Racialized emotion recognition accuracy and anger bias of children’s faces.

Abstract

Research suggests that individuals are racially biased when judging the emotions of others (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002) and particularly regarding attributions about the emotion of anger (Halberstadt, Castro, Chu, Lozada, & Sims, 2018; Hugenberg & Bodenhausen, 2003). Systematic, balanced designs are rare, and are comprised of adults viewing adults. The present study expands the questions of racialized emotion recognition accuracy and anger bias to the world of children. Findings that adults demonstrate either less emotion accuracy and/or greater anger bias for Black versus White children could potentially explain some of the large racialized disciplinary discrepancies in schools. To test whether racialized emotion recognition accuracy and anger bias toward children exists, we asked 178 prospective teachers to complete an emotion recognition task comprised of 72 children’s facial expressions depicting six emotions and divided equally by race (Black, White) and gender (female, male). We also assessed implicit bias via the child race Implicit Association Test and explicit bias via questionnaire. Multilevel modeling revealed nuanced racialized emotion recognition accuracy with a race by gender interaction, but clear racialized anger bias toward both Black boys and girls. Both Black boys and Black girls were falsely seen as angry more often than White boys and White girls. Higher levels of either implicit or explicit bias did not increase odds of Black children being victim to anger bias, but instead decreased odds that White children would be misperceived as angry. Implications for addressing preexisting biases in teacher preparation programs and by children and parents are discussed.

A systematic review of the What Works Clearinghouse's behavioral intervention evidence: Does it relate to Black children

“…Implicit biases toward Black children can misconstrue students' actions when met with these perceptions by authority figures (Bottiani et al, 2018). For instance, prospective teachers are more likely to misperceive Black children as more angry than White children (Halberstadt et al, 2020). Additionally, Smolkowski et al (2016) find that more subjective forms of behavior such as defiance allow for implicit bias to be involved in teachers' decisionmaking; which can negatively impact disciplinary outcomes for Black children.…”

“…Sources of this behavioral disproportionality vary; however, there are specific explanations in the research literature that have been suggested. An examination of the existing research base indicates that Black children are included in disparate behavior outcomes for three primary reasons which include implicit bias (Gilliam et al, 2016; Halberstadt et al, 2020), differential treatment and support (Owens & McLanahan, 2020), and perceived disruptive behavior (Yang et al, 2018). More specifically, Black children are often perceived as being less “childlike” and are unwillingly held to adult standards of accountability in regard to their own actions (Epstein et al, 2017; Wegmann & Smith, 2019).…”

“Problem Children” and “Children with Problems”: Discipline and Innocence in a Gentrifying Elementary School

“…Early childhood educators expect and look for more challenging behavior from Black children (Ferguson, 2000; "Problem Children" and "Children with Problems" Freidus 7 Gilliam, Maupin, Reyes, Accavitti, & Shic, 2016). Teachers are more likely to incorrectly perceive Black boys as "angry" when compared to Black girls, white boys, and white girls (Halberstadt et al, 2020). They are also more likely to focus on enforcing rules and delivering consequences, rather than facilitating relationships or rewarding positive behavior, with boys than girls (Dobbs, Arnold, & Doctoroff, 2004;Erden & Wolfgang, 2004).…”

Preliminary Study of the Perception of Emotions Expressed by Virtual Agents in the Context of Parkinson's Disease

“…However, Kegel et al [15] showed differences in the perception of fearful dynamic avatars and dynamic human faces. Gender [23], culture [8] and race [11] have been reported to influence FER.…”