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Perception 2015Adults recognize own-race faces more accurately than other-race faces. We investigated three characteristics of laboratory investigations hypothesized to minimize the...
Adults recognize own-race faces more accurately than other-race faces. We investigated three characteristics of laboratory investigations hypothesized to minimize the magnitude of the own-race recognition advantage (ORA): lack of competition for attention and instructions that emphasize individuating faces during the study phase, and a lack of uncertainty during the test phase. Across two experiments, participants studied faces individually, in arrays comprising multiple faces and household objects, or in naturalistic scenes (presented on an eye-tracker); they were instructed to remember everything, memorize faces, or form impressions ofpeople. They then completed one of two recognition tasks--an old/new recognition task or a lineup recognition task. Task instructions influenced time spent looking at faces but not the allocation of attention to own- versus other-race faces. The magnitude of the ORA was independent of both task instructions and test protocol, with some modulation by how faces were presented in the study phase. We discuss these results in light of current theories of the ORA.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Face; Female; Humans; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Racial Groups; Recognition, Psychology; Social Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 26489216
DOI: 10.1068/p7892 -
Child Abuse & Neglect Dec 2018Black and poor children are overrepresented at every stage of the child welfare system, from suspicion of abuse to substantiation. Focusing on stereotypes as a source of... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Black and poor children are overrepresented at every stage of the child welfare system, from suspicion of abuse to substantiation. Focusing on stereotypes as a source of bias that leads to these disparities, the current study examines the content and strength of stereotypes relating race and social class to child abuse as viewed by medical professionals. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals (Study 1: N = 53; Study 2: N = 40) were recruited in local hospitals and online through snowball sampling. Study 1 identified stereotype content by asking participants to list words associated with the stereotype that either (a) Black or (b) poor children are more likely to be abused by their parents, and responses were organized into construct groups. Study 2 determined stereotype strength by asking participants to rate how strongly the constructs generated in Study 1 related to either the race-abuse or social class-abuse stereotype. The content of stereotypes linking child abuse to Black or poor children are confounded, with approximately half the constructs shared by both stereotypes. Of the 10 shared constructs, only "Stressed" and "Neglect" differed in strength, with both significantly more strongly related to the social class-abuse than race-abuse stereotype, all ts(36-37) ≤ -2.23, ps ≤ .03, Cohen's ds ≥ .71. This research documents the existence, content, and strength of stereotypes that link race and social class to child abuse. These stereotypes have the potential to lead to medical misdiagnosis of abuse for Black and poor children.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Attitude of Health Personnel; Child; Child Abuse; Child Welfare; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Parents; Racial Groups; Social Class; Stereotyping; United States; Young Adult
PubMed: 30359821
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.10.006 -
History and Philosophy of the Life... 2011This paper offers both a criticism of and a novel alternative perspective on current ontologies that take race to be something that is either static and wholly evident...
This paper offers both a criticism of and a novel alternative perspective on current ontologies that take race to be something that is either static and wholly evident at one's birth or preformed prior to it. In it I survey and critically assess six of the most popular conceptions of race, concluding with an outline of my own suggestion for an alternative account. I suggest that race can be best understood in terms of one's experience of his or her body, one's interactions with other individuals, and one's experiences within particular cultures and societies. This embeddedness of human experience has been left out of most discussions of race which tie race to a set of characteristics (either biologically or sociologically defined). To rectify this omission, I articulate what I call the "physiosocial" view of race. This emphasizes the situatedness of human experience, the reciprocal and dynamic nature of the racial identities of individuals and groups. Approaching racial identity in this way entails a union of two historically uncomfortable partners: biological and sociological conceptions of race. If successful, this philosophical stance may illuminate the process of racial self-ascription as well as provide an explanation for the potential changeability of an individual's racial identity at different times and at different places.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Genetics, Population; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Philosophy; Racial Groups; Sociology
PubMed: 22288335
DOI: No ID Found -
Cognition & Emotion 2013There is currently substantial literature to suggest that facial emotion recognition is impaired when other-race or inverted faces are presented. This study examined...
There is currently substantial literature to suggest that facial emotion recognition is impaired when other-race or inverted faces are presented. This study examined circumplex structures for recognising facial emotions under these conditions, directly measured those structures using a fractal dimension, and examined the difference between fractal dimensions. Results established that emotion ratings for the emotion prototypes used were sufficiently accurate under all conditions. Fractal analyses showed that the fractal dimensions of the circumplexes were significantly higher for recognition of facial emotions in other races than in one's own when the faces were presented upright; the fractal dimensions of the circumplexes were also higher for recognition of emotions in inverted faces than in upright faces in the own-race condition. The results suggest that a lower level of facial emotion recognition is associated with higher fractal dimension and that an increase of fractal dimension may be characterised by lack of facial familiarity.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Emotions; Facial Expression; Female; Fractals; Humans; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; Racial Groups; Recognition, Psychology
PubMed: 22992194
DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2012.725655 -
American Journal of Public Health Jan 2011Today, US government sources inform us that Native Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics/Latinos run the greatest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. One hundred years ago,...
