Authors
Leor M Hackel, Christine E Looser, Jay J Van Bavel
Publication date
2014/5/1
Journal
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume
52
Pages
15-23
Publisher
Academic Press
Description
Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds and mental states in others occupies a central role in social interaction. In the current research, we present evidence that the human propensity for mind perception is bound by social group membership. Specifically, we show how identification with different social groups influences the threshold for mind perception. In three experiments, participants assessed a continuum of face morphs that ranged from human to doll faces. These faces were described as in-group or out-group members. Participants had higher (i.e., more stringent) thresholds for perceiving minds behind out-group faces, both in minimal (Experiment 1) and real-world groups (Experiment 2). In other words, out-group members required more humanness than in-group members to be perceived as having minds. This intergroup bias in mind perception was …
Total citations
20142015201620172018201920202021202220232024121816213025252028225