Poster #68 - “Judging a Book By its Cover”: White Phenotype, Discrimination, and Psychosocial Health

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Facial features such as lip size, nose width, hair texture, and eye color, which signal racial and ethnic identification, harbor important consequences for person-perception and social interaction. For example, minority group members who exhibit facial features that are more representative of their racial or ethnic group are more likely to be stereotyped (Kahn & Davies, 2011), evaluated negatively (Hagiwara et al., 2012; Landor & Barr, 2018) and are subjected to a greater number of discriminatory conditions (Hagiwara et al., 2013; Ryabov & Goza, 2014). While researchers have often explored the link between Afrocentric facial features and their impact on social evaluation and interactions within the criminal justice system (i.e., arrests, sentencing, etc.), less is known about how having more stereotypically White facial features--such as straight hair, light skin, and thin lips--may impact interpersonal experiences of discrimination occurring both within and outside of one’s racial or ethnic group. Additionally, far less is known about the direct psychosocial ramifications of exhibiting White phenotype. To address those limitations the current study examined: (1) whether individuals who exhibited greater White phenotype also reported better psychosocial health and (2) whether the association between White phenotype and psychosocial health was mediated by decreased exposure to racial discrimination and within-group discrimination.
Methods: The current study utilized data from a study of African American and Latino emerging adults (N = 145). Participants were recruited via email to participate in an online assessment, which included measures relating to their experiences with racial discrimination (Brondolo et al., 2005; Contrada et al., 2001) within-group discrimination, and psychosocial health (anger (PHO, 2012), depressive symptoms (Radloff, 1997; Melchior et al., 1993), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1979), and anxiety (Beck et al., 1988)). Independent raters were utilized to rate participants on dimensions relating to White phenotype including hair color, eye color, hair texture, nose width, lip size, and skin color. Coders were also instructed to rate how African American or Latino each participant appeared. A composite standardized score was created across all facial features with higher scores indicating greater exhibition of White phenotype.
Results: Structural equation modeling was utilized via Mplus to assess the relation between White phenotype, racial and within-group discrimination, and psychosocial health, while controlling for income and physical attractiveness. As hypothesized, individuals who exhibited more stereotypically White facial features were more likely to report greater psychosocial health. Specifically, Sobel tests indicated that the association between greater exhibition of White phenotype and lower anxiety (β=-.158, S.E.=.053, p=.003), anger (β=-.115, S.E.=.040, p<.004, depressive symptoms (β=-.178, S.E.=.055, p<.001), as well as increased self-esteem (β=.131, S.E.=.039, p<.001), was jointly mediated by decreased exposure to racial discrimination and within-group discrimination.
Conclusion: Findings underscore the important role that facial features play in shaping the quality of one’s social interactions, and the salience of these interactions for psychosocial health. Results also highlight the need to incorporate discourse surrounding the links between phenotype, interpersonal relationships, and psychological functioning into clinical interventions targeting racial ethnic minority youth.

Authors

• Alaysia Marie Brown, University of Missouri
  Presenting Author

• Antoinette M. Landor, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katharine H. Zeiders, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author