Research Symposium

BIO

Olivia Davey is currently a sophomore Public Health major, who is also seeking a minor in Chemistry. She is on the Pre-Med track and hopes to attend Florida State's Masters in Public Health program and medical school.

Colorism and Mental Health

Abstract

• Colorism is differential treatment based on skin tone within and across racial/
ethnic groups and reflects phenotype-based stratification rooted in colonial and
racialized hierarchies.
• Unlike broad racial discrimination, colorism operates through within-group
and between-group social valuation of skin tone, shaping lived experiences in
distinct ways.
• Growing evidence suggests colorism may function as a chronic psychosocial
stressor associated with depression, anxiety, lower self-esteem, internalized
stigma, and identity-related distress.
• These effects may accumulate across the lifespan through repeated exposure to
appearance-based bias, social exclusion, and devaluation.
• However, the literature remains fragmented across disciplines, with
inconsistent definitions, limited measurement standardization, and uneven
representation across populations.
• This lack of conceptual and methodological consistency limits the ability to
draw firm conclusions about the mental health burden of colorism and slows
development of targeted interventions.

Keywords: Colorism, Mental Health