The own-race bias in facial recognition : a study in multiracial Singapore

• Main Author: Goh, Annemarie
• Other Authors: Rebecca Nichols
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141434
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The own-race bias (also known as the cross-race or other-race effect) is the phenomenon of recognising own-race faces more accurately than other-race faces, and it has been robustly demonstrated across populations, races, and ages. This has accounted for nearly half of eyewitness misidentifications that had resulted in wrongful convictions. Studies have shown that the own-race bias is influenced by the degree of interracial contact and the motivation and ability to process faces beyond racial categories. The rich racial diversity and multicultural policies in Singapore provides a unique context for the own-race bias (ORB) to manifest itself in. To date, only one ORB study has been conducted in Singapore more than two decades ago, which involved Singaporean and Canadian residents, yet it failed to investigate the ORB among local racial groups in Singapore. Hence, it is imperative to study the ORB among local racial groups in Singapore’s increasingly cosmopolitan and racially diverse society. Results showed that amongst Singaporeans, racially Indian participants exhibited the ORB, but racially Chinese participants did not. Interracial contact and racial prejudice were also not significantly correlated with facial recognition ability. The potential effects of both positive racial attitudes and issues of nationality on the ORB are discussed. This study shows that in spite of multicultural policies aimed at promoting interracial contact and racial harmony, the ORB was still produced. All involved in criminal justice decisions in Singapore should be extra cautious when relying on eyewitnesses testimonies to convict offenders of a different race from the eyewitness.