should understand the definition of ethnicity. According to CliffsNotes:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #00ffff;\"><em><b>Ethnicity is shared cultural practices, perspectives, and distinctions that set apart one group of people from another<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is important to note that ethnicity is not the same thing as race. While race deals with the physical characteristics of a person, ethnicity has to do with their cultural traditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #cc99ff;\">Take your time to vote too!<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><div id=\"polls-3\" class=\"wp-polls\">\n\t<form id=\"polls_form_3\" class=\"wp-polls-form\" action=\"\/blog\/index.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_3_nonce\" name=\"wp-polls-nonce\" value=\"7df1d84580\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"poll_id\" value=\"3\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Would you rather date someone who belongs to a similar ethnicity as yours or someone who is from a different ethnicity?<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"polls-3-ans\" class=\"wp-polls-ans\"><ul class=\"wp-polls-ul\">\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-9\" name=\"poll_3\" value=\"9\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-9\">Same Ethinicity<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-10\" name=\"poll_3\" value=\"10\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-10\">Different Ethinicity<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><input type=\"button\" name=\"vote\" value=\"   Vote   \" class=\"Buttons\" onclick=\"poll_vote(3);\" \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"#ViewPollResults\" onclick=\"poll_result(3); return false;\" title=\"View Results Of This Poll\">View Results<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"polls-3-loading\" class=\"wp-polls-loading\"><img src=\"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-polls\/images\/loading.gif\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading ...\" title=\"Loading ...\" class=\"wp-polls-image\" \/>&nbsp;Loading ...<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though I was not expecting any particular answer, I was still surprised by the results. Out of 103 people, 57.3 percent said that they would rather date someone of similar ethnicity while 42.7 percent said the opposite. This means that, if having to choose, the majority (59 individuals, to be precise) would choose to be with someone who has similar customs and perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-234 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WOULD-YOU-RATHER-DATE-SOMEONE-OF...-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WOULD-YOU-RATHER-DATE-SOMEONE-OF....jpg 1024w, https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WOULD-YOU-RATHER-DATE-SOMEONE-OF...-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WOULD-YOU-RATHER-DATE-SOMEONE-OF...-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I found more interesting, however, was the reasoning behind their answers. Those who wanted to date within their own ethnicity speculated that the differences between cultures would cause profuse misunderstandings. In a way, many were afraid of the possible cultural shock. It seems easier to be with someone who has common values as it avoids the need for compromise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #993366;\">\u201c<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #993366;\"><b><i>Sometimes being different causes drifts between individuals,<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201d<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one participant wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was a pattern, however, that stood out the most. On the one hand, it seemed like those who chose to date someone of a similar ethnicity were thinking of long-term plans when they made their decision. On the other hand, those who picked someone of a different ethnic background made their choice based on the &#8220;now.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the latter, they thought it would be amusing to learn about different cultures, try different foods, or even pick up another language. Though all great things, these responses reflect the fun of the moment. Contrastingly, the first group worried about the cultural disagreements that may arise once the relationship developed into something bigger.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Different cultures have different customs and values. Things that may seem insignificant, like where to go for holidays or what to eat at home, can cause disagreements. Other things, however, such as the right way to discipline children or handle money, has the potential to completely destroy a relationship.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was no right or wrong answer to this survey. However, I was bothered by people&#8217;s unwillingness to compromise. Even as I thought of my own answer, I realized that I also have some set perspectives that I do not want to change. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, don\u2019t get me wrong. We all have fundamental values and beliefs that should not, under any circumstances, be compromised. But ethnicity should complement one another, not challenge each other\u2019s distinctions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is it that many of us believe that, in the long run, cultural differences cannot work ? Why is it so hard for us to see a future with someone who was not raised in the same way? \u00a0I think this is a lesson for me and everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Relationships may come with potentials, but which potential wins should depend on the individuals, not on the factors surrounding them.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before dating someone, there is a lot of thought that goes into that decision. After all, every relationship is full of potentials: potential break-ups, potential dates, potential memories, potential engagements, potential families, potential tears, potential laughs. And, if you are blessed enough, there&#8217;s\u00a0 a potential happily-ever-after. No two people are alike, which is why relationships &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/ethnicity-and-dating\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Ethnicity and Dating&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":548,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions\/548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigating-diversity.jour342.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}