Sex and Marriage With Members of Other Ethnic Groups : A Study in the Netherlands
A Study in the Netherlands

<jats:p> Given the importance of interethnic intimate relationships for the integration of minority groups, the present study examined attitudes toward marriages and sexual relationships with in-group and out-group members among young second-generation immigrants in the Netherlands compared with the Dutch. A sample of 95 ethnically Dutch, 68 Moroccan, and 68 Turkish individuals aged between 15 and 25, living in the Netherlands filled out an online questionnaire. Overall, individuals showed a preference for a marital partner from the same ethnic group as themselves, but a less pronounced preference for a sexual partner from their own ethnic group. Turkish and Moroccan, but not Dutch, men would rather engage in a sexual relationship than in a marriage with a Dutch woman, and rather in a marriage than in a sexual relationship with a woman from their own ethnic group. In contrast, women, especially Moroccan women would rather engage in a marriage than in a sexual relationship, preferably with someone of their own ethnic group. Finally, the more religious they were, the more Turkish and Moroccan women preferred a marital partner from their own ethnic group. Findings are discussed in the light of the integration of different ethnic groups in society. </jats:p>