Race Signaling Features: Identifying Markers of Racial Prototypicality among Asians, Blacks, Latinos, and Whites

Abstract

Racial prototypicality informs categorization and profoundly influences stereotyping and evaluative judgments. Although previous research has examined the physical facial features that correspond with racial prototypicality in Blacks and Whites, little research has investigated the features that predict prototypicality among Asians and Latinos. Using a large database of facial stimuli that included Asian, Black, Latino, and White faces, we modeled physical measures of the faces to identify features that influence subjective judgments of prototypicality for each of these groups with three different exploratory strategies. Our research provides a critical extension of previous research by including Asians and Latinos and seeks to test the replicability of the existing research on this topic for Blacks and Whites.