Bias at the intersection of race and gender: Evidence from preschool-aged children

Testing the automaticity features of the affect misattribution procedure: The roles of awareness and intentionality

The affect misattribution procedure (AMP) is a measure of implicit evaluations, designed to index the automatic retrieval of evaluative knowledge. The AMP effect consists in participants evaluating neutral target stimuli positively when preceded by positive primes and negatively when preceded by negative primes. After multiple prior tests of intentionality, Hughes et al. (Behav Res Methods 55(4):1558-1586, 2023) examined the role of awareness in the AMP and found that AMP effects were larger when participants indicated that their response was influenced by the prime than when they did not. Here we report seven experiments (six preregistered; N = 2350) in which we vary the methodological features of the AMP to better understand this awareness effect. In Experiments 1-4, we establish variability in the magnitude of the awareness effect in response to variations in the AMP procedure. By introducing further modifications to the AMP procedure, Experiments 5-7 suggest an alternative explanation of the awareness effect, namely that awareness can be the outcome, rather than the cause, of evaluative congruency between primes and responses: Awareness effects emerged even when awareness could not have contributed to AMP effects, including when participants judged influence awareness for third parties or primes were presented post hoc. Finally, increasing the evaluative strength of the primes increased participants' tendency to misattribute AMP effects to the influence of target stimuli. Together, the present findings suggest that AMP effects can create awareness effects rather than vice versa and support the AMP's construct validity as a measure of unintentional evaluations of which participants are also potentially unaware.

A 3D framework of implicit attitude change

According to early theories, implicit (automatic) social attitudes are difficult if not impossible to change. Although this view has recently been challenged by research relying on experimental, developmental, and cultural approaches, relevant work remains siloed across research communities. As such, the time is ripe to systematize and integrate disparate (and seemingly contradictory) findings and to identify gaps in existing knowledge. To this end, we introduce a 3D framework classifying research on implicit attitude change by levels of analysis (individual vs. collective), sources of change (experimental, ontogenetic, and cultural), and timescales (short term vs. long term). This 3D framework highlights where evidence for implicit attitude change is more versus less well established and pinpoints directions for future research, including at the intersection of fields.

Racism and censorship in the editorial and peer review process

Psychology aims to capture the diversity of our human experience, yet racial inequity ensures only specific experiences are studied, peer-reviewed, and eventually published. Despite recent publications on racial bias in research topics, study samples, academic teams, and publication trends, bias in the peer review process remains largely unexamined. Drawing on compelling case study examples from APA and other leading international journals, this article proposes key mechanisms underlying racial bias and censorship in the editorial and peer review process, including bias in reviewer selection, devaluing racialized expertise, censorship of critical perspectives, minimal consideration of harm to racialized people, and the publication of unscientific and racist studies. The field of psychology needs more diverse researchers, perspectives, and topics to reach its full potential and meet the mental health needs of communities of colour. Several recommendations are called for to ensure the APA can centre racial equity throughout the editorial and review process.

Intersectional Person Perception: A Scoping Review of Studies Investigating the Roles of Category Relationships and Cognitive Processes

This review considered experimental studies that used an intersectional framework in order to examine (1) how perceived relationship between the categories in a given intersection impacts the perception of its members and (2) how intersectional person perception has been studied through different cognitive processes. A systematic search in databases identified 5,393 records, and a screening processes resulted in 43 articles reporting 110 studies. The way intersectional targets were cognitively processed depended on contextual factors as well as on the perceived relationship between intersected identities (e.g., perceived [in-]congruence between identities). Less prototypical intersectional targets (e.g., Black gay men) sometimes experienced intersectional invisibility, facing both relative advantages (e.g., being less associated with certain negative stereotypes), and disadvantages (e.g., being overlooked, less recognized) compared to more prototypical members of their constituent ingroups (e.g., Black people, gay men). Future work should incorporate observed exceptions to these patterns and expand the cultural context of analysis.

