This study borrows from Peter Blau’s opportunity-structure theory and interracial marriage empirical scholarship to assess the effects of macrostructural variables on the likelihood of black and Asian Americans reporting biracial identification with whites and each other in the 2010 US Census. To evaluate whether social forces known to influence interracial marriage also influence biracial identification, macrostructural parameters across 363 metropolitan areas were examined. Residential segregation, racial equality and minority group size were found to affect the likelihood racial minorities report biracial identification over mono-racial identification in much the same way these macrostructural variables affect the likelihood of interracial marriage in other studies.
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