Final answer:
The importance of propinquity decreases for American students who move out of state for college, as they are less likely to form relationships based on geographical proximity and more on shared experiences and compatibility, leading to a potential increase in exogamous relationships.
Step-by-step explanation:
The increasing number of Americans who move out of state to attend college will decrease the importance of propinquity, assuming that students start new romantic relationships in school. Propinquity refers to the physical or psychological proximity between people. When students move away from their home state, they have less opportunity to form relationships with those who are geographically close to their original communities and are more likely to form new bonds based on shared experiences and environments in college.
Historical trends have shown that as college attendance rates rose and populations became more mobile, patterns in relationships and marriage shifted. People have been increasingly forming relationships based on factors like mutual interests and compatibility, rather than geographical convenience or social expectations, which is indicative of a shift towards exogamy (marriage outside one's social group) over endogamy (marriage within one's social group).