Racial Stereotypes and Interracial Attraction: Phenotypic Prototypicality and Perceived Attractiveness of Asians (original) (raw)
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The idea that mixed race individuals are physically attractive is a commonly accepted stereotype. Past research in which whites (Australians and British) and Asians (Japanese) were asked to rate the attractiveness of a racially heterogeneous group of faces has shown that mixed race phenotype was judged the most attractive. In this study, I examine whether there is empirical evidence for this Biracial Beauty Stereotype in the United States. Using the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, I examine self and interview ratings of respondents’ physical attractiveness and, in an extension of the previous literature, conduct multinomial logistic regressions to ascertain whether level of attractiveness is associated with different racial identification choices for mixed race individuals. My results indicate that there is in fact a belief in mixed race individuals’ superior beauty in America; but, with regard to identity, beauty is not associated with identity for all mixed race groups.
Asian American Male College Students' Perceptions of People's Stereotypes About Asian American Men
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Although Asian American men are a heterogeneous group with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, they are frequently depicted in rigid, stereotypical ways that assume few differences exist among them. Guided by social identity theory, the purpose of this study was to examine 158 Asian American male college students' perceptions of people's stereotypes about Asian American men. Based on a discoveryoriented exploratory analysis of participants' open-ended responses, the following categories of perceived stereotypes about Asian American men were identified: (a) interpersonal deficits, (b) intelligence, (c) intense diligence, (d) unflattering physical attributes, (e) physical ability distortions, (f) perpetual foreigner, and (g) sexual/ romantic inadequacies. Next, a latent class cluster analysis was conducted to identify meaningful clusters of participants based on the foregoing categories of perceived stereotypes. The results revealed three clusters of participants; these clusters were labeled Body-Mind Stereotypes, Nerd Stereotypes, and Outsider Stereotypes. Participants in the Outsider Stereotypes cluster reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than those in the other two clusters, whereas those in the Nerd Stereotypes cluster reported the lowest levels of interdependent self-construal. These findings are discussed in terms of practical implications for addressing the deleterious nature of stereotypes about Asian American men.
Race is gendered: How covarying phenotypes and stereotypes bias sex categorization.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012
We argue that race and sex categories are psychologically and phenotypically confounded, affecting social categorizations and their efficiency. Sex categorization of faces was facilitated when the race category shared facial phenotypes or stereotypes with the correct sex category (e.g., Asian women and Black men) but was impaired when the race category shared incompatible phenotypes or stereotypes with the correct sex category (e.g., Asian men and Black women). These patterns were evident in the disambiguation of androgynous faces (Study 1) and the efficiency of judgments (Studies 1, 2, 4, and 5). These patterns emerged due to common facial phenotypes for the categories Black and men (Studies 3 and 5) and due to shared stereotypes among the categories Black and men and the categories Asian and women (Studies 4 and 5). These findings challenge the notion that social categories are perceived independent of one another and show, instead, that race is gendered.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1995
The consistency of physical attractiveness ratings across cultural groups was examined. In Study 1, recently arrived native Asian and Hispanic students and White Americans rated the attractiveness of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and White photographed women. The mean correlation between groups in attractiveness ratings was r = .93. Asians, Hispanics, and Whites were equally influenced by many facial features', but Asians were less influenced by some sexual maturity and expressive features. In Study 2, Taiwanese attractiveness ratings correlated with prior Asian, Hispanic, and American ratings, mean r = .91. Supporting Study 1, the Taiwanese also were less positively influenced by certain sexual maturity and expressive features. Exposure to Western media did not influence attractiveness ratings in either study. In Study 3, Black and White American men rated the attractiveness of Black female facial photos and body types. Mean facial attractiveness ratings were highly correlated (r = .94), but as predicted Blacks and Whites varied in judging bodies.
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Previous research reveals that a more 'African' appearance has significant social consequences, yielding more negative first impressions and harsher criminal sentencing of Black or White individuals. This study is the first to systematically assess the relative contribution of skin tone and facial metrics to White, Black, and Korean perceivers' ratings of the racial prototypicality of faces from the same three groups. Our results revealed that the relative contribution of metrics and skin tone depended on both perceiver race and face race. White perceivers' racial prototypicality ratings were less responsive to variations in skin tone than were Black or Korean perceivers' ratings. White perceivers ratings' also were more responsive to facial metrics than to skin tone, while the reverse was true for Black perceivers. Additionally, across all perceiver groups, skin tone had a more consistent impact than metrics on racial prototypicality ratings of White faces, with the reverse for Korean faces. For Black faces, the relative impact varied with perceiver race: skin tone had a more consistent impact than metrics for Black and Korean perceivers, with the reverse for White perceivers. These results have significant implications for predicting who will experience racial prototypicality biases and from whom.
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Stereotypes often guide interracial interactions—both the stereotypes we hold about others, and the stereotypes we believe others hold about us (i.e., meta-stereotypes). In Black-White interactions, the stereotype that Whites are prejudiced is one of the most salient, but does this stereotype vary by gender? White women tend to express more positive racial attitudes than White men, and stereotypes of Whites overlap more with stereotypes about men than with stereotypes about women. Thus, we hypothesized that both prejudice-related meta-stereotypes and stereotypes differ by gender. In Study 1, Whites reported that White men are seen as more prejudiced than White women. Studies 2a and 2b measured Blacks’ perspectives, finding that Blacks also reported that White men are seen as more prejudiced than White women. Together, these findings highlight the importance of considering gender to develop a more nuanced understanding of race-related stereotypes, meta-stereotypes, and interracial interactions.
Attractiveness of Own-Race, Other-Race, and Mixed-Race Faces
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Averaged face composites, which represent the central tendency of a familiar population of faces, are attractive. If this prototypicality contributes to their appeal, then averaged composites should be more attractive when their component faces come from a familiar, own-race population than when they come from a less familiar, other-race population. We compared the attractiveness of own-race composites, other-race composites, and mixed-race composites (where the component faces were from both races). In experiment 1, Caucasian participants rated own-race composites as more attractive than other-race composites, but only for male faces. However, mixed-race (Caucasian/Japanese) composites were significantly more attractive than own-race composites, particularly for the opposite sex. In experiment 2, Caucasian and Japanese participants living in Australia and Japan, respectively, selected the most attractive face from a continuum with exaggerated Caucasian characteristics at one end an...
Perceived Masculinity: The Potential Influence of Race, Racial Essentialist Beliefs, and Stereotypes
This study addressed racial differences in perceived masculinity, defined as people's perceptions about how masculine a group of people is. College students (N 250; the majority were White American women) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions to provide their reactions to 1 of the following target groups: Asian American men, Black American men, or White American men. Participants perceived Asian American men as less masculine than Black and White American men and Black American men as the most masculine group. A qualitative analysis of participants' open-ended responses concerning their stereotypes of the 3 target groups of men identified the following stereotypes categories: interper-sonal qualities, physical attributes, physical/athletic abilities, aggression, professional success, diligence, musical abilities, foreigner, normalcy, discrimination, and sexual/romantic abilities. In addition, partic-ipants' endorsement of 8 of these 11 stereotypes varied as a function of the target group's race. Stereotypes about men's physical attributes and physical/athletic abilities mediated racial differences in perceived masculinity. Moreover, a moderation analysis showed that racial differences in perceived masculinity were most pronounced among participants with high levels of racial essentialist beliefs. Finally, a mediated moderation analysis indicated that the link between the condition by racial essentialist beliefs interaction effect and perceived masculinity was mediated through its association with stereotypes concerning physical/athletic abilities. Implications of these findings for the psychology of men of color are discussed.