Priming Race in Biracial Observers Affects Visual Search for Black and White Faces

Priming Race in Biracial Observers Affects Visual Search for Black and White Faces

Psychological Science
Volume 17, Number 5 (2006)
Pages 387-392

Joan Y. Chiao, Assistant Professor of Brain, Behavior, and Cognition; Social Psychology
Northwestern University

Hannah E. Heck
Harvard University

Ken Nakayama, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology
Harvard University

Nalini Ambady, Professor and Neubauer Faculty Fellow
Tufts University

We examined whether or not priming racial identity would influence Black-White biracial individuals’ ability to visually search for White and Black faces. Black, White, and biracial participants performed a visual search task in which the targets were Black or White faces. Before the task, the biracial participants were primed with either their Black or their White racial identity. All participant groups detected Black faces faster than White faces. Critically, the results also showed a racial-prime effect in biracial individuals: The magnitude of the search asymmetry was significantly different for those primed with their White identity and those primed with their Black identity. These findings suggest that topdown factors such as one’s racial identity can influence mechanisms underlying the visual search for faces of different races.

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