Class
Article
Department
Psychology Department
Faculty Mentor
Jennifer Grewe
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Since January 1st, 2015, 119 unarmed Black males have been shot and killed by police (Washington Post, 2020). Anger race bias is the tendency to misidentify expressions of emotion, specifically anger, in Black or racially ambiguous faces (Hutchings & Haddock, 2008). Anger race bias and misidentification of expressions of emotion contribute to police perceiving Black suspects to be more hostile and dangerous than White suspects, and unarmed minorities are twice as likely as their white counterparts to be shot by police (Nix et al., 2017). Hutchings & Haddock (2008) found that Black faces are more likely to be perceived as angry by people high in implicit bias. Expressions of emotion are primarily used as universal social cues that help individuals determine how to react in different situations (Marsh et al., 2005). For example, Marsh et al. (2005) found that while expressions of fear imply approachability, expressions of anger imply hostility. When police officers perceive a threat, they are more likely to shoot, and mistaking expressions such as fear for anger causes the perception of increased threat that can lead to inaccurate responses such as excessive force (Correll et al., 2010). Accurate perception of emotion, therefore, is necessary in order to react correctly. The purpose of this study is to investigate if anger race bias can be reduced through emotion identification training. The current study will use photos of faces from the Chicago Face Database to train participants on the emotions of neutral, fear, and anger. Participants will identify emotions on a series of Black, White, and Asian faces on pre- and post-test measures. We hypothesize that by training participants to recognize emotions that anger race bias will be reduced. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 3-4 p.m.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-10-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Reducing Anger Race Bias Through Emotion Recognition Training: A Proposal
Logan, UT
Since January 1st, 2015, 119 unarmed Black males have been shot and killed by police (Washington Post, 2020). Anger race bias is the tendency to misidentify expressions of emotion, specifically anger, in Black or racially ambiguous faces (Hutchings & Haddock, 2008). Anger race bias and misidentification of expressions of emotion contribute to police perceiving Black suspects to be more hostile and dangerous than White suspects, and unarmed minorities are twice as likely as their white counterparts to be shot by police (Nix et al., 2017). Hutchings & Haddock (2008) found that Black faces are more likely to be perceived as angry by people high in implicit bias. Expressions of emotion are primarily used as universal social cues that help individuals determine how to react in different situations (Marsh et al., 2005). For example, Marsh et al. (2005) found that while expressions of fear imply approachability, expressions of anger imply hostility. When police officers perceive a threat, they are more likely to shoot, and mistaking expressions such as fear for anger causes the perception of increased threat that can lead to inaccurate responses such as excessive force (Correll et al., 2010). Accurate perception of emotion, therefore, is necessary in order to react correctly. The purpose of this study is to investigate if anger race bias can be reduced through emotion identification training. The current study will use photos of faces from the Chicago Face Database to train participants on the emotions of neutral, fear, and anger. Participants will identify emotions on a series of Black, White, and Asian faces on pre- and post-test measures. We hypothesize that by training participants to recognize emotions that anger race bias will be reduced. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 3-4 p.m.