“IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW…”

ABSTRACT The racial composition of couples is a salient indicator race’s impact on mate selection, but how well do those in intimate partnerships know the identities their partners? While prior research has revealed that an individual’s race may be perceived differently than they identify, most what known comes from brief interactions, with less information established relationships. This study examines whether discrepancies reports person’s or ethnicity can identified even within relationships, as which relational, social, and attitudinal factors are predictive divergent concordant reports. We draw Fragile Families Child Wellbeing Study (n=3467), U.S.-based dataset uniquely provides both father’s self-reported Hispanic origin mother’s report ethnicity. compare race/Hispanic parents to assess extent mismatch, we distinguish between mothers view similar different her own. find roughly 14% provide inconsistent report, large share reflecting differences self-identified fathers who reported Hispanic. Among mismatched reports, more likely race/ethnicity for father matches own, depressing number reporting interracial unions. Perceptions homogamy especially when sameness important marriage. Further, mismatches common midst weak relational ties (i.e. non-marital relationships) college-educated. These findings reveal unions site where socially constructed insight into norms endogamy manifest formed