Invisibility of Black women: Drawing attention to individuality

We examine nonprototypicality as an antecedent to invisibility (lack of individuation) of Black women. Study 1 varied numerical representation of Black women within the group “women” to be low/equal to White women, and Study 2 varied the trait overlap of Black women to be low/high relative to White...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Group processes & intergroup relations 2018-01, Vol.21 (1), p.141-158
Main Authors: Sesko, Amanda K., Biernat, Monica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acknowledgment
Black people
Black white differences
Face recognition
Facial recognition technology
Gender differences
Gender stereotypes
Identity formation
Individualism
Intersectionality
Racial stereotypes
Reliance
Sex differences
Visibility
Women
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Summary:We examine nonprototypicality as an antecedent to invisibility (lack of individuation) of Black women. Study 1 varied numerical representation of Black women within the group “women” to be low/equal to White women, and Study 2 varied the trait overlap of Black women to be low/high relative to White women and/or Black men. Invisibility was measured by a face recognition task. Rather than invisibility being reduced under conditions of equal numerical representation and high trait overlap, low numerical representation and low trait overlap increased recognition for Black female faces. In Studies 3–4 participants primed to focus on differences showed better recognition for Black women’s faces than those primed to focus on similarities. We suggest a difference focus reduces reliance on categorical information, increasing individuation and visibility. But nonprototypicality matters: Study 5 perceivers who saw less overlap between “women” and “Black women” on gender stereotypes showed worse recognition of Black women.
ISSN:1368-4302
1461-7188
DOI:10.1177/1368430216663017