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RaceandAttraction,20092014
September10th,2014byChristianRudder
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Welookedatraceinoneofourveryfirstposts,andtodayIdliketorevisitthetopicwithfreshdata.Thisarticlefoldsinmillionsof
persontopersoninteractions,whatonehumanbeingthinksofanother.Assuch,itsdifferentfromalookat,say,unemploymentnumbers
ortestscores.Somuchdataonracegivesyoupeoplevs.thesystem.OkCupidsgivesyoupeoplevs.people.Basically,thesitestenyear
historyhasbeenonelongepisodeofJudgeJudy.Herestheverdictonrace.
WayBackin2009
Fiveyearsago,thebasicsofraceandattractiononOkCupidlookedlikethis:

men
nonblackmenappliedapenaltytoblackwomen
whileblackmenshowedlittleracialpreferenceeitherway
women
allwomenpreferredmenoftheirownrace
buttheyotherwisepenalizedbothAsianandblackmen

Hereshowtheexactpersontopersonnumbersshookout:

Thevaluesinthesetablesarepreferencevs.theaverage.Thinkofthemashowpeopleweighraceindecidingattraction.So,for
example,inthebottomrightcornerofthelowertable,youseethatwhitewomenthinkwhitemenare17%moreattractivethanthe
averageguy.Moveonesquaretotheleft,andyouseethattheythinkLatinosare1%aboveaverage,andsoon.
Thecoloristheretomakethebigtrendseasytosee.
HasAnythingChanged?
Insomeways,no.OkCupidusersarecertainlynomoreopenmindedthantheyusedtobe.Ifanything,racialbiashasintensifiedabit.
Herearethenumbersfor2009tillnowusetheslidertomovethroughtime.LikeajavascriptDeLorean.

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2009

OkTrends

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Thesenumbersreflectdifferentpeopleyeartoyear.Togetherthechartsfoldindatafromsome25millionaccounts.
Oneinterestingthingistocomparewhatyouseeabovewithwhatthosesameusershavetoldusabouttheirracialattitudes.Answersto
matchquestionshavebeengettingsignificantlylessbiasedovertime:

Andyettheunderlyingbehaviorhasstayedthesame.
Youcanuseotheronlinedatatoseethissplitpersonalityplayoutelsewhere.ThenightObamawasfirstelectedwasamomentof
catharsis.ItreallyfeltlikesomethinghadchangedaboutthewayAmericaperceivedandthoughtaboutrace,andforatleastthatbrief
moment,thenationappearedunited.NolessthanKarlRovecapturedthemomentwell:anAfricanAmericancandidatewhowas
aspirationalandinspirationalisverypowerful.Itsanightforourcountrytocelebrate,andfortheworldtocelebrate.
Meanwhile,thatsameevening,AmericanGoogleSearchesforthewordniggerhitanalltimehigh.
...
Anyhow,wheneverItalkaboutthisdata(ortheracedatainmybook,Dataclysm)afewquestionsalwaysseemtocomeup.SoIfigured
Idjustanswerthemheadonhere.
Q:ArepeopleonOkCupidjustracist?
No.Imean,notanymorethananywhereelse.AllthedatingdataIveseenfitsOkCupidspattern:blackpeopleandAsianmengetshort
shrift.Forexample,belowarethenumbersfromDateHookup,asitethatweacquiredafewyearsago(butthatstilloperates
independently.)DateHookuphasadistinctuserbase,adistinctuseracquisitionmodel,adistinctinterface,yettheirdatareflectsthesame
basicbiases:

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WhileOkCupidislargeenoughthatitsdemographicsreflectthegeneralInternetusingpublic,DateHookupisanichesiteparticularly
popularwithLatinosandblacks(thosegroupscomprise13%and20%ofthesite,respectively.)Othersitesinourportfolio,withstill
differentdemographicsandbusinessmodels,showthesameattractionpatterns.
Q:Isitpossiblethatsomesmallnumberofusersisthrowingofftheaverages?
ThesebiasesarepervasiveinthedataIveseen.Forexample,82%ofnonblackmenonOkCupidshowsomebiasagainstblackwomen.
And,similarly,itsnotoutliersamongthewomendrivingtheresults.Itsawholesalephenomenon:theratingsforanentirepopulationare
shifteddown.

Q:AreyousayingthatbecauseIprefertodate[whateverrace],Imaracist?
Onanindividuallevel,apersoncantreallycontrolwhoturnsthemonandalmosteveryonehasatype,onewayoranother.ButIdo
thinkthetrendthatfactthatraceisasexualfactorforsomanyindividuals,andinsuchaconsistentwaysayssomethingaboutraces
roleinoursociety.Seebelow.
Q:Allthisdataisfromadatingsite.Whatdoesthathavetodowithmylife?
Therearemanysituationsthatmightnotbeexplicitlyromantic,butarenonethelessalotlikeafirstdate.Ajobinterview.Tryingtorent
anapartment.Whenyoumeetyourfreshmanroommates.Anytimeyouretryingtomakeanimpressiononastranger.Andsciencehas
longknownthatbonusesaccruetobeautifulpeople:theyhavebetteroutcomesatworkandatschool,moresuccesswithjuries,evenlive
longerlives,andsoon.Inshort,beautifulpeoplereceivealotofthesamebuiltinbenefitsinoursocietythatwhitepeopledo.
Ithinkthatsnocoincidence.Beautyisaculturalideaasmuchasaphysicalone,andthestandardisofcoursesetbythedominantculture.
Ibelievethatswhatyouseeinthedatahere.OneinterestingthingaboutOkCupidsinterfaceisthatweallowpeopletoselectmorethan
onerace,soyoucanactuallylookatpeoplewhovecombinedwhitewithanotherracialdescription.Addingwhitenessalwayshelps
yourrating!Infactitgoesalongwaytowardsundoinganybiasagainstyou.
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So,yes,thisisalljustdatingdata,butitshowswhoandwhatwedefineasbeautiful.Andthatssomethingthataffectseveryone.
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Buymybook!It'sgotstats,analysis,anddatafromallover.

Journalists,pleasewritepress@okcupid.comformoreinformation.
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Dataclysm
WelcometoOkTrends!Ifyoulikethisblog,you'lllovethisbook:Dataclysm.It'salookatthehumansideofsocalledBigData,and
bringsinstufffromTwitter,Reddit,Facebook,Google,inadditiontolotsofdatafromOkCupid.Orderacopy!

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