African Americans' and Caucasian Americans' Recognition and Likability Responses to African American and Caucasian American Faces

Abstract

Female African American and Caucasian American participants were shown female faces of their own racial group and/or another racial group. In Experiment 1, participants saw either African American or Caucasian American faces; in Experiment 2, all participants saw faces of both races. Approximately half of the participants received instructions and forms for recognition responses, whereas the other half received instructions and forms for attraction responses. The attraction scores in Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an exposure effect when participants viewed Caucasian American faces but not when they viewed African American faces. There was no evidence of cross-racial bias in Experiment 1. Experiment 2 revealed some evidence of cross-racial bias, in the finding that Caucasian Americans performed more poorly and made more errors in recognition of African American faces than of Caucasian American faces.