USC STUDENTS' VIEWS OF INTERRACIAL DATING AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO GENDER, AGE, AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
There is a good deal of research suggesting that college students hold somewhat prejudicial views of interracial dating (Brown & Mazza, 1991). However, there has not been a lot of recent research examining whether students' views differ as a function of differences in sociodemographic variables. In those studies which have been conducted, it has been suggested that there may be age, racial, and gender differences associated with the extent to which students hold positive or negative views of interracial dating (Clark, 1986: Todd, 1992). Based on the just cited research, the hypotheses formulated for testing in this brief empirical study were:
Hypothesis 1 - Students' views on interracial dating will evidence a certain degree of prejudice.
Hypothesis 2 - Students' views on interracial dating will differ as a function of age differences.
Hypothesis 3 - Students' views on interracial dating will differ as a function of gender differences.
Hypothesis 4 - Students' views on interracial dating will differ as a function of ethnic differences.
A total of 60 USC students (30 males and 30 females) served as subjects in the study. Students were selected by positioning four data recorders outside of the main cafeteria. Two of these data recorders randomly stopped every third male leaving the cafeteria and asked him to complete a brief ques