{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2191"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2191","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Is fair lovely?: A cross-cultural comparison of the impact of colorism on mental health in South Asian women","abstract":"Colorism, a preference for lighter skin tones within and between racial or ethnic groups, impacts many non-White communities, especially those with a history of colonization (Rondilla & Spickard, 2007). I aimed to extend upon perceptions of colorism by exploring the intensity and frequency of colorism messages and how it affects the mental well-being of South Asian women in the U.S. and South Asia. Using Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), I hypothesized that these messages are associated with self-objectification processes (e.g., skin tone surveillance, skin color satisfaction, internalization of skin color beauty ideals) predicting skin-lightening product use. Results of my structural equation model with South Asian women, as well as implications for interventions and clinical practice, will be discussed.","abstract_html":"Colorism, a preference for lighter skin tones within and between racial or ethnic groups, impacts many non-White communities, especially those with a history of colonization (Rondilla &amp; Spickard, 2007). I aimed to extend upon perceptions of colorism by exploring the intensity and frequency of colorism messages and how it affects the mental well-being of South Asian women in the U.S. and South Asia. Using Objectification Theory (Fredrickson &amp; Roberts, 1997), I hypothesized that these messages are associated with self-objectification processes (e.g., skin tone surveillance, skin color satisfaction, internalization of skin color beauty ideals) predicting skin-lightening product use. Results of my structural equation model with South Asian women, as well as implications for interventions and clinical practice, will be discussed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Khan, Shyla S"],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Walker, Ruth V.","Deepak, Pratibha; Michael, Jaclyn","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:21Z","subjects":["Colorism--Psychological aspects","Skin--Social aspects","South Asia--Civilization--Western influences","South Asian American women--Mental health"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/999","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Walker, Ruth V.","Deepak, Pratibha; Michael, Jaclyn","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Khan, Shyla S"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Colorism--Psychological aspects","Skin--Social aspects","South Asia--Civilization--Western influences","South Asian American women--Mental health"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/999"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of Psychology","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Colorism, a preference for lighter skin tones within and between racial or ethnic groups, impacts many non-White communities, especially those with a history of colonization (Rondilla & Spickard, 2007). I aimed to extend upon perceptions of colorism by exploring the intensity and frequency of colorism messages and how it affects the mental well-being of South Asian women in the U.S. and South Asia. Using Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), I hypothesized that these messages are associated with self-objectification processes (e.g., skin tone surveillance, skin color satisfaction, internalization of skin color beauty ideals) predicting skin-lightening product use. Results of my structural equation model with South Asian women, as well as implications for interventions and clinical practice, will be discussed."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Is fair lovely?: A cross-cultural comparison of the impact of colorism on mental health in South Asian women"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Walker, Ruth V.","Deepak, Pratibha; Michael, Jaclyn","College of Arts and Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Khan, Shyla S"],"dc:date":["2025-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Dept. of Psychology","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."],"dc:description.abstract":["Colorism, a preference for lighter skin tones within and between racial or ethnic groups, impacts many non-White communities, especially those with a history of colonization (Rondilla & Spickard, 2007). I aimed to extend upon perceptions of colorism by exploring the intensity and frequency of colorism messages and how it affects the mental well-being of South Asian women in the U.S. and South Asia. Using Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), I hypothesized that these messages are associated with self-objectification processes (e.g., skin tone surveillance, skin color satisfaction, internalization of skin color beauty ideals) predicting skin-lightening product use. Results of my structural equation model with South Asian women, as well as implications for interventions and clinical practice, will be discussed."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/999"],"dc:language":["English","eng"],"dc:publisher":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"],"dc:relation":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Colorism--Psychological aspects","Skin--Social aspects","South Asia--Civilization--Western influences","South Asian American women--Mental health"],"dc:title":["Is fair lovely?: A cross-cultural comparison of the impact of colorism on mental health in South Asian women"],"dc:type":["Masters theses","Text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:21Z"}