TEMPLATE DESIGN © RACIAL BRAWL: A WORLD OF COLORS ANBREEN SHAIKH, HANAN ASGHAR, MANAL ANSARI, NORA ALSAUD PSY 444: SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, FALL 2011 ABSTRACT MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY RESULTS. The world is not a painting; we as mocking birds are silenced by a deafening noise that is governed by white and black in particular. Recent studies have suggested that young children are curious about skin tone characteristics. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether color preferences exist among young children, late adolescent girls and young adult females of diverse backgrounds. The study comprised of two groups; children (were subdivided into two age groups, 3- 5yrs and 6-9 yrs), late adolescent and young adults (were subdivided into Saudis and Non-Saudis residents) who were asked questions related to visual cue cards with characters having light, medium and dark color tone. Results divulged that majority of the participants irrespective of their ethnic background prefer lighter skin tone and associated positive attribute with it. Children of Age, 3-6 years show same preference. However, the result of 6-9 years children were somewhat balanced. Are we biased towards others solely because of their skin color? The answer to this question can be well understood by “Helm’s Racial Identity Model” that asserts the possible intersections between racial perception of others (racism) and racial perception of self (racial development). Results of “Doll Test” (1940) revealed that kids preferred white dolls over black dolls regardless of their own ethnic backgrounds. Margaret Spencer (2008) found similar results and concluded that negative attributes were associated with colored characters. Extending this past work, the researchers in the present study wanted to reexamine the color preference phenomenon to take a broad view. The inclusion of young, adolescent and young adults population provided the opportunity to investigate such attitudes in different age groups with diverse backgrounds. Therefore, the research aimed to explore the answers for:- Do children prefer light skin color? Do adolescents and young adults prefer light skin color? Do color biases exist between Saudi and Non-Saudi participants? The researchers assumed that participants will prefer lighter skin tone over darker irrespective of their age or ethnic background. Since, the hypothesis was investigating individual's appraisals, the independent variable had been the visual cue card with characters. Moreover, the dependent variable was the response that the participants give towards the visual card. The research will contribute to Helm’s Racial Identity Model that asserts the notion of white superiority and individual, cultural and institutional racism. INTRODUCTION Participants: The sample comprised of 40 children and 40 females (adolescents and young adults). The children belonged to two age groups (3-5 yrs and 6-9 years) whereas the adolescents and young adult population was classified into Saudis and Non-Saudis residents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All of them volunteered to participate in the study. Volunteers were thanked for their participation and were treated in accordance with the “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct” (American Psychological Association, 2001). Research Instruments: A self explanatory questionnaire was used to measure the racial beliefs, attitudes and preferences for skin tones in participants. It consisted of 7 items that were meant to measure the chosen phenomena. The researchers sat with participants on one to one basis and showed a sheet with characters of light, medium and dark skin tone on it. The sheet used for children has cartoon sketches whereas real female pictures were shown to the adolescent and young adult population. Data Analysis: The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures. OPTIONAL LOGO HERE CARD USED WITH CHILDREN CARD USED WITH ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS CONCLUSION DISCUSSION REFERENCE GROUP OF FEMALES, N=40 SECOND GROUP OF FEMALES (NON SAUDIS), N=20 FIRST GROUP OF FEMALES (SAUDIS), N=20 FIRST GROUP OF CHILDREN (AGE 3-5 YEARS), N=20 SECOND GROUP OF CHILDREN (AGE 6-9 YEARS), N=20 Choice/QuestionPreference LightMediumDark Good child 1523 Bad child 2116 Child whom you would like as your friend 1460 Child whom you would not like as your friend 1118 Color that looks like your own skin color 1280 Color you want as your own 1631 Color you don’t want as your own 2117 Choice/QuestionPreference LightMediumDark Good child 857 Bad child 5312 Child whom you would like as your friend 839 Child whom you would not like as your friend 9110 Color that looks like your own skin color 5411 Color you want as your own 1136 Color you don’t want as your own 956 Majority of the children associate lighter skin tone with positive traits. For instance, all children chose the character with lighter skin colour when asked about the child whom they like as their friend. Interestingly enough, every child chose lighter skin colour as the colour that they thought looks like them (even though some of them had dark skin colour as their own). On the other hand they associated darker skin tone with negative traits. For instance, 17 out of 20 chose darker tone when they were asked. Racial identity development is a lifelong and continuous process of change that makes individuals experience feeling of anger which trigger the consciousness of transferring