Non-migrants’ and migrants’ interethnic relationships: the third party role of cohabiting partners

Abstract

ABSTRACT Considering both non-migrant and migrant couples, this paper studies the effect of cohabiting life partners’ attitudes, resources, and social network compositions on their spouse’s interethnic friendships and acquaintances. Thus, partners are conceptualized as important “third parties” for interethnic relationship formation. Analysing representative German household panel data, I find that partner characteristics play an important role for a person’s interethnic relationships. In particular, a strong positive connection between cohabiting life partners’ interethnic relationships indicates that couples’ social networks merge over time. Partner’s preferences for interethnic contacts mainly exert an indirect influence that is mediated by the partner’s own interethnic relationships and – to some extent – by a person’s preferences.