Skin Color Matters in the Latinx Community: A Call for Action in Research, Training, and Practice

Abstract

While skin color is relevant and important in the Latinx community, as it is associated with colorism, little is known about how often it is measured or the best way to measure it. This article presents results from two studies examining these key concerns in three prominent journals, where Latinx research is typically published (i.e., the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, the Journal of Latinx Psychology, and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology). Study one examined whether skin color was measured as a variable, and if so, what measures and methodologies were used. A review of articles ( n = 1,137) showed few studies measured skin color in these three journals, with studies that did so relying on various approaches. Study two aimed to assess the reliability of a widely used skin color measure, the Massey-Martin scale, also known as the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) Skin Scale. Using a sample of 169 undergraduate students, self-ratings, coder ratings, and in vivo ratings were obtained and compared. One-way random effects model analyses indicated excellent reliability with minimal variability across the various ratings. Our findings suggest a critical need to engage in a more concerted effort to assess and discuss the relevance and importance of skin color within the Latinx community. The authors offer some suggestions on how to facilitate these efforts in clinical, training, and research arenas.

Open science: Friend, foe, or both to an antiracist psychology?

“…These efforts are critical as a disproportionate number of journal editors and authors are White, numerous publications do not underscore the importance of race, and many studies do not include participants of color (Roberts et al, 2020). Moreover, Fuentes et al (2021) found that colorism, which affects many BIPOC individuals, was infrequently and inconsistently measured in Latinx research. Finally, French et al (2020), who provide helpful directions for conducting research on and for BIPOC communities, advocate for more complex research designs that utilize mixed method approaches for examining structural variables.…”

Adolescent-directed racial-ethnic socialization: Developmental processes that contribute to adolescents’ ability to provide racial-ethnic socialization within immigrant family contexts

“…Furthermore, as noted above, RES conversations in Asian American and Latinx immigrant families are influenced by the racialized context of their home countries and broader global views regarding colorism and anti-Blackness. For example, darker skinned Latinx adolescents might receive more RES messages from their parents compared to their lighter skinned counterparts, as these parents may themselves have been racialized (Fuentes et al, 2021). These differential messages likely also stem from families navigating complex racial hierarchies in their own home countries, and unfortunately, due to the pervasiveness of anti-Blackness worldwide, these messages may coincide with U.S. racial hierarchies as well (Adames et al, 2016; Chavez-Dueñas et al, 2014; Fuentes et al, 2021).…”

“…For example, darker skinned Latinx adolescents might receive more RES messages from their parents compared to their lighter skinned counterparts, as these parents may themselves have been racialized (Fuentes et al, 2021). These differential messages likely also stem from families navigating complex racial hierarchies in their own home countries, and unfortunately, due to the pervasiveness of anti-Blackness worldwide, these messages may coincide with U.S. racial hierarchies as well (Adames et al, 2016; Chavez-Dueñas et al, 2014; Fuentes et al, 2021). Asian American and Latinx immigrant families may unfortunately espouse anti-Black (or anti-other group) sentiments that they communicate to their adolescents.…”

Future Directions on BIPOC Youth Mental Health: The Importance of Cultural Rituals in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…People of Latin American and Caribbean ancestry living in the U.S. make over 18% of the population and employ different terms to identify themselves, including panethnic labels such as Hispanic, Latino/a, Latine, and Latinoamerino, and/or specific labels related to their countries of origin, such as Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and/or Cuban American (Noe-Bustamante et al, 2020). Although they are often considered a monolithic ethnic group, there is considerable variation within Latinx people in terms of skin color, ethnic-racial identity, acculturation, legal status, and migration experience (Cahill et al, 2021;Fuentes et al, 2021).…”