The stereotypes we hold can influence our brain’s visual system, prompting us to see others’ faces in ways that conform to these stereotypes, neuroscientists at New York University have found. “Our findings provide evidence that the stereotypes we hold can systematically alter the brain’s visual representation of a face, distorting what we see to be more in line with our biased expectations,” explains Jonathan Freeman, an assistant professor in NYU’s Department of Psychology and the senior author of the paper, which appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Researchers monitored subjects’ brain activity–using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)–while these subjects viewed different faces. Subjects found men, and particularly Black men, were initially perceived “angry,” even when their faces were not objectively angry; and women were initially perceived “happy,” even when their faces were not objectively happy. In addition, Asian faces were initially perceived “female” and Black faces were initially perceived “male,” regardless of the faces’ actual gender.
— source nyu.edu
always review your own stereotypes.