It's written all over your face: The impact of Afrocentric facial features, gender, race, and explicit attitudes on implicit preferences

Abstract

Recent research has investigated the phenomenon of facial feature based stereotyping. The current study is the first to manipulate gender and Afrocentric facial features in an Implicit Association Test (IAT). It is also the first to use a diverse sample that includes White, Black, Latino and Asian participants. Explicit racial attitudes were first assessed and then followed by an IAT. Several findings emerged. First, Black participants had higher Pro-Black attitudes relative to White, Latino and Asian participants. Second, White participants had a higher level of color blind attitudes compared to both Black and Latinos. Third, White, Asian, and Latino participants had an implicit preference for the positive White condition whereas Black participants had no such preference. Fourth, there was an implicit preference for male compared to female target faces that did not differ based on the sex of the participant. Finally, higher levels of both anti-Black and color-blind attitudes uniquely predicted implicit preferences for White over Black. Taken together, these findings enhance our understanding of the factors that impact implicit preferences.