The Effects of Colorism on Self Perception and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Colorism has been a historical racial dilemma for the African American community since slavery. Colorism can be defined as a form of bias, based upon different aspects of physical appearance including skin color, facial features, and hair that favors the facial appearance of Caucasian white Americans (Beopple, 2015). Over the last 10 years quantitative and qualitative data has been gathered to study the effect of colorism on the African American community with a specific focus on the psychological well-being of this population. A survey was conducted to evaluate the effects of colorism on African American women and their self-esteem and self-perception. A total of 25(N=25) surveys were gathered of women, ages 18-50, who all identified as black, African American or a person of color. The analyzed research results concluded that colorism, although has negatively impacted many participants, has not lowered or altered their self esteem or self perception.