Far from fairness: Prejudice, skin color, and psychological functioning in Asian Americans.
OBJECTIVE
We explored the moderating role of observed skin color in the association between prejudice and concurrent and lagged psychological functioning (i.e., depression, ingroup/outgroup psychological connectedness). We further aimed to understand gender differences in these processes.


METHODS
Data from 821 Asian American undergraduate students (57.5% female and 42.5% male) were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman. Cross-sectional and longitudinal regression-based moderation models were conducted with PROCESS 2.13 for SPSS.


RESULTS
Lighter skin color nullified the association between prejudice and recent depression for Asian American females. This moderating effect did not hold over time with regards to depression symptoms 1 year later. Additionally, prejudice predicted psychological distance to other Asian students 1 year later among females rated as lighter in skin color, whereas prejudice was tied to psychological closeness for females with darker skin ratings.


CONCLUSIONS
Results highlight skin color as a pertinent factor relevant to the short-term and long-term mental health and social experiences of Asian American women in particular. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University.
Alisia G T T
AGTT
Tran
Department of Counseling Psychology, University of San Francisco.
Hsiu-Lan
HL
Cheng
Phoenix VA Health Care System.
Jason D
JD
Netland
Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University.
Elisa R
ER
Miyake
D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012880:Skin Pigmentation; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult