Colorism and Health Inequities among Black Americans
A Biopsychosocial Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3439202 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A C Dennis (0000-0001-6366-9850, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, corresponding author), Reed Deangelis (0000-0002-6471-9802, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA), T W Hargrove (0000-0002-8759-1944, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA), Jay A Pearson (0000-0003-4290-0229, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 221465251364373-221465251364373 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Health and Social Behavior (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-1465 • E-ISSN: 2150-6000 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00221465251364373 |
| PMID | 40981000 |
| OpenAlex | W4414409284 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 60 |
The mechanisms generating skin-tone-based health inequities among ethnic Black Americans remain poorly understood. To address this gap, our study advances a novel biopsychosocial model of embodied colorism-related distress. We test this model with survey and biomarker data from a community sample of working-age Black adults from Nashville, Tennessee (2011-2014; N = 627). Relying on self-rated, interviewer-rated, and discordant skin tone measures, our analyses reveal that Black adults who perceive themselves as dark-skinned tend to have a lower sense of mattering and shorter telomeres, a biomarker of accelerated cellular degradation and aging, relative to their peers who perceive their skin to be lighter. These patterns hold across various social contexts and regardless of interviewer-rated skin tone, indicating that subjective skin tone may be a particularly robust gauge of colorism-related stress processes. Our study reveals critical and previously unexplored biopsychosocial mechanisms linking colorism to health inequity
Biopsychosocial model · Embodied cognition · Ethnic group · Health psychology · National Health Interview Survey · Perspective (graphical) · Racism · Social determinants of health · Socioeconomic status · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Gender Roles and Identity Studies
Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms of Discrimination and African American Health Inequities
Is Skin Color a Marker for Racial Discrimination? Explaining the Skin Color–Hypertension Relationship
Discrimination, Racial Bias, and Telomere Length in African-American Men
Shades of Discrimination
The Relative Performance of Full Information Maximum Likelihood Estimation for Missing Data in Structural Equation Models
Looking Deathworthy
Color Crit
The Cumulative Effects of Colorism
Color in Context
Skin Tone Stratification among Black Americans, 2001-2003
Disparities by Skin Color Among Young African-American Women
Beyond Race/Ethnicity
The Persistent Problem of Colorism
Self-Hate as Life Threat Pathology Among Black Americans
A comparison of skin tone discrimination among African American men
Dark and sick, light and healthy
Reflected Appraisal and the Development of Self
Beyond Race/Ethnicity
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence
Skin Tone and the Health Returns to Higher Status
The Unceasing Significance of Colorism
Revisiting the Cost of Skin Color
Self-identified race, socially assigned skin tone, and adult physiological dysregulation
Skin Color Matters in the Latinx Community
The Implications of Racial Misclassification by Observers
Dimensions of religious involvement and leukocyte telomere length
Why Does Social Exclusion Hurt? The Relationship Between Social and Physical Pain
The Moderating Effects of Skin Color and Ethnic Identity Affirmation on Suicide Risk among Low-SES African American Women
Every Shut Eye, Ain't Sleep
A Longitudinal Study of the Role and Significance of Mattering to Others for Depressive Symptoms
The Sociological Study of Stress
Light Privilege? Skin Tone Stratification in Health among African Americans
The Blacker the Berry
A Question of Color
Colorism and Physical Health
BMI Trajectories in Adulthood
Race, Socioeconomic Position, and Physical Health
Skin Color and Colorism
Microaggressions, Discrimination, and Phenotype among African Americans
Mental Health across the Early Life Course at the Intersection of Race, Skin Tone, and School Racial Context
The Cost of Color
Skin Tone and Stratification in the Black Community
The color of punishment
The multiple dimensions of race
Perceived Skin Tone Discrimination Across Contexts
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |