Facial Affect and Race Influence Threat Perception

Abstract

The Guns and Tools task (Payne, 2001) was modified in the current research so that the Black and White face primes displayed emotional expressions. A 2 (race) × 3 (facial affect) × 2 (target) within-subjects design was utilized. Formal predictions were that prime race and facial affect would have separate and combined effects on the misperception of threat. Predictions were partially supported. These findings replicate Payne (2001) and illustrate the separable and significant impact of both racial cues and facial affect in the misperception of threat.