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Intra-group differences in skin tone influence evaluative and perceptual face processing.

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Native Melanesian participants showed colorist biases, preferring lighter-skinned faces, particularly attractive males. This bias was observed in both conscious evaluations and non-conscious perception, suggesting skin tone is a salient cue.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Cross-Cultural Psychology

Background:

  • Colorism, the bias favoring lighter skin tones, is a pervasive global phenomenon.
  • Previous research has primarily focused on Western contexts, leaving biases in non-Western populations under-explored.
  • Melanesian societies present a unique cultural context to investigate the universality of colorist biases.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate colorist biases in native Melanesian participants' perception and evaluation of non-Melanesian facial targets.
  • To examine both explicit (evaluative) and implicit (perceptual) processing of skin tone.
  • To explore the interplay between skin tone, attractiveness, and sex in facial perception.

Main Methods:

  • A multi-method approach was employed across three studies.
  • Study 1 utilized attractiveness ratings from 305 participants.
  • Study 2 used Implicit Association Tests (IATs) with 153 participants.
  • Study 3 involved a manual sorting task and a breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS) paradigm with 61 participants to assess non-conscious biases.

Main Results:

  • Across explicit measures, both male and female Melanesian participants consistently preferred lighter-skinned, highly attractive male faces.
  • In the b-CFS paradigm, lighter and attractive opposite-sex faces were perceived faster than darker counterparts, indicating non-conscious bias.
  • Attractiveness and lighter skin tone interacted, influencing both conscious preference and non-conscious perception.

Conclusions:

  • Native Melanesian participants exhibit colorist biases in facial perception and evaluation.
  • Skin tone appears to be a perceptually salient cue, particularly when signaling high reproductive potential.
  • These findings contribute to understanding the cross-cultural prevalence and psychological mechanisms of colorism.