Gendered race: are infants’ face preferences guided by intersectionality of sex and race?

Frontiers in Psychology

Hojin I. Kim¹ 

关键词: sex and race categorization;    infant face preference;    social development;    social cognitive development;    sex differences;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01330

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

People occupy multiple social categories simultaneously (e.g., a White female), and this complex intersectionality affects fundamental aspects of social perception. Here, we examined the possibility that infant face processing may be susceptible to effects of intersectionality of sex and race. Three- and 10-month-old infants were shown a series of computer-generated face pairs (5 s each) that differed according to sex (Female or Male) or race (Asian, Black, or White). All possible combinations of face pairs were tested, and preferences were recorded with an eye tracker. Infants showed preferences for more feminine faces only when they were White, but we found no evidence that White or Asian faces were preferred even though they are relatively more feminized. These findings challenge the notions that infants’ social categories are processed independently of one another and that infants’ preferences for sex or race can be explained from mere exposure.

【 授权许可】

CC BY