title: The allure of status: high-status targets are privileged in face processing and memory.
abstract: The current research tests the hypothesis that face processing is attuned to high-status faces. Across three experiments, faces of high-status targets were better recognized than faces of low-status targets. In Experiment 2, this memory advantage for high-status targets also extended to an attentional bias toward high-status targets and to stronger sociospatial memory (identity-location link) for high-status targets. Finally, Experiment 3 finds that high-status faces received more expert-style holistic processing than did low-status faces. This suggests that high-status faces also benefit more from the strategic deployment of expert face processing resources than low-status faces. Taken together, these data indicate that perceivers strategically allocate face processing resources to targets perceived to be high in status.
authors: Penn State University, State College, PA, USA.
authors: Nathaniel J
authors: NJ
authors: Ratcliff
authors: Kurt
authors: K
authors: Hugenberg
authors: Edwin R
authors: ER
authors: Shriver
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Bernstein