Looking at the own-race bias: Eye-tracking investigations of memory for different race faces

The effect of social factors on eye movements made when judging the aesthetic merit of figurative paintings

In the present study we explore how social factors (group contact, individuating experience, implicit racial bias) influence the eye movements made during the visual exploration when judging their aesthetic merit of figurative paintings depicting White and Black sitters. An opportunity sample of participants visiting a gallery in Liverpool viewed ten artworks while their eye movements were recorded and completed a set of individual difference measures. The individual difference measures indicated self-report of art interest, social contact and individuating experience with both Black and White communities, and implicitly held racial bias. The results showed that, despite viewing the paintings for less time, the majority of participants reported paintings showing Black sitters as more interesting, emotionally moving, and pleasurable then those depicting White sitters. However, if a participant reported limited social contact with Black community, and a negative implicit racial bias against them, their rating of aesthetic merit of paintings showing Black sitters was reduced, viewing time increased, and fixations became more focused on faces. The influence of social factors on the viewing of paintings showing White sitters was limited to aesthetic rating. The results are discussed in terms of how social factors influence eye movements when viewing paintings in a real-world setting.

Different features for different races: Tracking the eyes of Asian, Black, and White participants viewing Asian, Black, and White Faces

The own-race bias (ORB) is an effect in which humans remember faces from their own race better than faces from another race. Where people look when processing faces of different races plays a role in this effect, but the exact relationship between looking and the ORB is debated. One perspective is that the same facial features are important for memory for faces of all races and the ORB emerges when people look longer at the useful features for own- than other-race faces. Another perspective is that different facial features are useful for faces of different races and the ORB emerges when people look longer at features that are useful for their own race than at features that are useful for other-race faces. The present study aimed to discriminate these perspectives by examining looking patterns in Asian, Black, and White participants while they learned and later recognized Asian, Black, and White faces. Regardless of their race, participants looked at different facial features depending on the race of the face. In addition, different features were useful for memory depending on the race of the face. As such, results are in line with the perspective that different facial features are useful for different race faces.

Examining the Contribution of Physical Cues for Same- and Cross-Race Face Individuation

Face individuation involves sensitivity to physical characteristics that provide information about identity. We examined whether Black and White American faces differ in terms of individuating information, and whether Black and White perceivers differentially weight information when judging same-race and cross-race faces. Study 1 analyzed 20 structural metrics (e.g., eye width, nose length) of 158 Black and White faces to determine which differentiate faces within each group. High-utility metrics (e.g., nose length, eye height, chin length) differentiated faces of both groups, low-utility metrics (e.g., face width, eye width, face length) offered less individuating information. Study 2 (N = 4,510) explored Black and White participants' sensitivity to variation on structural metrics using similarity ratings. High-utility metrics affected perceived dissimilarity more than low-utility metrics. This relationship was non-significantly stronger for same-race faces rather than cross-race faces. Perceivers also relied more on features that were racially stereotypic of the faces they were rating.

More Than Meets the Eyes: Bringing Attention to the Eyes Increases First Impressions of Warmth and Competence

The present research examined how face masks alter first impressions of warmth and competence for different racial groups. Participants were randomly assigned to view photographs of White, Black, and Asian targets with or without masks. Across four separate studies (total N = 1,012), masked targets were rated significantly higher in warmth and competence compared with unmasked targets, regardless of their race. However, Asian targets benefited the least from being seen masked compared with Black or White targets. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrate how the positive effect of masks is likely due to these clothing garments re-directing attention toward the eyes of the wearer. Participants viewing faces cropped to the eyes (Study 3), or instructed to gaze into the eyes of faces (Study 4), rated these targets similarly to masked targets, and higher than unmasked targets. Neither political affiliation, belief in mask effectiveness, nor explicit racial prejudice moderated any hypothesized effects.

