This invention provides polymer particles that exhibit reduced yellowing upon heating. Because the polymer particles of this invention are formulated to have a cumulative percentage of 17% or less of particles with a diameter of 60% or less of the median diameter in a particle size distribution based on particle number, and to keep the number of small-diameter particles in a certain proportion or less, the yellowing of the polymer particles due to heating is reduced. Therefore, these polymer particles can prevent products containing these polymer particles from discoloring due to the yellowing of these polymer particles, and are thus suitable for use in the production of products for optical applications.