Racial Appearance Bias: Improving Evidence-Based Policies to Address Racial Disparities

Racial disparities continue in the treatment and outcomes of individuals in an increasingly diverse society. Social psychological research suggests that racial identity–conscious interventions can be critical to address these disparities. However, recent research goes beyond racial identity categories to outcomes associated with racial phenotypicality—within-category variation in racial appearance. Phenotypicality bias complicates race-conscious strategies. Individuals whose facial characteristics are more stereotypical of their racial group experience greater discrimination and receive less favorable outcomes across a variety of domains. Thus, without considering racial phenotypicality, policies designed to address racial disparities may fail to acknowledge outcomes associated with this subtle but important element of social perception and judgment. A review of this research leads to implications for several areas of policy and practice.