Today, US government sources inform us that Native Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics/Latinos run the greatest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. One hundred years ago, however, Jews were thought to be the population most likely to develop this disease. I evaluated the evidence that the medical and public health communities provided to support the purported link between diabetes and Jews. Diabetes was conceptualized as a Jewish disease not necessarily because its prevalence was high among this population, but because medicine, science, and culture reinforced each other, helping to construct narratives that made sense at the time. Contemporary narratives are as problematic as the erstwhile depiction of diabetes as a disease of Jews.
Topics: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Epidemiology; History, 20th Century; Humans; Jews; Racial Groups; Stereotyping; United States
PubMed: 21148711
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.202564 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Aug 2013In the current study, we investigated how complete infant deprivation to out-group race impacts behavioral and neural sensitivity to race. Although monkey models have...
In the current study, we investigated how complete infant deprivation to out-group race impacts behavioral and neural sensitivity to race. Although monkey models have successfully achieved complete face deprivation in early life, this is typically impossible in human studies. We overcame this barrier by examining youths with exclusively homogenous racial experience in early postnatal development. These were youths raised in orphanage care in either East Asia or Eastern Europe as infants and later adopted by American families. The use of international adoption bolsters confidence of infant exposure to race (e.g., to solely Asian faces or European faces). Participants completed an emotional matching task during functional MRI. Our findings show that deprivation to other-race faces in infancy disrupts recognition of emotion and results in heightened amygdala response to out-group faces. Greater early deprivation (i.e., later age of adoption) is associated with greater biases to race. These data demonstrate how early social deprivation to race shapes amygdala function later in life and provides support that early postnatal development may represent a sensitive period for race perception.
Topics: Adolescent; Adoption; Amygdala; Brain Mapping; Child; Emotions; Female; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Infant; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Racial Groups
PubMed: 23946406
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1272-13.2013 -
JAMA Network Open Jul 2020Racial bias is associated with the allocation of advanced heart failure therapies, heart transplants, and ventricular assist devices. It is unknown whether gender and...
IMPORTANCE
Racial bias is associated with the allocation of advanced heart failure therapies, heart transplants, and ventricular assist devices. It is unknown whether gender and racial biases are associated with the allocation of advanced therapies among women.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the intersection of patient gender and race is associated with the decision-making of clinicians during the allocation of advanced heart failure therapies.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
In this qualitative study, 46 US clinicians attending a conference for an international heart transplant organization in April 2019 were interviewed on the allocation of advanced heart failure therapies. Participants were randomized to examine clinical vignettes that varied 1:1 by patient race (African American to white) and 20:3 by gender (women to men) to purposefully target vignettes of women patients to compare with a prior study of vignettes of men patients. Participants were interviewed about their decision-making process using the think-aloud technique and provided supplemental surveys. Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory methodology, and surveys were analyzed with Wilcoxon tests.
EXPOSURE
Randomization to clinical vignettes.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Thematic differences in allocation of advanced therapies by patient race and gender.
RESULTS
Among 46 participants (24 [52%] women, 20 [43%] racial minority), participants were randomized to the vignette of a white woman (20 participants [43%]), an African American woman (20 participants [43%]), a white man (3 participants [7%]), and an African American man (3 participants [7%]). Allocation differences centered on 5 themes. First, clinicians critiqued the appearance of the women more harshly than the men as part of their overall impressions. Second, the African American man was perceived as experiencing more severe illness than individuals from other racial and gender groups. Third, there was more concern regarding appropriateness of prior care of the African American woman compared with the white woman. Fourth, there were greater concerns about adequacy of social support for the women than for the men. Children were perceived as liabilities for women, particularly the African American woman. Family dynamics and finances were perceived to be greater concerns for the African American woman than for individuals in the other vignettes; spouses were deemed inadequate support for women. Last, participants recommended ventricular assist devices over transplantation for all racial and gender groups. Surveys revealed no statistically significant differences in allocation recommendations for African American and white women patients.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
This national study of health care professionals randomized to clinical vignettes that varied only by gender and race found evidence of gender and race bias in the decision-making process for offering advanced therapies for heart failure, particularly for African American women patients, who were judged more harshly by appearance and adequacy of social support. There was no associated between patient gender and race and final recommendations for allocation of advanced therapies. However, it is possible that bias may contribute to delayed allocation and ultimately inequity in the allocation of advanced therapies in a clinical setting.
