The role of ideological dimensions in shaping acceptance of facial recognition technology and reactions to algorithm bias

Abstract

Facial recognition technology has been introduced into various aspects of social life, yet it has raised concerns over its infringement of civil liberties and biases against minorities. This study investigates how three ideological dimensions—social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and libertarianism—shape facial recognition acceptance. First, two surveys of crowdsourced workers ( N = 891 and 587) demonstrated that the acceptance of facial recognition applications is positively associated with right-wing authoritarianism and negatively with libertarianism, whereas social dominance orientation shows little influence. Second, an experiment ( N = 496) exposed participants to information about demographic biases in facial recognition applications. This message produced more opposition to facial recognition and this effect largely was not moderated by the three ideological dimensions. In summary, individuals’ endorsement of various ideologies predicts their acceptance of facial recognition technology, but messages about algorithm biases in facial recognition can still shape their attitudes regardless of the preexisting ideologies.