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Are you in or are you out? The importance of group saliency in own-group biases in face recognition

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Version 2 2023-06-12, 09:32
Version 1 2023-06-09, 21:49
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posted on 2023-06-12, 09:32 authored by V Harrison, Graham Hole, Ruth Habibi
Previous research has demonstrated several own-group biases (OGBs) in face recognition, but why they occur is unclear. Social–cognitive accounts suggest they stem from differential attention and facial processing, following the categorisation of a face as belonging to an “in” or “out” group. Three studies explored whether OGBs can be produced by mere categorisation at encoding and investigated the role of in-group membership saliency on face recognition. Participants saw 40 facial images fictionally grouped according to in-/out-group status. Studies 1 and 2 used university membership as the grouping variable and found no evidence of an OGB, and no relationship between OGB magnitude and salience of group membership. Study 3 used the same design as Study 2, but with a highly salient group characteristic: participants’ stance on the U.K. Referendum (i.e., whether they were “Leave” or “Remain” supporters). In this case, an asymmetrical OGB was found, with only Remain voters demonstrating an OGB. Furthermore, a relationship between OGB magnitude and attitude toward the Referendum result was found. Overall, our results suggest that social categorisation and membership saliency alone may not be enough to moderate in- and out-group face recognition. However, when sufficiently polarised groups are used as in-/out-group categories, OGBs may occur.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Perception

ISSN

0301-0066

Publisher

Pion

Issue

6

Volume

49

Page range

672-687

Event location

United States

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-10-09

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-10-09

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-10-08

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