Impact of colorism and self-rated skin tone in predicting self-esteem among women from Pakistan.

Abstract

Discrimination is a very complicated, multifaceted, and long lasting problem that prevails in social and even political structure. In subcontinent, the discrimination on the basis of skin color (colorism) is making lives of women miserable who are already victims of various disparities. Colorism was found to be a predictor for both mental and physical health. This study intended to examine the impact of colorism on self-esteem of Pakistani women along with finding out other determinants of self-esteem. A cross-sectional study with 400 Pakistani females (18-40 years) from rural area was conducted. The study comprised of demographics, skin-related questions, everyday discrimination scale, and Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. Hierarchical linear regression showed residence, education, and colorism as significant predictors (p-value < 0.05) of self-esteem. Self-rated skin tone moderated effect of colorism on self-esteem (R² change = 0.028). It emphasized education of females with special focus on suburban areas along with participation of public health and dermatologists to discourage colorism and to stay confident with their skin tone.