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Within psychology, face perception processes have been widely studied, examining traits and social categories that a face can communicate. However, much of this research has predominately focused on White faces. We review existing face databases that include racially diverse stimuli and note the lack of representation of Asian subgroups (e.g. East, South, and Southeast Asian), Pacific Islanders, as well as both Multiracial and multiethnic faces (especially with multiple minoritized backgrounds). We provide a new racially diverse set of free, standardized images including 140 unique faces representing eight different groups that vary in ethnicity and race (Asian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian, Hispanic/Latinx, White, Multiracial, and Multiracial Asian), along with norming data. These images and data are available for access use in research: https://osf.io/fkn7y [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the United States grows more racially diverse, it is imperative to understand whether being in a racially diverse environment impacts conversations about race. This study examines whether exposure to, and interactions with racially diverse others relate to whether people talk about race, the frequency with which people talk about race, and their comfort with doing so within the racially diverse context of Hawaii. We employed experience sampling to measure whether people had conversations about race, how frequently conversations about race occurred and their comfort in those conversations, and whether their exposure to and interactions with racially diverse others predicted these behaviors. Exposure to and interactions with racially diverse others were not significant predictors of race-related conversations (and their comfort with said conversations). However, interactions with racially diverse friends was related to greater likelihood of discussing race, more frequent discussions of race, and more comfort with race-related conversations. These findings illustrate the importance that interactions with cross-race friends have for improving intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past work on Black and Latinx individuals demonstrates that observers can accurately predict an individual's racial identity strength based on the observers' perceptions of the individual's phenotypic prototypicality (how much someone looks like a prototypical member of their racial group). However, the growing Biracial demographic varies considerably in racial identification, suggesting a monoracial approach to infer racial identity strength may not translate to Biracial individuals. In three studies, Biracial Black/White participants were photographed and completed a racial identity strength scale. Subsequently, we had raters judge the Biracial targets' phenotypic prototypicality and perceived levels racial identity strength. Overall, perceivers could not accurately predict Biracial individuals' racial identity strength via their phenotypic prototypicality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, research has primarily focused on the colorblind norms and behaviors of majority-White participants in majority-White contexts. Extending this work to more diverse samples and contexts, across four studies, we examine whether colorblind norms link to the colorblind behavior of racially diverse participants living in a racially diverse (i.e., heterogeneous) context. Findings suggest that participants living in a racially diverse context did not endorse colorblind beliefs (Study 1) and norms (Study 2), and instead behaved in race-conscious ways and overwhelmingly used race in a photo identification task. Furthermore, in Study 3, we find that colorblind norms are largely activated by the belief that talking about race is prejudiced. When participants were exposed to a social norm that linked talking about race to prejudice, colorblind behavior became more prevalent. Finally, in Study 4, we see that greater diversity of one's context is correlated to less endorsement of colorblindness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that multiracial individuals' racial identities are often questioned because their appearances are not prototypical of their racial groups. We examined whether social activism performed by a multiracial person may bolster perceptions of that person as a legitimate representative of the racial minority group. In Studies 1 and 2, participants in a voting paradigm voted for a multiracial over a monoracial candidate if the candidate displayed social activism. In addition, Study 3 found that candidates who displayed social activism, rather than a generic racially prototypical behavior, were seen as more electable and representative of the association. Overall, our findings illuminate the power of social activism to alter perceptions of how representative multiracial individuals are of their racial minority groups.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The interaction between one's context and identity may be essential in understanding people's racial experiences. In this study, we examined 2 contexts (racially diverse vs. homogenously White) and measured the experiences of discrimination and microaggressions for monoracial people of color (POC), multiracial individuals, and White individuals. Additionally, we measured experience of microaggressions with a new scale that measured instances of multiracial-specific microaggressions, and the offensiveness of these microaggressions. Method and Results: Through a self-reported survey, monoracial POC, multiracial individuals, and White individuals across the United States reported their experiences with discrimination and microaggressions, and offensiveness of multiracial-specific microaggressions. Overall, monoracial POC and multiracial individuals reported experiencing less discrimination and microaggressions in diverse contexts versus homogenous contexts. White individuals reported the lowest amounts of discrimination and microaggressions, which did not differ across contexts. Conclusions: Living in a racially diverse context may have positive benefits for racial minorities, and White individuals do not necessarily experience greater instances of discrimination or microaggressions in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In five experiments, we investigated how Black participants perceive Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles on Black and White targets. Results consistently demonstrated that when assessing happiness, faces with Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles were rated as happier on both Black and White targets. However, when assessing a more socially evaluative dimension, trustworthiness, perceptions of Black and White targets diverged. Whereas White targets with Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles were rated as more trustworthy, ratings of Black targets with Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles did not differ, with both appraised as highly trustworthy. Although the degree to which Black participants identified with their race did not moderate these effects, the perceived genuineness of targets did mediate the relationship. One reason why Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles on White but not Black targets were perceived as more trustworthy is because Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles on White but not Black targets were perceived as more genuine. A final study extended these findings by exploring the impact of target race and smile type on partner choice. In accordance with the results related to trustworthiness ratings, Black participants selected White partners with Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles more often but did not differentiate in their choice of Black partners with Duchenne versus non-Duchenne smiles. These findings underscore the importance of investigating not only diverse targets but also diverse perceivers. Our results suggest that Black perceivers use facial cues differently when rating the trustworthiness of Black and White targets and that these perceptions have important downstream consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).