oneself to a racial group (Parham, 1989). In a study, Margaret Spencer and her team found that children responded with high rate of white biases where they attributed positive traits with light skin colour and negative traits with the darker skin tone. The children from age range 3-5 years preferred lighter tone. However, mixed results were found for the age group of 6-9 years. Adolescents and young adults preferred lighter tones for positive traits and darker tones for negative characteristics regardless of nationalities. In this group, when participants were asked about the good child and whom they would like as their friend, the results were almost similar for light and dark tones. Majority (n=11) choose darker tones when they were asked about the colour similar to theirs. However, 11 selected lighter tones as the colour they want as their own. The results for negative traits were mixed. When the children were asked about bad child, majority (n=12) selected darker tones. The results were almost same for light and dark tones when children were asked about whom they would not like as their friend. However majority (n=9) pointed towards light colour when they were asked about the colour which they do not want as their own. Overall, participants preferred lighter tones when they were asked questions related to positive traits. For instance, 25 chose light tones when they were asked about the color they want as their own. On the other hand, they associated negative traits with dark skin color. For example, 30 selected dark tones for answering about the bad person. Choice/QuestionPreference LightMediumDark Good person Bad person Individual whom you would like as your friend Individual whom you would not like as your friend Color that looks like your own skin color Color you want as your own 2587 Color you don’t want as your own Choice/QuestionPreference LightMediumDark Good person 884 Bad person 5015 Individual whom you would like as your friend 6113 Individual whom you would not like as your friend 8012 Color that looks like your own skin color 866 Color you want as your own 1145 Color you don’t want as your own 8111 Majority of the participants associate lighter and neutral skin tone with positive traits. For instance, Majority (n=16) preferred light and neutral tones when they were asked about the Good person. In contrary, most of the participants, associate negative traits with dark skin colour. For instance, 15 out of 20 chose darker tone when they were asked about the bad person. Choice/QuestionPreference LightMediumDark Good person 1352 Bad person 5015 Individual whom you would like as your friend 1343 Individual whom you would not like as your friend 7112 Color that looks like your own skin color 1064 Color you want as your own 1442 Color you don’t want as your own 5015 Clark, K. (1947). Racial identification and prefrence. Retrieved on December 20th, 2011, from 7.pdf 7.pdf Chavez, A. F., & Guido-DiBrito, F. (1999). Racial and ethnic identity. Retrieved on December 20th, 2011, from s/Chavez and Guido Debrito.pdfhttp://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic file s/Chavez To sum up, group 1 (age 3-5 yrs) mostly preferred whiter or medium tones for positive questions and darker tones for negative questions. However group 2 (age 6-9 yrs) were very balanced for positive as well as negative questions. The researchers noticed that in group 1(age 3-5 yrs), the children who were not white still chose white as their own color. But in group 2 (age 6-9 yrs), children who were quite light chose medium or darker tones as their own color. In adolescent and young adult population, contributors associated positive attributes with lighter skin colors and negative with darker tones. This preference of lighter tones was more obvious in Non Saudis than in Saudis. Interestingly enough, Saudis choose more neutral tones, in comparison to non Saudis. QUALITATIVE INFORMATION When first two questions about good and bad person were asked, most of the participants initially said that it is not possible for them to judge a person based on her color tones. Many of the participants were resistant when they had to answer the questions related to friends. Also they got confused when it came to select the color similar to their own. The present study was designed to investigate whether children and adults prefer lighter skin colour over darker one. The findings provide overall support for the premise that "colour matters". Due to small sample size and exploratory nature of the study, descriptive analysis was performed. However, further investigations in this area using correlation and ANOVA should be considered if generalizations are to be made. The researchers’ notices that adults were generally uncomfortable when asked questions related to colour preferences. Also, when they were approached for recording data, most of them were in clique and the researchers believe that social desirability could have been a factor towards the responses. Further research might consider collecting data in a controlled environment because the adult population was accessed randomly at different locations. Majority of the participants relate lighter tone with positive traits. For instance, Majority (n=14) preferred lighter tones when they were asked about the skin colour they want as their own. In contrary, most of the participants, associate negative traits with dark skin colour. For instance, 15 out of 20 chose darker tone when they were asked about the skin colour they do not want as their own.