Perception of Race and Political Ideology

A fascinating article, The neural basis of ideological differences in race categorization, examines if and how political ideology might influence perception and categorization of race by White liberals and White conservatives. Mixed Black-White images were used to elicit responses by Whites. The results hint at, or are consistent with, the possibility that there are differences in specific brain response activity (anterior insula) between liberals and conservatives. The insula plays a key role in processing emotional responses. The brain response was attributed mostly to racially ambiguous faces (racial ambiguity), and not to skin tone darkness and Afrocentric features (Black prototypicality). 

When people see racially ambiguous faces, there is an unconscious bias to categorize the face as belonging to a subordinate racial group, i.e., Black in this research. Other research found that this kind of discrimination (hypodescent categorization or discrimination) is more likely among conservatives than liberals. 

The researchers write:

Multiracial individuals are often categorized as members of their ‘socially subordinate’ racial group—a form of social discrimination termed hypodescent—with political conservatives more likely than liberals to show this bias. .... We found that conservatism was related to greater anterior insula activity to racially ambiguous faces, and this pattern of brain activation mediated conservatives’ use of hypodescent. This demonstrates that conservatives’ greater sensitivity to racial ambiguity (rather than Black prototypicality) gives rise to greater categorization of mixed-race individuals into the socially subordinate group and tentatively suggests that conservatives may differ from liberals in their affective reactions to mixed-race faces. .... White Americans’ use of hypodescent is often motivated by a desire to preserve the status quo racial hierarchy with Whites on top, and political conservatives tend to engage in hypodescendant categorization more strongly than liberals.

Whites perceive mixed Black-White faces in at least two different ways, on the basis of (i) prototypical features (skin tone and Afrocentric features), and (ii) racial ambiguity. The researchers used brain scan technology because standard behavioral research methods cannot disentangle how and why conservatives tend to categorize multiracial individuals as members of their most subordinate racial group more often than liberals.[1] 

Conclusion: One can see how complex and tentative this kind of research is. As usual, this work needs to be replicated and confirmed. To see how widespread and influential the differential race perception phenomenon is, the research needs to be expanded to include other mixed race images, e.g., Hispanic-White, Black-Asian, Asian-White, etc. If the results hold up, this knowledge can possibly shed some light on the biological source of one of the key issues that is tearing American society and politics apart, i.e., racial discrimination, racial bigotry and racism. 

It may be the case that the biological-cognitive source of conservative unease and its move toward authoritarianism can be slowed or stopped if the source of the fear can be understood and addressed. Conservative fear of the impending majority White to majority minority transition may be a significant driver of the social and political toxicity that is killing American democracy and social cohesion. If so, confirmation and more knowledge about the phenomenon could be very helpful to say the least.

Footnote:

1. For the science wonks in the crowd: The researchers comment that there are at least two possible explanations for the observed conservative vs liberal differences in race categorization. One is that conservatives have stronger tendency compared to liberals to categorize mixed-race faces as Black could be explained by sensitivity to increases in the Black prototypicality of mixed-race faces, and a desire to maintain a clear boundary around the conception or definition of Whiteness. 

The other is that conservatives might categorize mixed-race faces as Black because of a greater sensitivity to racial ambiguity.  Past research indicates that conservatives tend to show a stronger aversion to general ambiguity than liberals. Because of that, racial ambiguity might be particularly aversive to conservatives. The researchers write:

Political ideology has been associated anatomically with individual differences in insula grey matter volume and functionally to insula activity in response to political outgroup members, information about ingroup politicians, reactions to disgusting images and risky decisions. Furthermore, the anterior insula has been implicated in the learning of political allyship and White decisionmakers exhibit stronger insula activity when processing Black (versus White) faces.

In an article about this paper, the lead author, Amy R. Krosch (Cornell University), commented:

"We knew from our previous work that conservatives tend to categorize more mixed-race faces as their 'socially-subordinate' race, or according to hypodescent," Krosch said, "a principle closely related to notorious 'one-drop' rules, used to subjugate individuals with any nonwhite heritage by denying them full rights and liberties under the law from the earliest days of American slavery through the Civil Rights Era."  

Mixed-race faces vary on at least two critical dimensions, Krosch wrote: "Do conservative and liberals differ in their sensitivity to the racial content or racial ambiguity of such faces? Such questions are difficult to separate in behavioral investigations but might be critical to understanding the link between ideology and hypodescent."