The Effect of Stereotype Priming on the Other-Race Effect
Julia E. Misak
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
First-Place Erlbaum Award Winner (Undergraduate)
Faculty Sponsor: Melinda C. R. Burgess, PhD

The other-race effect, where people recognize own-race faces better than other-race faces, has defied accepted psychological explanations for over 30 years. This research utilized stereotype priming methodology to investigate how stereotypes influence other-race facial recognition. These results suggest that other-race facial recognition is a function of stereotypes, albeit in a counterintuitive direction. When students are told prior to encoding other-race faces that many people believe other-race faces to all look alike, they recognize other-race faces as accurately as own-race faces.