Publications [#385176] of Jay A. Pearson

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Journal Articles

  1. Dennis, AC; DeAngelis, R; Hargrove, TW; Pearson, JA. "Colorism and Health Inequities among Black Americans: A Biopsychosocial Perspective.." Journal of health and social behavior (September, 2025): 221465251364373. [doi]
    (last updated on 2026/01/18)

    Abstract:
    The mechanisms generating skin-tone-based health inequities among ethnic Black Americans remain poorly understood. To address this gap, our study advances a novel biopsychosocial model of embodied colorism-related distress. We test this model with survey and biomarker data from a community sample of working-age Black adults from Nashville, Tennessee (2011-2014; N = 627). Relying on self-rated, interviewer-rated, and discordant skin tone measures, our analyses reveal that Black adults who perceive themselves as dark-skinned tend to have a lower sense of mattering and shorter telomeres, a biomarker of accelerated cellular degradation and aging, relative to their peers who perceive their skin to be lighter. These patterns hold across various social contexts and regardless of interviewer-rated skin tone, indicating that subjective skin tone may be a particularly robust gauge of colorism-related stress processes. Our study reveals critical and previously unexplored biopsychosocial mechanisms linking colorism to health inequity.

Jay A. Pearson

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