How Is Race Perceived During Adolescence? A Meta-Analysis of the Own-Race Bias

Adolescence is a critical developmental period that is marked by drastic changes in face recognition, which are reflected in patterns of bias (i.e., superior recognition for some individuals compared to others). Here, we evaluate how race is perceived during face recognition and whether adolescents exhibit an own-race bias (ORB). We conducted a Bayesian meta-analysis to estimate the summary effect size of the ORB across 16 unique studies (38 effect sizes) with 1,321 adolescent participants between the ages of ∼10-22 years of age. This meta-analytic approach allowed us to inform the analysis with prior findings from the adult literature and evaluate how well they fit the adolescent literature. We report a positive, small ORB (Hedges's g = 0.24) that was evident under increasing levels of uncertainty in the analysis. The magnitude of the ORB was not systematically impacted by participant age or race, which is inconsistent with predictions from perceptual expertise and social cognitive theories. Critically, our findings are limited in generalizability by the study samples, which largely include White adolescents in White-dominant countries. Future longitudinal studies that include racially diverse samples and measure social context, perceiver motivation, peer reorientation, social network composition, and ethnic-racial identity development are critical for understanding the presence, magnitude, and relative flexibility of the ORB in adolescence. Public Significance StatementThis meta-analysis examines whether adolescents better recognize individuals from within their own compared to another race. We report a small, positive own-race bias in the adolescent studies that was not impacted by the age or race of participants. Our findings are limited by the study samples, which largely include White adolescents in White-dominant countries. We propose that future studies should include racially and ethnically diverse sample of adolescents and consider sociocultural factors such as peer reorientation, social network organization, ethnic-racial identity, and socialization.