Newswise – Race matters when it comes to interpreting facialexpressions. When whites see the same computer generatedfacial expressions on both whites and blacks, they interpretthe black expressions as looking more hostile.
Psychologist Kurt Hugenberg says such misperceptions mayhelp explain how racial stereotypes are perpetuated. Evenpeople who claim not to be prejudiced are susceptible tothis, suggesting an unconscious bias.
Hugenberg and fellow psychologist Galen Bodenhausenconducted a series of experiments, with results published inthe journal Psychological Science. They found that whitesshow greater readiness to see anger in black faces than inwhite faces. This belief was especially strong in prejudicedpeople.
In one study, computer-generated expressions on white andblack faces were shown as shifting from anger to happiness.Whites who had tested as being racially prejudiced againstblacks saw anger linger longer on the black faces than onthe white faces, regardless of what they claimed their levelof prejudice was.
To see examples of the computer generated faces,clickhere.
Often people take photos and don’t notice UFOs in them untilthey?re developed. Sometimes it takes a camera tosee what’sreally there.
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