Stereotypes and status symbols impact if a face is viewed as black or white
September 26, 2011 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Perception of race is altered by cues as simple as the clothes worn. Researchers at Tufts University, Stanford and University of California, Irvine found that computerized faces accompanied by business attire were more likely to be seen as white, whereas faces with blue-collar attire were more likely to be seen as black. More subtle evidence of bias was revealed by a novel-mouse tracking technique that recorded participants' hand movements while using a computer mouse to choose a racial category. Even when participants ultimately decided that a face with low-status attire was white or a face with high-status attire was black, they were still drawn to the other race that was stereotypically tied to the status cue and moved the mouse slightly closer to that response before making their final decision. The researchers also ran a series of computer simulations to show how the shifting of race perception by status cues might naturally emerge in a system that is mathematically similar to a human brain -- so long as that system already associates Whites with high status and Blacks with low status. The work was published in PLoS ONE on Sept. 26, 2011. Courtesy Tufts University
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Tufts University, Stanford University and the University of California, Irvine has found that the perception of race can be altered by cues to social status as simple as the clothes a person wears.
Far from being a straightforward "read out" of facial features, say the researchers, racial categorization represents a complex and subtle process powerfully shaped by context and the stereotypes and prejudices we already hold.
"Looking the part: Social status cues shape race perception" appears in PLoS ONE published online September 26.
In the experiments, study participants were asked to determine the race of computerized faces. Faces accompanied by business attire were more likely to be seen as White, whereas faces accompanied by janitor attire were more likely to be seen as Black.
A novel hand-tracking technique -- which recorded participants' hand trajectories while using a mouse to select a racial category on the computer screen -- also revealed far more subtle influences of the stereotypical status cues.
Even when participants ultimately decided that a face with low-status attire was White or a face with high-status attire was Black, they showed that they were still drawn to the other race that was stereotypically tied to the status cue by moving the mouse slightly closer to that response before making their final decision.
The researchers then ran a series of computer simulations to show how the shifting of race perception by status cues naturally emerges in a system that is mathematically similar to a human brain -- so long as that system already associates Whites with high status and Blacks with low status.
"The study shows how the perception of a face is always a compromise between the visual cues before our eyes and the baggage we bring to the table, like the stereotypes we hold," says the study's lead author, Jonathan B. Freeman, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
The results highlight one of the possible mechanisms through which subtle and unconscious racism continues to occur.
"Racial stereotypes are powerful enough to trickle down to affect even basic visual processing of other people, systematically skewing the way we view our social world," Freeman says.
Status cues had the largest effects for the faces that were most racially ambiguous, a notable finding given recent and projected growth of the multiracial population in the United States.
More information: Freeman JB, Penner AM, Saperstein A, Scheutz M, Ambady, N. PLoS ONE. "Looking the part: Social status cues shape race perception." Published online September 26, 2011. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025107
Provided by Tufts University
-
A face by any other name: Seeing racial bias
Oct 28, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Black and white is not always a clear distinction
Dec 08, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Does it matter if black plus white equals black or multiracial?
Oct 10, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Nonverbal communication of race bias on TV influences viewers' own bias
Dec 17, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study shows skin tone is not the major determinant of perceived racial identity
Aug 31, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
-
Seeing is as seeing does: Spatially-structured retinal input in early development of cortical maps
Apr 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Dreamless nights: Brain activity during nonrapid eye movement sleep
Apr 09, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
-
Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
3
-
Potential Breakthrough in Seizure Control
5 hours ago
-
Popping/Cracked sternum.
10 hours ago
-
Which Mental Illness Encompasses This Problem?
10 hours ago
-
A question about drug tolerance
May 23, 2012
-
Poor nutrition leading to overeating?
May 23, 2012
-
Math and dyslexia?
May 21, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
More mental health care urged for kids who self-harm
(HealthDay) -- Doctors have long known that some kids suffering severe emotional turmoil find relief in physical pain -- cutting or burning or sticking themselves with pins to achieve a form of release.
Psychology & Psychiatry
21 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Questionable research practices surprisingly common
(Medical Xpress) -- Not all scientific misconduct is flat-out fraud. Much falls into the murkier realm of questionable research practices. A new study finds that in one field, psychology, these practices are surprisingly ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Feeling strong emotions makes peoples' brains 'tick together'
Experiencing strong emotions synchronises brain activity across individuals, research team at Aalto University and Turku PET Centre in Finland has revealed.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 24, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Formal recognition of PMDD will lift stigma for women
A decision to recognise premenstrual dysphoric disorder as a genuine psychiatric condition will finally provide validation for this awful and poorly understood syndrome and alleviate the stigma ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 24, 2012 |
2 / 5 (1) |
1
Long-term meditation leads to different brain organization
(Medical Xpress) -- People who practice mindfulness meditation learn to accept their feelings, emotions, and states of mind without judging or resisting them. They simply live in the moment.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 24, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
|
Travel to high altitudes tied to Crohn's, colitis flare-ups
(HealthDay) -- People with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and colitis, may be at increased risk for flare-ups when they fly or travel to high altitudes for skiing or mountain climbing, ...
Transvaginal mesh op restores pelvic organ prolapse at price
(HealthDay) -- Transvaginal mesh (TVM) procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery, according to ...
Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity
(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...
Cancer may require simpler genetic mutations than previously thought
Chromosomal deletions in DNA often involve just one of two gene copies inherited from either parent. But scientists haven't known how a deletion in one gene from one parent, called a "hemizygous" deletion, can contribute ...
Inherited DNA change explains overactive leukemia gene
A small inherited change in DNA is largely responsible for overactivating a gene linked to poor treatment response in people with acute leukemia.
Tongue analysis software uses ancient Chinese medicine to warn of disease
For 5,000 years, the Chinese have used a system of medicine based on the flow and balance of positive and negative energies in the body. In this system, the appearance of the tongue is one of the measures used to classify ...
Sep 26, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (4)
word-to-ya-muthas
Sep 26, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
They would need to be in a car driving poorly
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Indeed: and when Hitler murdered Jews he always blamed them for a plethora of social ills AND there HAD to be, statistically speaking, some bad Jews somewhere doing bad things, why? Because they are human. Bias, stereotypes, unfair treatment are the, THE issues..." Even when participants ultimately decided that a face with low-status attire was white or a face with high-status attire was black, they were still drawn to the other race that was stereotypically tied to the status cue and moved the mouse slightly closer to that response before making their final decision..."THAT is pre-JUDGED Bias.
word-to-ya-muthas
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
word-