Cognitive processing differences between stereotype activation and semantic activation

Previous studies have demonstrated that the activation of stereotype conflict is similar to the N400 congruency effect shown by the activation of semantic violation. In order to distinguish the differences between the two, the first experiment used gender stereotype trait words as target stimuli, and used "male/female" and "synonym of trait words/antonym of trait words" as priming stimuli respectively, so that the subjects completed the consistency determination task. In experiment 2, gender stereotyped behavior pictures were used as target stimuli, and "male/female" was used as priming stimuli, so that the subjects completed the task of consistency determination. The results showed that both gender stereotype conflict and semantic violation could induce N400 a congruency effect. Importantly, the N400 amplitude and response latency induced by gender stereotype activation are both smaller than those induced by semantic activation. These results show that stereotype activation is distinct from semantic activation, further demonstrating that the brain preferentially processes information related to gender stereotypes, and gender stereotype cognitive processing is more likely to happen than semantic knowledge processing.

Cognitive processing differences between stereotype activation and semantic activation

Previous studies have demonstrated that the activation of stereotype conflict is similar to the N400 congruency effect shown by the activation of semantic violation. In order to distinguish the differences between the two, the first experiment used gender stereotype trait words as target stimuli, and used "male/female" and "synonym of trait words/antonym of trait words" as priming stimuli respectively, so that the subjects completed the consistency determination task. In experiment 2, gender stereotyped behavior pictures were used as target stimuli, and "male/female" was used as priming stimuli, so that the subjects completed the task of consistency determination. The results showed that both gender stereotype conflict and semantic violation could induce N400 a congruency effect. Importantly, the N400 amplitude and response latency induced by gender stereotype activation are both smaller than those induced by semantic activation. These results show that stereotype activation is distinct from semantic activation, further demonstrating that the brain preferentially processes information related to gender stereotypes, and gender stereotype cognitive processing is more likely to happen than semantic knowledge processing.

Children's thinking about group-based social hierarchies

Wealth, power, and status are distributed unevenly across social groups. A surge of recent research reveals that people being recognizing, representing, and reasoning about group-based patterns of inequity during the first years of life. We first synthesize recent research on what children learn about group-based social hierarchies as well as how this learning occurs. We then discuss how children not only learn about societal structures but become active participants in them. Studying the origins and development of children's thoughts and behavior regarding group-based social hierarchies provides valuable insight into how systems of inequity are perpetuated across generations and how intergroup biases related to wealth, power, and status may be mitigated and reshaped early in development.

How White American Children Develop Racial Biases in Emotion Reasoning

For decades, affective scientists have examined how adults and children reason about others' emotions. Yet, our knowledge is limited regarding how emotion reasoning is impacted by race-that is, how individuals reason about emotions displayed by people of other racial groups. In this review, we examine the developmental origins of racial biases in emotion reasoning, focusing on how White Americans reason about emotions displayed by Black faces/people. We highlight how racial biases in emotion reasoning, which emerge as early as infancy, likely contribute to miscommunications, inaccurate social perceptions, and negative interracial interactions across the lifespan. We conclude by discussing promising interventions to reduce these biases as well as future research directions, highlighting how affective scientists can decenter Whiteness in their research designs. Together, this review highlights how emotion reasoning is a potentially affective component of racial bias among White Americans.

Who is a typical woman? Exploring variation in how race biases representations of gender across development

From early in development, race biases how children think about gender-often in a manner that treats Black women as less typical and representative of women in general than White or Asian women. The present study (N = 89, ages 7-11; predominately Hispanic, White, and multi-racial children) examined the generalizability of this phenomenon across middle childhood and the mechanisms underlying variability in its development. Replicating prior work, children were slower and less accurate to categorize the gender of Black women compared to Asian or White women, as well as compared to Black men, suggesting that children perceived Black women as less representative of their gender. These effects were robust across age within a racially and ethnically diverse sample of children. Children's tendencies to view their own racial identities as expansive and flexible, however, attenuated these effects: Children with more flexible racial identities also had gender concepts that were more inclusive of Black women. In contrast, the tendency for race to bias children's gender representations was unrelated to children's multiple classification skill and racial essentialism. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying variation in how race biases gender across development, with critical implications for how children's own identities shape the development of intergroup cognition and behavior.

