IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v31y2026i1p21-37.html

Love in a Transient Sexual Field: Female Chinese International Students’ Racialised Desire on Mobile Dating Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Tong Meng

    (Durham University, UK)

Abstract

Race has been documented as an imperative criterion in partner selection among migrants. However, most existing studies on this issue focused on second-generation migrant groups and paid little attention to how race governs transient migrants’ partner selection. This study thus examines UK-based female Chinese international students’ racial preferences in partnering on mobile dating applications (MDAs) to add a transient dimension to the literature. Drawing on Gomes’s concept of transience and the sexual field framework proposed by Green, I argue that Chinese international students are situated in a transient sexual field , a subfield of the broader UK sexual field . Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 female Chinese international students studying at 12 UK universities who use MDAs to date people of the opposite sex. The findings suggested three reasons contributing to participants’ racialised desire: (1) persistent Chinese traditional norms and patriarchy; (2) uncertainties and opportunities of transient migration; and (3) pre-existing racial stereotypes and the racial hierarchy in the UK. The findings offer insights into how Chinese traditional culture, the transient migrant status, and racial stereotypes are interwoven to influence Chinese international students’ partner selection in the UK.

Suggested Citation

  • Tong Meng, 2026. "Love in a Transient Sexual Field: Female Chinese International Students’ Racialised Desire on Mobile Dating Applications," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 31(1), pages 21-37, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:31:y:2026:i:1:p:21-37
    DOI: 10.1177/13607804251320487
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13607804251320487
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/13607804251320487?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel T. Lichter & Zhenchao Qian & Dmitry Tumin, 2015. "Whom Do Immigrants Marry? Emerging Patterns of Intermarriage and Integration in the United States," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 662(1), pages 57-78, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eric E. Sevareid & Katherine Graham & Karen Benjamin Guzzo & Wendy D. Manning & Susan L. Brown, 2023. "Have Teens’ Cohabitation, Marriage, and Childbearing Goals Changed Since the Great Recession?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-29, December.
    2. Bansak, Cynthia & Dziadula, Eva & Zavodny, Madeline, 2023. "The value of a green card in the U.S. marriage market: A tale of chain migration?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Zerong Wang & Guochang Zhao, 2022. "Cultural integration among non‐Han migrants in urban China: To what extent does intermarriage matter?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1490-1512, December.
    4. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Chunbei Wang, 2025. "Intermarriage amid immigration status uncertainty: Evidence from DACA," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 1317-1346, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:31:y:2026:i:1:p:21-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.