Facial Structure Is Indicative of Explicit Support for Prejudicial Beliefs
Eric Hehman, Jordan B. Leitner, Matthew P. Deegan, Samuel L. Gaertner
Psychological Science · 2013 · Volume 24 · Issue 3
Abstract
We present three studies examining whether male facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is correlated with racial prejudice and whether observers are sensitive to fWHR when assessing prejudice in other people. Our results indicate that males with a greater fWHR are more likely to explicitly endorse racially prejudicial beliefs, though fWHR was unrelated to implicit bias. Participants evaluated targets with a greater fWHR as more likely to be prejudiced and accurately evaluated the degree to which targets reported prejudicial attitudes. Finally, compared with majority-group members, racial-minority participants reported greater motivation to accurately evaluate prejudice. This motivation mediated the relationship between minority- or majority-group membership and the accuracy of evaluations of prejudice, which indicates that motivation augments sensitivity to fWHR. Together, the results of these three studies demonstrate that fWHR is a reliable indicator of explicitly endorsed racial prejudice and that observers can use fWHR to accurately assess another person’s explicit prejudice.
Keywords
face perception, bizygomatic width, intergroup dynamics, prejudice, impression formation
Enable JavaScript for citation tools and additional paper interactions.