Trustworthiness

Context (archaeology)

Cognitive psychology

Communication

Social perception

Neuroscience

Biology

Social psychology

Face (sociological concept)

Cognition

Encryption

Priming (agriculture)

Operating system

Computer science

Botany

Paleontology

Malleability

Big Five personality traits

Psychology

Face perception

Sociology

Stereotype (UML)

Perception

Personality

Social cognition

Ciphertext

Facial expression

Germination

Social science

Social Psychological and Personality Science

People automatically infer others’ personality (e.g., trustworthiness) based on facial appearance, and such facial stereotype biases predict real-world consequences across political, legal, and business domains. The present research tested whether these biases can be mitigated through counterstereotype training aimed at reconfiguring the associations between specific facial appearances and social traits. Across six studies and a replication, a behavioral counterstereotype training consistently reduced or eliminated facial stereotype biases for White male faces in the context of economic trust games, hiring decisions, and even automatic evaluations assessed via evaluative priming. Together, the results demonstrate a fundamental malleability in facial stereotyping related to trustworthiness, with a minimal training able to mitigate the tendency to activate and apply long-held, highly automatized facial stereotypes. These findings suggest that face impressions are more flexible than typically appreciated, and they provide a potential inroad toward combating our ingrained biases based on facial appearance.

Facial Stereotype Bias Is Mitigated by Training