Leadership, gender, and colorism: Children in India use social category information to guide leadership cognition

Across the globe, women and racial minorities are underrepresented in leadership. We examined the development of 5-10-year-old children's leadership cognition in India, the world's largest democracy. This cultural context offered the opportunity to study the development of attitudes about gender and to extend examinations of children's conceptions of race to include colorism (the privileging of lighter skin). In Experiment 1, children completed a novel Election Task in which they saw a fictional class with 20 students varying in gender (boys, girls) and race/skin tone (darker-skinned South Asian [Dark-SA], lighter-skinned South Asian [Light-SA], Black, White). Children predicted who would be elected as President, Treasurer, Welcomer, and Notetaker. Children most often chose Light-SA and White students as President. When choosing Presidents, younger children showed an own-gender bias, but by age 9, both boys and girls primarily chose boy Presidents. Importantly, children's choices differed for the other class positions. Next, we asked children to draw a "leader." No boys drew a girl, and girls' drawings were mixed (52% drew girls). In Experiment 2, we replicated the drawing task findings and compared children's drawings of a leader to their drawings of a helper and a scientist. Children most often drew boys and men as leaders and scientists, but not as helpers, suggesting specificity of children's pro-male bias to male-stereotyped positions. Children's conceptions of leadership reflected a male bias and an association between lighter skin and status. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Small groups lead, big groups control: Perceptions of numerical group size, power, and status across development

Participants (N = 384 three- to ten-year-olds; 51% girls, 49% boys; 73% White, 18% multiracial/other, 5% Asian, and 3% Black; N = 610 adults) saw depictions of 20 individuals split into two social groups (1:19; 2:18; 5:15; or 8:12 per group) and selected which group was "in charge" (Experiment 1), "the leader" (Experiment 2), or likely to "get the stuff" (resources) in a conflict (Experiment 3). Whereas participants across ages predicted the larger group would "get the stuff," a tendency to view smaller groups as "in charge" and "the leader" strengthened with age and when the smaller group was rarer. These findings suggest the perceived relation between numerical group size and hierarchy is flexible and inform theory regarding the developmental trajectories of reasoning about power and status.

Does Emotional Expression Moderate Implicit Racial Bias? Examining Bias Following Smiling and Angry Primes

Given the pervasiveness of prejudice, researchers have become increasingly interested in examining racial bias at the intersection of race and other social and perceptual categories that have the potential to disrupt these negative attitudes. Across three studies, we examined whether the emotional expression of racial exemplars would moderate implicit racial bias. We found that racial bias on the Affect Misattribution Procedure only emerged in response to angry but not smiling Black male faces in comparison to White (Study 1) or White and Asian (Study 3) male faces with similar emotional expressions. Racial bias was also found toward Asian targets (Studies 2 and 3), but not only following angry primes. These findings suggest that negative stereotypes about Black men can create a contrast effect, making racial bias toward smiling faces less likely to be expressed in the presence of angry Black male faces.

Racial Awareness and Bias Begin Early: Developmental Entry Points, Challenges, and a Call to Action

Overt expressions of racial intolerance have surged precipitously. The dramatic uptick in hate crimes and hate speech is not lost on young children. But how, and how early, do children become aware of racial bias? And when do their own views of themselves and others become infused with racial bias? This article opens with a brief overview of the existing experimental evidence documenting developmental entry points of racial bias in infants and young children and how it unfolds. The article then goes on to identify gaps in the extant research and outlines three steps to narrow them. By bringing together what we know and what remains unknown, the goal is to provide a springboard, motivating a more comprehensive psychological-science framework that illuminates early steps in the acquisition of racial bias. If we are to interrupt race bias at its inception and diminish its effects, then we must build strong cross-disciplinary bridges that span the psychological and related social sciences to shed light on the pressing issues facing our nation's young children and their families.

