The Clark Doll Experiment (Are white and black children biased toward lighter skin) - Research Paper Example

The table above shows a sample portion of the total population data that was collected. The participants were children whose ethnic backgrounds were either black or white. In addition, the skin tone of the children was black, white or medium. The age bracket of the children was between 8 to 12 years old. The children were presented with a sample questionnaire and the results collected were as follows: Majority of the black children had a white doll preference while the white children preferred the dolls which had either a lighter or white skin tone.

The reason behind this was based on the ideology that they had heard (had been told) about black and white people. Most of the black children mentioned that they selected the white doll because it was beautiful and it was “naturally good”. On the other hand, the white children mentioned that they had selected the white and lighter dolls because they almost resembled their skin colour as well as their ethnic background. When the children were asked which doll resembles their skin tone, majority of the black children either selected the medium or white doll as compared to the black doll which optimally resembled their skin tone.

On the other hand, the white children selected the white doll and mentioned that it totally looked like them. From those results, it can be concluded that, stereotyping is a factor that is implicated onto children at a tender age either knowingly or unknowingly. This is something that the child can either pick from their parents, friends or even in their school environment. As such, they grow up to think that black is bad and white is