Marital assimilation among United States raised Asian Indians: Contours, consequences, and alternative pathways

This dissertation examines marital partner selection outcomes and preferences among U.S. Raised Asian Indians in the United States in the post-1960's immigration era as a means of exploring central tenets of conventional assimilation, exchange, and segmented assimilation theories. Data came from the U.S. Census 2000 PUMS for married Asian Indians and systematically sampled, unmarried, Asian Indian students attending elite colleges in 1996 and 1997. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to test the effects of socio-economic status, co-ethnic community exposure, and gender on marital partner selection outcomes and processes.; Consistent with segmented assimilation theory, the results of the two studies together showed that "mainstream" assimilation with majority whites was only one major marital pathway of several, even for those with high SES characteristics. Alternatives to marital assimilation with white Americans were pursued or desired frequently by both men and women, particularly by those born into larger co-ethnic communities, with community size affecting outcomes more consistently than socioeconomic status.; Additionally, census study results suggested certain alternatives correlated with some upward mobility, particularly for women married with Indian immigrants. This alternative, co-ethnic path coincided with women being married up more frequently, i.e., more traditional hypergamy and higher partner socio-economic status. Conversely, majority white partners represented relative decline.; Results of interviews with 46 college students likewise suggested that high SES Asian Indians saw many strengths in Indian ethnicity, particularly in regards to maintaining high SES status. However, certain results differed by gender and family characteristics, pointing toward gendered marital pathways. Men raised in a household with traditional hypergamy expressed a stronger interest in marrying an Indian than their female counterparts. Perhaps, women in such households experienced benefits less frequently, developed less positive associations with family traditions and/or ethnic traditions, and thus had less desire for such households compared to men. In sum, results suggest a gendered extension of segmented assimilation theory in which many contemporary U.S. raised Asian Indians of high SES status value and select co-ethnic partners, instead of majority white partners, often crossing transnational boundaries, and in which the correlates and consequences of endogamy differ for men and women.