It might seem like "colorblindness" would be the opposite of racism, but in online dating, the two seem to go hand in hand. According to a new study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, men who claim not to see color actually show more racial bias in their dating preferences.
The researchers asked 124 straight college men, half Black and half white, about their views on race and had them rate the dating profiles of three Black and three white women.
As it turned out, the guys who said they were "colorblind" were anything but. Whether they were Black or white, men who claimed not to notice race were more likely to prefer white women's profiles over Black women's. Overall, men rated profiles featuring women of their own race higher.
Unfortunately, racial biases seem to have infiltrated many of our online dating behaviors. Compared to women of other races, Black women's OkCupid messages have the lowest response rate.
How do we avoid these insidious prejudices, then? According to the study, the people least likely to discriminate based on race are those who acknowledge and appreciate cultural differences.
So, maybe paying attention to someone's race isn't such a bad thing. Rather, it's when we try to ignore the issue that we fail to combat it.
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