Principal Investigator: Dr. Elena Stepanova
Welcome to the Social Cognition and Behavior Lab (SCBL) at the University of Southern Mississippi, School of Psychology.
Research in our lab focuses on the following domains: (1) social cognition, specifically (a) conceptualization of social categories and (b) effects of alcohol on social judgments; and (2) cross-cultural work, particularly explicit and implicit ethnic attitudes.
In the conceptualization of social categories line of research, we explore the effects of within-group variability on person perception, implicit and explicit ethnic prejudice and stereotyping, and perceptions of attractiveness.
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We also investigate the link between substance-related cues and social biases; specifically, effects of discrimination on alcohol craving, influences of alcohol and nicotine-related cues on racial biases and blame attributions in a rape vignette.
We also address these effects internationally, examining the moderating role of socio-cultural context. Many of our research projects address applied issues as well (e.g., the reduction of prejudice).
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ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RECENT EVENTS
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Drs. Elena Stepanova's and Michael Strube's work (Stepanova & Strube, 2018) was featured in Psychology Today in June 2019 issue, see p. 66:
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More recently, a 2018 study led by psychologists Elena Stepanova at the University of Southern Mississippi and Michael Strube at Washington University in St. Louis found that a group of white, black, Asian and Latino college students rated mixed-race faces the most attractive, followed by single-race black faces. White faces were rated least attractive.
“There are several explanations for mixed-race faces being perceived as the most attractive,” Stepanova writes. “The ‘averageness’ hypothesis postulates that an ‘average face’ — a composite of all faces — is preferred to any specific face and is based upon humans’ general preference for prototypical exemplars. Another is based on heterosis: offspring of parents of different genetic backgrounds are considered genetically fitter, and thus, more attractive, than those of parents of similar genetic backgrounds.”
In the study, Stepanova adjusted the features and skin tones of computer-generated faces to create a range of blends, and found that the highest attractiveness ratings went to those that were closest to a 50-50 blend of white and black. These faces had “almost perfectly equal Afrocentric and Eurocentric physiognomy,” she says, along with a medium skin tone. Both darker- and lighter-than-average complexions were seen as less attractive.
These results seem to support the theory that we prefer average faces because they correspond most closely to the prototype we carry in our brains: the aggregated memory of what a face should look like. That would help explain why we favor a 50-50 mix of features and skin tones — especially since that doesn’t always correspond to a 50-50 mix of genes, Stepanova says.
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OUR LATEST RESEARCH
Stepanova, E. V., & Strube, M. J. (2018). Attractiveness as a function of skin tone and facial features: Evidence from categorization studies. The Journal of General Psychology, 145, 1-20. doi: 10.1080/00221309.2017.1394811
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Abstract: Participants rated the attractiveness and racial typicality of male faces varying in their facial features from Afrocentric to Eurocentric and in skin tone from dark to light in two experiments. Experiment 1 provided evidence that facial features and skin tone have an interactive effect on perceptions of attractiveness and mixed-race faces are perceived as more attractive than single-race faces. Experiment 2 further confirmed that faces with medium levels of skin tone and facial features are perceived as more attractive than faces with extreme levels of these factors. Black phenotypes (combinations of dark skin tone and Afrocentric facial features) were rated as more attractive than White phenotypes (combinations of light skin tone and Eurocentric facial features); ambiguous faces (combinations of Afrocentric and Eurocentric physiognomy) with medium levels of skin tone were rated as the most attractive in Experiment 2. Perceptions of attractiveness were relatively independent of racial categorization in both experiments.
Stepanova, E. V., Bartholow, B. D., & Saults, J. S., & Friedman, R.S. (2018). Effects of exposure to alcohol-related cues on racial discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48, 380-387. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2325.
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Abstract: Prior research has shown that exposure to alcohol-related images exacerbates expression of implicit racial biases, and that brief exposure to alcohol-related words increases aggressive responses. However, the potential for alcohol cue exposure to elicit differential aggression against a Black (outgroup) relative to a White (ingroup) target—that is, racial discrimination—has never been investigated. Here, we found that White participants (N = 92) exposed to alcohol-related words made harsher judgments of a Black experimenter who had frustrated them than participants who were exposed to nonalcohol words. These findings suggest that exposure to alcohol cues increases discriminatory behaviors toward Blacks.