Perceiving ingroup and outgroup faces within and across nations

The human face is arguably the most important of all social stimuli because it provides so much valuable information about others. Therefore, one critical factor for successful social communication is the ability to process faces. In general, a wide body of social cognitive research has demonstrated that perceivers are better at extracting information from their own-race compared to other-race faces and that these differences can be a barrier to positive cross-race relationships. The primary objective of the present paper was to provide an overview of how people process faces in diverse contexts, focusing on racial ingroup and outgroup members within one nation and across nations. To achieve this goal, we first broadly describe social cognitive research on categorization processes related to ingroups vs. outgroups. Next, we briefly examine two prominent mechanisms (experience and motivation) that have been used to explain differences in recognizing facial identities and identifying emotions when processing ingroup and outgroup racial faces within nations. Then, we explore research in this domain across nations and cultural explanations, such as norms and practices, that supplement the two proposed mechanisms. Finally, we propose future cross-cultural research that has the potential to help us better understand the role of these key mechanisms in processing ingroup and outgroup faces.

Impact of perceived interpersonal similarity on attention to the eyes of same-race and other-race faces

One reason for the persistence of racial discrimination may be anticipated dissimilarity with racial outgroup members that prevent meaningful interactions. In the present research, we investigated whether perceived similarity would impact the processing of same-race and other-race faces. Specifically, in two experiments, we varied the extent to which White participants were ostensibly similar to targets via bogus feedback on a personality test. With an eye tracker, we measured the effect of this manipulation on attention to the eyes, a critical region for person perception and face memory. In Experiment 1, we monitored the impact of perceived interpersonal similarity on White participants’ attention to the eyes of same-race White targets. In Experiment 2, we replicated this procedure, but White participants were presented with either same-race White targets or other-race Black targets in a between-subjects design. The pattern of results in both experiments indicated a positive linear effect of similarity—greater perceived similarity between participants and targets predicted more attention to the eyes of White and Black faces. The implications of these findings related to top-down effects of perceived similarity for our understanding of basic processes in face perception, as well as intergroup relations, are discussed.

The effect of implicit racial bias on recognition of other-race faces

Previous research has established a possible link between recognition performance, individuation experience, and implicit racial bias of other-race faces. However, it remains unclear how implicit racial bias might influence other-race face processing in observers with relatively extensive experience with the other race. Here we examined how recognition of other-race faces might be modulated by observers’ implicit racial bias, in addition to the effects of experience and face recognition ability. Caucasian participants in a culturally diverse city completed a memory task for Asian and Caucasian faces, an implicit association test, a questionnaire assessing experience with Asians and Caucasians, and a face recognition ability test. As expected, recognition performance for Asian faces was positively predicted by increased face recognition ability, and experience with Asians. More importantly, it was also negatively predicted by increased positive bias towards Asians, which was modulated by an interaction between face recognition ability and implicit bias, with the effect of implicit bias observed predominantly in observers with high face recognition ability. Moreover, the positions of the first two fixations when participants learned the other-race faces were affected by different factors, with the first fixation modulated by the effect of experience and the second fixation modulated by the interaction between implicit bias and face recognition ability. Taken together, these findings suggest the complexity in understanding the perceptual and socio-cognitive influences on the other-race effect, and that observers with high face recognition ability may more likely evaluate racial features involuntarily when recognizing other-race faces.

Oxytocin Modulates Neural Individuation/Categorization Processing of Faces in Early Face-Selective Areas

Oxytocin (OT) is known as a neuropeptide that promotes social adaptation. Individuating racial in-group members and viewing racial out-groups in categories is an adaptive strategy that evolved to aid effective social interaction. Nevertheless, whether OT modulates the neural individuation/categorization processing of racial in-group and out-group faces remain unknown. After intranasal OT or placebo administration, 46 male participants (OT: 24, placebo: 22) were presented with face pairs with the same or different identities or races in rapid succession. The neural repetition suppression (RS) effects to identity and race were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as indices of individuation/categorization face-processing. The results showed that while OT increased the RS effect to race, it decreased the RS effect to identity in the right fusiform face area. As for the left occipital face area, OT enlarged the differential RS effects to identities of in-group and out-group faces. Additionally, OT modulated the association of interdependence self-construal and the RS effects on identity and race. These findings bring to light preliminary evidence that OT can regulate neuronal specificity of identity and race in early face-selective regions and benefit adaptive individuation/categorization face-processing.