Impact of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles on perceived trustworthiness of Black and White faces: A Black perspective.

Abstract

In five experiments, we investigated how Black participants perceive Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles on Black and White targets. Results consistently demonstrated that when assessing happiness, faces with Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles were rated as happier on both Black and White targets. However, when assessing a more socially evaluative dimension, trustworthiness, perceptions of Black and White targets diverged. Whereas White targets with Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles were rated as more trustworthy, ratings of Black targets with Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles did not differ, with both appraised as highly trustworthy. Although the degree to which Black participants identified with their race did not moderate these effects, the perceived genuineness of targets did mediate the relationship. One reason why Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles on White but not Black targets were perceived as more trustworthy is because Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles on White but not Black targets were perceived as more genuine. A final study extended these findings by exploring the impact of target race and smile type on partner choice. In accordance with the results related to trustworthiness ratings, Black participants selected White partners with Duchenne compared to non-Duchenne smiles more often but did not differentiate in their choice of Black partners with Duchenne versus non-Duchenne smiles. These findings underscore the importance of investigating not only diverse targets but also diverse perceivers. Our results suggest that Black perceivers use facial cues differently when rating the trustworthiness of Black and White targets and that these perceptions have important downstream consequences. Public Significance StatementGiven the lack of representation in the face-processing literature, researchers have recently been called upon to go beyond White participants and include other racial groups when investigating how people form impressions from facial cues. The primary goal of the present research was, therefore, to examine how Black perceivers are impacted by emotional cues in perceptions of happiness and attributions of trustworthiness to White and Black faces. Our findings indicate that Black perceivers were impacted by even subtle cues related to Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles on both Black and White targets when assessing happiness. However, when assessing trustworthiness, these participants differed in their ratings of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles on White but not Black targets. Furthermore, our findings indicate that these perceptions can have important consequences for our willingness to interact with members of different racial groups. With growing racial tension and intergroup conflict, it is especially important that future research develops a deeper, more thoughtful understanding not only of White peoples' perceptions of key characteristics such as trustworthiness on White faces, as well as other racial faces, but also other racial groups' perceptions of these faces.