Attitudinal Judgments of Dialect Traits and Colorism in African Americans

  • Akiah Watts Dartmouth College

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. 

Published
18-Dec-2021
How to Cite
Watts, A. “Attitudinal Judgments of Dialect Traits and Colorism in African Americans”. Lifespans and Styles, Vol. 7, no. 2, Dec. 2021, pp. 3-20, doi:10.2218/ls.v7i2.2021.6637.
Section
Articles