Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Black Studies
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
0021934707299637v1
39/4/570    most recent
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by King, A. E. O.
Right arrow Articles by Allen, T. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Personal Characteristics of the Ideal African American Marriage Partner

A Survey of Adult Black Men and Women

Anthony E. O. King

Wayne State University, aj5891{at}wayne.edu

Terrence T. Allen

Wayne State University

This article presents the results from a survey of 344 African American adults concerning the personal characteristics they desire in their ideal marriage partner. The findings indicate that both African American men and women seek well-educated, financially stable, monogamous, and affluent partners who are spiritual, religious, self-confident, and reliable. The most significant finding is that respondents want ideal marriage partners who earn significantly more than they do, gender notwithstanding. In addition, respondents' income and gender significantly predict the differential between their incomes and their ideal partners. It appears as though respondents seek ideal marriage partners with incomes that will move them squarely into the middle class. Future studies should use larger and more representative samples, and include variables such as criminal history, skin shade, and physical characteristics in their analyses.

Key Words: African Americans • marriage • mate selection • male and female relationships

This version was published on March 1, 2009

Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 39, No. 4, 570-588 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0021934707299637
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The Family JournalHome page
T. Crook, C. M. Thomas, and D. C. Cobia
Masculinity and Sexuality: Impact on Intimate Relationships of African American Men
The Family Journal, October 1, 2009; 17(4): 360 - 366.
[Abstract] [PDF]