SKIN COLOR, ACCULTURATION, AND COMMUNITY INTEREST AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS - A RESEARCH NOTE

Previous research has demonstrated that skin color affects the economi c and social status of African Americans. More recent studies have sho wn that this relationship extends to Hispanic Americans as well. This study investigated the effects of skin color on acculturation levels a nd of both skin color and acculturation on Mexican American students' interest in the Mexican American community. A one-way ANOVA demonstrat ed that students with the darkest skin had significantly lower levels of acculturation than those with lighter skin. A two-way ANOVA was con ducted with two between-group factors-skin color and acculturation-wit h the dependent variable consisting of interest in the Latino communit y. An interaction was detected which indicates that skin color does no t impact interest in community in the same way across ail levels of ac culturation.