The Effects of Skin Tone Bias on Perceptions Concerning The Beauty of African American WomenOlivia Carter

Dr. Eric Littman

Xavier University

Background In the African American culture, differences in skin tone have been

commonly known to cause a division within the race

Skin tone is the avenue by which the race holds a prejudice amongst one another as well as receive such from other races

The most common prejudice is that African Americans with a lighter skin tone are viewed in a more positive light than those of a darker skin tone

Stereotypes of lighter skin toned African Americans: more attractive, affluent, pleasant personality, proper speech, etc.

Stereotypes of darker skin toned African Americans: ugly, aggressive, less intelligent, angry, threatening, etc.

This prejudice dates way back to slavery when the lighter skin toned slaves were able to work in the house while the darker skin tone slaves got to work in the field

This was also a huge issue during the 1950’s

Background

In 1995 Robinson & Ward hypothesized that African American teenage women would show a greater preference for lighter toned African American women than teenage men would.

Robinson & Ward found that their hypothesis was not supported. According to the results, men showed a higher preference for lighter skin tone than women.

Background

In 2006, Rosenberg and Snider took it a step further and studied the effects of hair texture in addition to the effects of skin tone bias amongst African Americans and their perceptions of beauty.

Rosenberg & Snider found that participants viewed African Americans with a silkier hair texture as more attractive than those with other hair textures. They found that the African American participants who had experienced some type of skin tone prejudice by other African Americans disliked their skin tone and this effected their self esteem levels.

Additionally, men and women believed that these two features (hair and skin tone) play a role in who they decide to date.

My Study

In the current study, the effects of skin will be measured against perceptions of beauty as it pertains to African American women

I hypothesize that a lighter skin tone will be viewed as more attractive to participants regardless of race than that of the darker skin tone.

In doing this I hope to get the current view on the African American skin tone bias and observe whether or not the issue is as prevalent as it has been in previous history.

I would also like to observe whether this is just a cultural problem or if it is a problem within our society as a whole.

Method

24 Participants (14 female; 10 male) had 30s to view each of 8 images

4 Light skin photos

4 dark skin photos

After viewing each image, participants completed the McCroskey & McCain (1974) Interpersonal Attraction questionnaire on that image

This was repeated until all eight images were shown

Sample Questionnaire

Interpersonal Attraction Scale

 

Instructions: Please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements as they apply to _________________________________

 

Use the following scale and write one number before each statement to indicate your feelings.

7 = Strongly agree; 6 = Moderately agree; 5 = Slightly agree; 4 = Undecided; 3 = Slightly disagree;

2 = Moderately disagree; 1 = Strongly disagree

 

It would be difficult to meet and talk with him (her).

He (she) is somewhat ugly.

I think he (she) could be a friend of mine.

I would like to have a friendly chat with him (her).

I think he (she) is quite handsome (pretty).

I find him (her) very attractive physically.

I don't like the way he (she) looks.

He (she) is very sexy looking.

*Copyright 1974 by the Speech Communication Association. Reprinted by permission.

12

3

4

5

67

8

Sample Images

Results A within-subjects t-test comparing the effects of skin tone on perceived

attractiveness revealed no significant difference, t(24) = -.089, p > .05.

These results indicated that there was not a significant difference in the perceived beauty of the light skin African American women (M = 40.39, SE = 1.09) and the dark skinned African American women (M = 39.34, SE = 1.15). These results are depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Results (Cont.) Furthermore although the results were not significant, results showed that males (M = 40.87, SE =

2.38) tended to rate the women as more attractive than females (M = 39.36, SE = 1.47)

I was also able to observe that African Americans (M = 41.46, SE = 2.61) rated the images as more attractive than Caucasians (M = 40.06, SE = 1.07). These results are depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Discussion

Overall, the study found that there was not a significant statistical difference between the attractiveness of light and dark skin women

However, the study did show that on average the lighter skinned woman received higher ratings than the darker skinned woman

The study showed that females, regardless of race, tended to rate the images of the lighter skin toned women as more attractive than the darker skinned images; with Caucasian women giving higher ratings to the women overall

The ratings of the men tended to differ based off of race. African American men rated the dark skinned women as more attractive than the lighter skinned women

Caucasian men rated the light skinned woman as more attractive than the images of the dark skinned women.

Additionally, African American men gave these women higher ratings overall, than the Caucasian men

Future Research

In the future a larger and more diverse sample would be used

I would use digitally altered images in order to control facial features and make for a more accurate analysis on the effects of skin tone on beauty

Future research could be done in schools and the work place to determine the effects of skin tone bias on employment, incident reports, job satisfaction, customer service, achievement and salary

Why is this important?

Beauty is one of the main sources of confidence

Confidence reflects performance from the workplace (i.e.: raise, performance, promotions) to other interpersonal interactions

We tend to identify with those that look closer to ourselves

With the majority of our interactions occurring at work, in stores etc., the topic could be a potential spearhead for a diversity management model for companies

This model would be used to help train employees to become more aware of themselves as well as any bias’, possibly improving their interactions with one another as well as their customers

These worker could apply this training to their daily lives as well

This model would spread awareness of the issue in places and between people in industries all around in hopes for improved relations and higher self esteem reports of African Americans in general

Take Home Message

Although skin tone bias is not as much of a problem as it has been in history this research is important in that skin tone bias affects not only effects how African American’s are treated but it effects them personally, socially, and economically as well

References

McCain, T. A., & McCroskey, J. C. (1974). The measurement of interpersonal attraction. Communication Monographs, 41, 261-266

Robinson, T. L., & Ward, J. V. (1995). African American adolescents and skin color. Journal of Black Psychology, 21(3), 256-274.

Rosenberg, J., & Snider, Stefanie. R. (2006). The relationship of skin tone and hair to perceived beauty among African American

university students. The University of Alabama McNair Journal, 6, 201-211.