Social sampling: Children track social choices to reason about status hierarchies

We tested whether preschool-aged children (N = 280) track an agents' choices of individuals from novel social groups (i.e., social choices) to infer an agent's social preferences and the social status of the groups. Across experiments, children saw a box containing 2 groups (red and blue toy cats). In Experiment 1, children were randomly assigned to Social Selection in which items were described as "friends," or to Object Selection in which items were described as "toys." Within each selection type, the agent selected 5 items from either a numerically common group (82% of box; selections appearing random) or a numerically rare group (18% of box; selections violating random sampling). After watching these selections, children were asked who the agent would play with among 3 individuals: 1 from the selected group, 1 from the unselected group, or 1 from a novel group. Only participants who viewed Social Selection of a numerically rare group predicted that the agent would select an individual from that group in the future. These participants also said an individual from the selected group was the "leader." Subsequent experiments further probed the Social Selection findings. Children's reasoning depended on the agent actively selecting the friends (Experiment 2), and children thought a member of the rare selected group was the leader, but not the "helper" (Experiment 3). These results illustrate that children track an agent's positive social choices to reason about that agent's social preferences and to infer the status (likelihood of being a leader) of novel social groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Racial preferences in sexual attraction among White heterosexual and gay men: Evidence from sexual arousal patterns and negative racial attitudes

Racial preferences in sexual attraction are highly visible and controversial. They may also negatively impact those who are excluded. It is unclear whether these preferences are merely self-attributed or extend to patterns of experienced sexual arousal. Furthermore, some argue that racial preferences in sexual attraction reflect idiosyncratic personal preferences, while others argue that they are more systematically motivated and reflect broader negative attitudes toward particular races. In two studies, we examined these issues by measuring the sexual arousal patterns and negative racial attitudes of 78 White men in relation to their racial preferences in sexual attraction to White versus Black people. For both White heterosexual men (n = 40; Study 1) and White gay men (n = 38; Study 2), greater racial preferences in sexual attraction to White versus Black people of their preferred gender were associated with more subjective and genital arousal by erotic stimuli featuring White versus Black people of their preferred gender, and with more explicit and implicit negative attitudes toward Black people. Findings suggest that racial preferences in sexual attraction are reflected in patterns of sexual arousal, and they might also be systematically motivated by negative attitudes toward particular races.

The Effects of Race, Gender, and Gender-Typed Behavior on Children's Friendship Appraisals

From a young age, children's peer appraisals are influenced by the social categories to which peers belong based on factors such as race and gender. To date, research regarding the manner in which race- and gender-related factors might interact to influence these appraisals has been limited. The present study employed an experimental vignette paradigm to investigate the relative influences of target peers' race, gender, and gender-typed behavior toward 4- to 6-year-old Chinese children's (N = 119, 62 girls, 57 boys) peer appraisals. Appraisals were assessed via (1) a rating scale measuring children's interest in being friends with a range of hypothetical target peers varying in race, gender, and gender-typed behavior, and (2) a forced-choice rank-order task in which children indicated their preferences for four hypothetical target peers who varied from themselves on either race, gender, or gender-typed behavior, or were similar to themselves on all three traits. There was little evidence to suggest children's rank-ordered peer preferences in relation to race were influenced by whether the other-race presented was White (preferred relatively more) or Black (preferred relatively less). In contrast, gender-related factors (i.e., rater gender, target gender, target gender-typed behavior) had more robust influences on peer preferences for both outcome measures. Gender-conforming peers were preferred over gender-nonconforming peers, and target boys displaying feminine behavior were less preferred than target girls displaying masculine behavior. The results help characterize cross-cultural (in)consistencies in children's social preferences in relation to peers' race and gender.

