Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, 140 Decatur Street SE, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA.
Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Mem Cognit. 2024 Jan;52(1):146-162. doi: 10.3758/s13421-023-01451-1. Epub 2023 Aug 28.
Prior research regarding the influence of face structure on character judgments and first impressions reveals that bias for certain face-types is ubiquitous, but these studies primarily used decontextualized White faces for stimuli. Given the disadvantages Black men face in the legal system, this study aimed to investigate whether the criminal face-type presented in the context of crime influenced different legal system-type judgments as a function of perpetrator race. In a mixed-model design, participants saw Black and White computer-generated faces that varied in criminality presented with either violent or nonviolent crime scenarios. At test, participants attempted to identify the original perpetrator from a photo array, along with providing penalty severity judgments for the crime committed. Results indicate that when crimes were violent, participants meted harsher penalties overall to Black faces or to high-criminality faces identified as the perpetrator. Furthermore, for violent crimes, participants were more likely to select a face from the photo array that was higher/equally as high in criminality rating relative to the actual perpetrator when memory failed or when the perpetrator was Black. Overall, the findings suggest that when people are making judgments that could influence another's livelihood, they may rely heavily on facial cues to criminality and the nature of the crime; and this is especially the case for Black faces presented in the context of violent crime. The pattern of results provides further support for the pervasive stereotype of Black men as criminal, even in our racially diverse sample wherein 36% identified as Black.
先前有关面部结构对性格判断和第一印象影响的研究表明，对某些脸型的偏见是普遍存在的，但这些研究主要使用非语境化的白人面孔作为刺激物。考虑到黑人男性在法律体系中面临的劣势，本研究旨在调查在犯罪背景下呈现的犯罪面孔是否会影响不同法律体系类型的判断，这是犯罪者种族的函数。在混合模型设计中，参与者看到了不同犯罪程度的黑人面孔和白人电脑生成的面孔，这些面孔呈现的是暴力或非暴力犯罪场景。在测试中，参与者试图从照片数组中识别出原始犯罪者，并对所犯罪行进行判处罚金的严重程度判断。结果表明，当犯罪是暴力的时，参与者总体上对黑人面孔或被认定为犯罪者的高犯罪面孔判处更严厉的刑罚。此外，对于暴力犯罪，当记忆失败或犯罪者是黑人时，参与者更有可能从照片数组中选择一个犯罪程度评分高于/等于实际犯罪者的面孔。总的来说，这些发现表明，当人们做出可能影响他人生计的判断时，他们可能会严重依赖面部线索来判断犯罪和犯罪的性质；而对于在暴力犯罪背景下呈现的黑人面孔，这种情况尤其如此。研究结果进一步支持了黑人男性普遍被视为罪犯的刻板印象，即使在我们的种族多样化样本中，有 36%的人认为自己是黑人。
