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Phenotyping and Adolescence-to-Adulthood Transitions Among Latinos

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Abstract

Phenotyping the system of prejudice and discrimination, which gives preference to European physical characteristics and devalues those of Amerindians, Africans, and Asians, affects the lives of many Latinos in the United States. This study examines the impact of phenotyping on academic and employment outcomes among Latino adolescents/young adults. Outcomes examined include the odds of graduating from high school, finding full-time employment after completing high school, and attending college. Socioeconomic status (measured at individual and school levels), family structure, quality of parent–child relationships, immigrant generational status, and other measures are included as controls. Multilevel modeling and logistic regression are utilized as analytical tools. Results indicate that, among Latinos, light skin and blue eyes are associated with better academic outcomes than having dark skin and brown eyes, while those with darker skin enter the labor market earlier than their light-skinned co-ethnics.

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Notes

  1. Colorism is a specific case of phenotyping as it refers to the importance of skin tone in determining one’s life chances in society (Montalvo and Codina 2001). As such, phenotyping is a more inclusive concept since it considers all phenotypical characteristics, rather than just skin tone.

  2. In addition, we conducted parallel analyses with imputed values for the dependent variables. The results of these analyses were not significantly different from those generated by the analyses reported below.

  3. Auxiliary analyses have shown that all phenotypical features are interconnected (χ 2 = 26.71; df = 13; p < 0.05), meaning that darker-skinned Latinos are likely to have darker hair and eyes and lighter-skinned Latinos are likely to have lighter hair and eyes.

  4. It is worth mentioning that the interviewers’ reports include information that may be related to phenotypical differences, such as interviewers’ perceptions of respondents’ attractiveness. Even though the standards of beauty in the United States, as prior research suggests (Adams 1978; Hordge-Freeman 2013; Rangel 2007), are influenced by phenotyping, attractiveness per se is not a phenotypical feature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The University of Texas-Pan American, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, TX, 78539-2999, USA

    Igor Ryabov

  2. College of Letters and Sciences, Laurentide Hall, Room 4101, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, 53190-1790, USA

    Franklin W. Goza

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  1. Igor Ryabov
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  2. Franklin W. Goza
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Correspondence to Igor Ryabov.

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Ryabov, I., Goza, F.W. Phenotyping and Adolescence-to-Adulthood Transitions Among Latinos. Race Soc Probl 6, 342–355 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-014-9132-3

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