Reframing social categorization as latent structure learning for understanding political behaviour

Affiliating with political parties, voting and building coalitions all contribute to the functioning of our political systems. One core component of this is social categorization-being able to recognize others as fellow in-group members or members of the out-group. Without this capacity, we would be unable to coordinate with in-group members or avoid out-group members. Past research in social psychology and cognitive neuroscience examining social categorization has suggested that one way to identify in-group members may be to directly compute the similarity between oneself and the target (dyadic similarity). This model, however, does not account for the fact that the group membership brought to bear is context-dependent. This review argues that a more comprehensive understanding of how we build representations of social categories (and the subsequent impact on our behaviours) must first expand our conceptualization of social categorization beyond simple dyadic similarity. Furthermore, a generalizable account of social categorization must also provide domain-general, quantitative predictions for us to test hypotheses about social categorization. Here, we introduce an alternative model-one in which we infer latent groups of people through latent structure learning. We examine experimental evidence for this account and discuss potential implications for understanding the political mind. This article is part of the theme issue 'The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms'.

What Drives Racial Attitudes in Elementary School Children: Skin Tone, Facial Physiognomy, or Both?

This work examines whether racial attitudes-when measured by both explicit and implicit measures- are driven primarily by skin tone, facial physiognomy, or both in 5 to 12-year-old children. Participants evaluated faces varying in skin tone (from dark to light) and facial physiognomy (from Afrocentric to Eurocentric). In an explicit task, children rated how much they liked each face. In an implicit task, participants completed a child-friendly version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure, where they rated a Chinese character as "good" or "bad" following a racial prime. Results suggest that pro-White attitudes (especially those measured by the explicit task) are driven by both factors, vary by perceivers' race, and are present in both White and non-White children, though skin tone exerts a larger influence than other features, at least in explicit evaluations. Our results also raise the possibility that pro-White biases might be more internalized by non-White children in the American South.

Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health

Inequalities in health outcomes impose substantial human and economic costs on all societies-and the relation between early adversity and lifelong well-being presents a rich scientific framework for fresh thinking about health promotion and disease prevention broadly, augmented by a deeper focus on how racism influences disparities more specifically. This review begins with an overview of advances in the biology of adversity and resilience through an early childhood lens, followed by an overview of the unique effects of racism on health and a selective review of findings from related intervention research. This article presents a framework for addressing multiple dimensions of the public health challenge-including institutional/structural racism, cultural racism, and interpersonal discrimination-and concludes with the compelling need to protect the developing brain and other biological systems from the physiological disruptions of toxic stress that can undermine the building blocks of optimal health and development in the early childhood period.

Math and language gender stereotypes: Age and gender differences in implicit biases and explicit beliefs

In a cross-sectional study of youth ages 8-15, we examined implicit and explicit gender stereotypes regarding math and language abilities. We investigated how implicit and explicit stereotypes differ across age and gender groups and whether they are consistent with cultural stereotypes. Participants (N = 270) completed the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and a survey of explicit beliefs. Across all ages, boys showed neither math nor language implicit gender biases, whereas girls implicitly favored girls in both domains. These findings are counter to cultural stereotypes, which favor boys in math. On the explicit measure, both boys' and girls' primary tendency was to favor girls in math and language ability, with the exception of elementary school boys, who rated genders equally. We conclude that objective gender differences in academic success guide differences in children's explicit reports and implicit biases.

The Development of Intersectional Social Prototypes

Race and gender information overlap to shape adults’ representations of social categories. This overlap may contribute to the psychological “invisibility” of people whose race and gender identities are perceived to have conflicting stereotypes. The present research (N = 249) examined when race begins to bias representations of gender across development. Children and adults engaged in a speeded task in which they categorized photographs of faces of women and men from three racial categories: Asian, Black, and White (four photographs per gender and racial group). In Study 1, participants were slower to categorize photographs of Black women as women than photographs of White and Asian women as women and Black men as men. They also were more likely to miscategorize photographs of Black women as men and less likely to stereotype Black women as feminine. Study 2 replicated these findings and provided evidence of a developmental shift in categorization speed. An omnibus analysis provided a high-powered test of this developmental hypothesis, revealing that target race begins biasing children’s gender categorization around age 5. Implications for the development of social-category representation are discussed.