title: Facial structure is indicative of explicit support for prejudicial beliefs.
abstract: We present three studies examining whether male facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is correlated with racial prejudice and whether observers are sensitive to fWHR when assessing prejudice in other people. Our results indicate that males with a greater fWHR are more likely to explicitly endorse racially prejudicial beliefs, though fWHR was unrelated to implicit bias. Participants evaluated targets with a greater fWHR as more likely to be prejudiced and accurately evaluated the degree to which targets reported prejudicial attitudes. Finally, compared with majority-group members, racial-minority participants reported greater motivation to accurately evaluate prejudice. This motivation mediated the relationship between minority- or majority-group membership and the accuracy of evaluations of prejudice, which indicates that motivation augments sensitivity to fWHR. Together, the results of these three studies demonstrate that fWHR is a reliable indicator of explicitly endorsed racial prejudice and that observers can use fWHR to accurately assess another person's explicit prejudice.
authors: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, 6207 Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. eric.hehman@dartmouth.edu
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Hehman
authors: Jordan B
authors: JB
authors: Leitner
authors: Matthew P
authors: MP
authors: Deegan
authors: Samuel L
authors: SL
authors: Gaertner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D063505:Racism / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult