Colonial Mentality and Colorism Among Filipinx Americans

Colonial mentality refers to a social response to internalized oppression through which one's unique set of attitudes lead to the denigration of one's own culture while appreciating or valuing Western culture. Other attitudes that may be related to colonial mentality include in-group colorism, which ascribes positive features to lighter skin tones. Also of relevance is phenotypic bias, which involves the preference for European physical characteristics such as lighter skin complexions, light, and straight set of hair, blue eyes, and narrow noses. This study investigates the extent to which colonial mentality is related to colorism and satisfaction with phenotype in a sample of 101 Filipinx Americans residing in the United States. Results found that colonial mentality subscales as a set predicted both colorism and phenotypic satisfaction, with the physical characteristics subscale being the most consistently predictive. Additionally, the colonial debt subscale was associated with increased phenotypic satisfaction suggesting that those who felt more indebted to the West are more satisfied with their physical characteristics. Although colonial mentality was related to lower ethnic identity, colorism and phenotypic satisfaction did not play a mediating role in this relationship.