Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/35651
Appears in Collections:Psychology Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Social Class Perception Is Driven by Stereotype-Related Facial Features
Author(s): Bjornsdottir, R Thora
Hensel, Laura B
Zhan, Jiayu
Garrod, Oliver G B
Schyns, Philippe G
Jack, Rachael E
Contact Email: thora.bjornsdottir@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: social class
facial features
person perception
reverse correlation
stereotypes
Issue Date: Mar-2024
Date Deposited: 8-Dec-2023
Citation: Bjornsdottir RT, Hensel LB, Zhan J, Garrod OGB, Schyns PG & Jack RE (2024) Social Class Perception Is Driven by Stereotype-Related Facial Features. <i>Journal of Experimental Psychology: General</i>, 153 (3), pp. 742-753. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001519
Abstract: Social class is a powerful hierarchy that determines many privileges and disadvantages. People form impressions of others’ social class (like other important social attributes) from facial appearance, and these impressions correlate with stereotype judgments. However, what drives these related subjective judgments remains unknown. That is, what makes someone look like they are of higher or lower social class standing (e.g., rich or poor) and how does this relate to harmful or advantageous stereotypes? We addressed this question using a perception-based data-driven method to model the specific 3D facial features that drive social class judgments and compared them to those of stereotype-related judgments (competence, warmth, dominance, trustworthiness), based on White Western culture participants and face stimuli. Using a complementary data-reduction analysis and machine learning approach, we show that social class judgments are driven by a unique constellation of facial features that reflect multiple embedded stereotypes: poor-looking (vs. rich-looking) faces are wider, shorter, and flatter with downturned mouths and darker, cooler complexions, mirroring features of incompetent, cold, and untrustworthy-looking (vs. competent, warm, and trustworthy-looking) faces. Our results reveal the specific facial features that underlie the connection between impressions of social class and stereotype-related social traits, with implications for central social perception theories, including understanding the causal links between stereotype knowledge and social class judgments. We anticipate that our results will inform future interventions designed to interrupt biased perception and social inequalities.
DOI Link: 10.1037/xge0001519
Rights: ©American Psychological Association, 2023. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001519
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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