The Other-Race Effect in Racial Minority Infants

The other-race effect (ORE) refers to perceptual biases favoring own-race faces over other-race faces, emerging by nine months of age. Studying the ORE is crucial, as it may shape the development of social categories and contribute to racial biases, prejudices, and stereotypes throughout childhood and adulthood. Multiple factors influence the ORE, including community diversity, language exposure, and social experiences. Research suggests that infants raised in racially homogeneous environments are more likely to exhibit the ORE than those growing up in diverse settings. A key limitation of existing ORE research is its predominant focus on majority-race infants, leaving a gap in understanding how the effect manifests in racially underrepresented populations. This study investigates the ORE in 43 underrepresented 9- to 12-month-old infants from racially diverse communities across the United States. The primary goal is to examine ORE development in infants from minority racial backgrounds within predominantly heterogeneous populations. We hypothesize that infants from underrepresented racial minority backgrounds will not demonstrate the ORE when viewing own-race or majority-race faces. However, we expect these infants to exhibit the ORE when viewing faces of other racial minority groups, likely due to limited exposure to these groups. Results displayed that infants did not show a recognition for other-race faces in the URM and White face conditions. Contrary to our hypothesis, participants did not show a novelty preference for White faces and instead presented a preference for own-race faces. This demonstrated the ORE as the infants displayed weaker recognition of White race faces. This study is the first to explore the ORE in underrepresented racial minority infants and is critical for understanding its development, with implications for mitigating long-term social biases. Environmental exposure to other races influences the development and strength of the ORE. Infants from underrepresented racial minority groups, who are more likely to have diverse exposure to faces of multiple racial groups, may not develop a perceptual bias for own-race faces