Investigating the presence of a prototype face for abstract social groups: a study on the prototype face effect of the K-pop group seventeen

• Main Author: Goh, Bei Jun
• Other Authors: Charles Or
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165904
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study aimed to investigate the presence of a prototypical face for abstract social groups, with a focus on the male K-pop group Seventeen. A total of 25 participants were recruited, including 11 K-pop fans who were already familiar with all Seventeen members and 14 non-fans. Participants completed a yes/no recognition task where they were presented with randomised faces of Seventeen, Seventeen prototypes, non-K-pop idols, and non-K-pop idol prototypes. The results revealed that while K-pop fans demonstrated high accuracy in recognising the real faces of Seventeen, there was no statistically significant difference in the false recognition rates of Seventeen prototypes between K-pop fans and non-fans. These findings suggest an absence of a prototype face effect, which diverges from the existing literature on the prototype face. Future studies could explore the multidimensional face space in the context of other abstract social categories to better understand its applicability and limitations.