A Cross-Regional Analysis of Colorism Experiences in High Schoolers in India and the United States

Abstract

Around the world, various beauty standards are often portrayed in the media and expressed by people living in that region, which devolve into unconscious biases. Previous research points to a worldwide skin tone perception standard: dark skin is undesirable. Slavery in the United States and the caste system in India, among other historical phenomena, have played a role in creating this common perception. This study investigates colorism, defined as prejudice against dark skin tones, and aims to examine experiences of colorism and self-esteem through an online survey sent to high school students in India and in the United States. This research paper is unique because a comparison study of regions is not commonly found in the existing literature and, high school students, living in a globally connected world, will provide new perspectives on the cross-cultural issue of colorism. 122 responses (90 from India and 32 from the United States) were collected. A T-test comparing India to the United States found that students in India reported higher colorism than those in the United States (t = -70.219, p < 0.01), and students in the United States reported lower self-esteem (t = -53.33, p < 0.01) compared to those in India. However, skin tone was not significantly correlated with self-esteem or colorist experiences in India or the USA. These results show that the stigma of dark skin tones has not been mitigated and also suggests that there may be other variables apart from skin tone that have greater effect on self-esteem.