Cognitive Representations of Black Americans: Reexploring the Role of Skin Tone

Although evidence from a variety of disciplines suggests that skin tone is a basis of discrimination among Blacks, research in social psychology has virtually ignored this topic. Two experiments examined the causal role of skin tone in the perception and representations of Blacks. Paralleling the effect of race and other social category dimensions, Study 1 showed that variation in skin tone can influence the organization of social information. Study 2 demonstrated differentiation in stereotypes of Blacks based on skin tone. Results from both investigations suggest that skin tone is an important factor in both Blacks’ and Whites’ representations of Blacks.