Partnership Preferences in Modern Migration Societies: Religious Homophily Among Young Muslims and Christians in Germany

Preferences for homogamous partnerships, not only in terms of having a partner with the same ethnicity, but one with the same religion, are an important factor in explaining low levels of interethnic partnerships in Western countries. However, previous research has rarely explicitly focused on the role of preferences for partnership formation patterns. Using data from a factorial survey experiment, which was implemented in the 9th wave of the “Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries” among young adults in Germany (CILS4EU-DE), this study explores patterns of religious homophily in partnership preferences among young adults in Germany. It thereby specifically focuses on individuals belonging to two major religious groups: Christians and Muslims. It investigates the effects of religious denomination, religiosity, type of intimate partnership, and gender differences for religious homophily in partnership preferences. Both male and female respondents were found to prefer partners of the same religious denomination, with this effect being stronger among Muslims than Christians. Muslim respondents showed no or little disapproval of more strongly religious partners, whereas Christian respondents showed strong disapproval of more religious partners. Among Christian and male Muslim but not among female Muslim respondents, preferences for religious homophily were lower for casual partnerships than for marriage. Overall, the findings suggest that religious homophily and religion play an important part in shaping partnership choices among young Christian and Muslim adults in Germany.