Topics: Adult; Female; Healthcare Disparities; Heart Failure; Heart Transplantation; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Qualitative Research; Racial Groups; Resource Allocation; Sexism; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 32692370
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.11044 -
Prenatal Diagnosis Apr 2021The birth prevalence of each common autosomal trisomy (21, 18 and 13) increases with advancing maternal age and this is the most important epidemiological risk factor.... (Review)
Review
The birth prevalence of each common autosomal trisomy (21, 18 and 13) increases with advancing maternal age and this is the most important epidemiological risk factor. Prevalence during pregnancy is also dependent on gestational age. Other factors claimed to influence prevalence include paternal age, ethnicity, family history, premature reproductive aging, parity, twinning, smoking, environmental exposures, maternal medical conditions, and predispositions. We review the evidence for these associations since they may provide insights into causal mechanisms. When investigating potential co-factors it is important to adequately allow for maternal age and minimize its confounding contribution. This is well illustrated by reports of an inverse paternal age effect where there is strong correlation between parental ages. Gestational age at diagnosis, availability of prenatal screening, diagnostic testing, and elective termination of affected pregnancies and healthcare disparities also confound the studies on ethnicity, medical conditions, and predispositions or environmental factors. Data from twin zygosity studies demonstrate the importance of differences in fetal viability for affected pregnancies. We conclude that existing epidemiological evidence for most of the co-factors discussed should currently be considered tenuous; history of Down syndrome, albeit biased, may be an exception. The co-factors may yet provide clues to hitherto poorly understood causal pathways.
Topics: Adult; Chromosome Disorders; Female; Gestational Age; Humans; Parity; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Racial Groups
PubMed: 32895968
DOI: 10.1002/pd.5822 -
Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Apr 2018The reported experiment investigated memory of unfamiliar faces and how it is influenced by race, facial expression, direction of gaze and observers' level of social...
The reported experiment investigated memory of unfamiliar faces and how it is influenced by race, facial expression, direction of gaze and observers' level of social anxiety. In total, 87 Japanese participants initially memorized images of Oriental and Caucasian faces displaying either happy or angry expressions with direct or averted gaze. They then saw the previously seen faces and additional distractor faces displaying neutral expressions and judged whether they had seen them before. Their level of social anxiety was measured with a questionnaire. Regardless of gaze or race of the faces, recognition for faces studied with happy expressions was more accurate than for those studied with angry expressions (happiness advantage), but this tendency weakened for people with higher levels of social anxiety, possibly due to their increased anxiety for positive feedback regarding social interactions. Interestingly, the reduction in the happiness advantage observed for the highly anxious participants was more prominent for the own-race faces than for the other-race faces. The results suggest that angry expression disrupts processing of identity-relevant features of the faces, but the memory for happy faces is affected by the social anxiety traits, and the magnitude of the impact may depend on the importance of the face.
Topics: Emotions; Facial Expression; Facial Recognition; Female; Humans; Male; Photic Stimulation; Racial Groups; Reaction Time; Recognition, Psychology; Statistics, Nonparametric
PubMed: 28292217
DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2017.1307431 -
Journal of General Internal Medicine Nov 2009Promoting racial/ethnic diversity within the physician workforce is a national priority. However, the extent of racial/ethnic discrimination reported by physicians from... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
BACKGROUND
Promoting racial/ethnic diversity within the physician workforce is a national priority. However, the extent of racial/ethnic discrimination reported by physicians from diverse backgrounds in today's health-care workplace is unknown.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of physician experiences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination at work and to explore physician views about race and discussions regarding race/ethnicity in the workplace.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional, national survey conducted in 2006-2007.
PARTICIPANTS
Practicing physicians (total n = 529) from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in the United States.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
We examined physicians' experience of racial/ethnic discrimination over their career course, their experience of discrimination in their current work setting, and their views about race/ethnicity and discrimination at work. The proportion of physicians who reported that they had experienced racial/ethnic discrimination "sometimes, often, or very often" during their medical career was substantial among non-majority physicians (71% of black physicians, 45% of Asian physicians, 63% of "other" race physicians, and 27% of Hispanic/Latino(a) physicians, compared with 7% of white physicians, all p < 0.05). Similarly, the proportion of non-majority physicians who reported that they experienced discrimination in their current work setting was substantial (59% of black, 39% of Asian, 35% of "other" race, 24% of Hispanic/Latino(a) physicians, and 21% of white physicians). Physician views about the role of race/ethnicity at work varied significantly by respondent race/ethnicity.
CONCLUSIONS
Many non-majority physicians report experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination in the workplace. Opportunities exist for health-care organizations and diverse physicians to work together to improve the climate of perceived discrimination where they work.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cultural Diversity; Ethnicity; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Physicians; Prejudice; Racial Groups; United States; Workplace
PubMed: 19727966
DOI: 10.1007/s11606-009-1103-9