Akiah Watts

Attitudinal Judgments of Dialect Traits and Colorism in African Americans

Introduction

Attitudinal judgments of dialect traits and colorism in african americans. Explore how dialect (AAVE) and colorism impact professional and social perceptions of African Americans. This study reveals gendered differences in experiencing colorism based on language and skin tone.

Abstract

This study demonstrates how language and complexion influence professional and social perceptions of African Americans. This study contains an online verbal-guise survey where participants either saw a photo of a lighter skin-toned African-American male and female or an electronically darkened version. Audio was attached to each photo, which contains traits of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the case of the male and Standard American English for the female. The results suggest African-American females are more likely to experience colorism in professional traits while African-American males are more likely to experience colorism in social traits. Additionally, the respondent’s race influences perceptions of AAVE. 

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