Implicit Biases of the World: The Effect of Skin Tone on Initial Perceptions of People

Abstract

Initial perceptions of people are the basis of how we view one another and most likely determine how relationships will turn out. In recent years, the idea of implicit biases, subconsciously being unfair to a particular group of people, has been widely scrutinized. Whether it is related to being employed at a company or just simply interacting with a stranger, implicit biases exist through and through. Because of this, we have to ask ourselves how much skin tone affects our perceptions of specific individuals daily, especially how we judge their personalities differently. This research will be based on how people's skin tone affects their initial perceptions/snap judgments regarding their personalities. To address this question, this experiment will consist of 150 participants looking through 160 images of men and women, sorted into four main categories: very dark, dark, light, and very light skin tones. Each of these images will be shown for 100 ms, and then the participants will be asked questions regarding the images personalities based on the Big 5 Personality Test. These responses will then be measured as being a negative or a positive perception response. It is expected that the stimulus images that represent individuals of darker skin tones will receive more negative perception responses. In contrast, the stimulus images representing individuals of lighter skin tones will receive more positive perception responses. These results imply that implicit biases not only exist but exist at a deeper, subconscious level.