The Skin Color Preference of Lighter and Darker Skin Colored Males and Females

Abstract

For centuries, colorism has been a deep-rooted notion that influences day-to-day decisions in our society. Moreover, people’s worth is unconsciously determined by their skin color, where all positive virtues are associated with fairness, while anything dark is considered evil. However, with rising awareness, it has become crucial to scrutinize young adults’ present-day thought patterns. This gender-based study aims to assess the skin color preference of light and dark skin-colored males and females. A self-constructed questionnaire of 13-items is used for data collection. A sample of 100 participants from the Delhi-NCR region, between 18-30 years of age, is selected through quota sampling. Results indicate no difference in the skin color preference of light males and females, yet the majority of both preferred light skin color. Furthermore, we can observe no difference in dark males’ and dark females’ skin color preferences, yet the majority of both prefer dark skin color. Finally, we found that among the females, most dark females prefer dark skin color while most light females prefer light skin color. Similarly, among the males, most dark males prefer dark skin color while most light males prefer light skin color.