scholarly journals Falling through the cracks: Modeling the formation of social category boundaries

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0247562
Author(s):  
Vicky Chuqiao Yang ◽  
Tamara van der Does ◽  
Henrik Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Skin Color ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
System Model ◽  
Joint Influence ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Racially Ambiguous ◽  
Continuous Attribute ◽  
Attribute Space ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Social categorizations divide people into “us” and “them”, often along continuous attributes such as political ideology or skin color. This division results in both positive consequences, such as a sense of community, and negative ones, such as group conflict. Further, individuals in the middle of the spectrum can fall through the cracks of this categorization process and are seen as out-group by individuals on either side of the spectrum, becoming inbetweeners. Here, we propose a quantitative, dynamical-system model that studies the joint influence of cognitive and social processes. We model where two social groups draw the boundaries between “us” and ‘them” on a continuous attribute. Our model predicts that both groups tend to draw a more restrictive boundary than the middle of the spectrum. As a result, each group sees the individuals in the middle of the attribute space as an out-group. We test this prediction using U.S. political survey data on how political independents are perceived by registered party members as well as existing experiments on the perception of racially ambiguous faces, and find support.

The neural basis of ideological differences in race categorization

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1822) ◽  
pp. 20200139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy R. Krosch ◽  
John T. Jost ◽  
Jay J. Van Bavel
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Mixed Race ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Racial Hierarchy ◽  
Racial Ambiguity ◽  
Subordinate Group ◽  
Group A ◽  
Racially Ambiguous ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Multiracial individuals are often categorized as members of their ‘socially subordinate’ racial group—a form of social discrimination termed hypodescent—with political conservatives more likely than liberals to show this bias. Although hypodescent has been linked to racial hierarchy preservation motives, it remains unclear how political ideology influences categorization: Do conservatives and liberals see, feel or think about mixed-race faces differently? Do they differ in sensitivity to Black prototypicality (i.e. skin tone darkness and Afrocentric features) or racial ambiguity (i.e. categorization difficulty) of Black/White mixed-race faces? To help answer these questions, we collected a politically diverse sample of White participants and had them categorize mixed-race faces as Black or White during functional neuroimaging. We found that conservatism was related to greater anterior insula activity to racially ambiguous faces, and this pattern of brain activation mediated conservatives' use of hypodescent. This demonstrates that conservatives' greater sensitivity to racial ambiguity (rather than Black prototypicality) gives rise to greater categorization of mixed-race individuals into the socially subordinate group and tentatively suggests that conservatives may differ from liberals in their affective reactions to mixed-race faces. Implications for the study of race categorization and political psychology are discussed. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms'.

Seeing Similarity or Distance?

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh Wilton ◽  
Diana T. Sanchez ◽  
Lisa Giamo
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Mixed Race ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Intergroup Perception ◽  
Intergroup Perceptions ◽  
Racially Ambiguous ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Biracial individuals threaten the distinctiveness of racial groups because they have mixed-race ancestry, but recent findings suggest that exposure to biracial-labeled, racially ambiguous faces may positively influence intergroup perception by reducing essentialist thinking among Whites ( Young, Sanchez, & Wilton, 2013 ). However, biracial exposure may not lead to positive intergroup perceptions for Whites who are highly racially identified and thus motivated to preserve the social distance between racial groups. We exposed Whites to racially ambiguous Asian/White biracial faces and measured the perceived similarity between Asians and Whites. We found that exposure to racially ambiguous, biracial-labeled targets may improve perceptions of intergroup similarity, but only for Whites who are less racially identified. Results are discussed in terms of motivated intergroup perception.

A Meta-Analytic Review of Hypodescent Patterns in Categorizing Multiracial and Racially Ambiguous Targets

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722094132
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Young ◽  
Diana T. Sanchez ◽  
Kristin Pauker ◽  
Sarah E. Gaither
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Racial Group ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
Subgroup Analyses ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
Binary Choices ◽  
Racially Ambiguous ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Research addressing the increasing multiracial population (i.e., identifying with two or more races) is rapidly expanding. This meta-analysis ( k = 55) examines categorization patterns consistent with hypodescent, or the tendency to categorize multiracial targets as their lower status racial group. Subgroup analyses suggest that operationalization of multiracial (e.g., presenting photos of racially ambiguous faces, or ancestry information sans picture), target gender, and categorization measurement (e.g., selecting from binary choices: Black or White; or multiple categorization options: Black, White, or multiracial) moderated categorization patterns. Operationalizing multiracial as ancestry, male targets, and measuring categorization with binary or multiple Likert-type scale outcomes supported hypodescent. However, categorizing multiracial targets as not their lower status racial group occurred for female targets or multiple categorization options. Evidence was mixed on whether perceiver and target race were related to categorization patterns. These results point to future directions for understanding categorization processes and multiracial perception.

On the ideology of hypodescent: Political conservatism predicts categorization of racially ambiguous faces as Black

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1196-1203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy R. Krosch ◽  
Leslie Berntsen ◽  
David M. Amodio ◽  
John T. Jost ◽  
Jay J. Van Bavel
Keyword(s):  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Racially Ambiguous ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Social Belonging Motivates Categorization of Racially Ambiguous Faces

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Gaither ◽  
Kristin Pauker ◽  
Michael L. Slepian ◽  
Samuel R. Sommers
Keyword(s):  
Social Belonging ◽  
Racially Ambiguous ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Race and Intersectionality in Study of the Minor Prophets

2021 ◽  
pp. 312-322
Author(s):  
Stacy Davis
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Skin Color ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Minor Prophets

Because race is a modern and problematic category, this essay focuses on ethnicity, as interpreted through the lense of intersectionalilty. Key texts in the Minor Prophets, particularly the oracles against the nations, reveal the connections among religion, politics, and skin color. Other nations must be destroyed or assimilated, but they cannot be allowed to exist independently. Differences in color, religious practices, and/or political ideology indicate the inferior nature of non-Israelites. After paying particular attention to the pre-exilic books of Amos, Hosea, Nahum, and Zephaniah and the postexilic books of Zechariah and Joel, the essay concludes that more analysis of prophetic ethnocentrism is needed.

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