Colorism, the attribution of privilege or advantage based on the lightness or darkness of one’s skin, is a form of discrimination that negatively impacts the lives of Black men and women. Few researchers have explored the relationship between skin color satisfaction (SCS) and colorism, and the majority of those studies focused on women’s experiences of colorism because appearance is more salient for women. Thus, this study aimed to explore the relationship among SCS, Black racial identity and colorism among Black male and female college students. An online survey via Qualtrics was administered to 190 Black college students to test the hypothesis that SCS and Black racial identity will be negatively correlated to colorism. Also, it is hypothesized that gender will moderate the relationship between SCS and colorism. It is anticipated that higher levels of SCS and components of Black racial identity will be related to lower levels of colorism. Also, it is anticipated that gender will moderate the relationship between SCS and colorism, such that SCS would have a stronger negative relationship for Black women than men. These results contribute to existing literature on colorism and can enhance our knowledge on the various ways colorism may impact Black individuals.
