Social Perception of Faces Among Different Racial Groups by Russian Students

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2026-1/341-359

Authors

Keywords:

big races, facial morphology, personality traits, aggressiveness, attractiveness, first impression, social perception

Abstract

The study analyzes the mechanisms underlying the perception of faces belonging to people of European, Asian, and African ancestry. It aimed to determine the relative impact of individual morphological facial features, ancestry, the observer’s gender and personality on social judgements. The sample included 243 respondents (Russian students of European ancestry) who rated 15 standardized photo portraits of models from three racial groups according to the criteria of attractiveness, aggressiveness, altruism, and social status. Additionally, the observers' personality traits were measured using psychodiagnostic tools (BFI-2-XS, BPAQ, Helpfulness Questionnaire). It was demonstrated that individual morphological features of the face were the dominant factor influencing social judgements. This factor significantly exceeded the effect of the racial category. Stable perceptual patterns were identified, such as the "halo effect" and a negative correlation between perceived aggressiveness and prosocial characteristics. The influence of the models' racial affiliation proved to be statistically significant but weak. The respondent's gender was found to be a significant modulator of perception: men and women demonstrated different strategies for ranking racial-gender groups by attractiveness and aggressiveness. At the same time, the stable personality characteristics of observers were found to have no systematic connection with basic evaluations of neutral faces. The obtained data indicate the priority of universal mechanisms of primary perception over categorical and individual-psychological factors.

Author Biographies

  • Yaroslav Sizov, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Sizov, Yaroslav O. — Postgraduate Student, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: sizoff.yaroslav@yandex.ru ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2959-4578

  • Marina Butovskaya, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Butovskaya, Marina L. — Corresponding Member RAS, Ph.D. in History, Dr. Habil., Professor, Chief Researcher, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: marina.butovskaya@gmail.com ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5528-0519

    For Citation: Sizov, Ya. O., and M. L. Butovskaya. 2026. Social Perception of Faces Among Different Racial Groups by Russian Students. Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii). 1: 341–359.

    Funding: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant № 23-18-00277.

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Published

13.03.2026

Issue

No. 1 (2026): Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik antropologii)

Section

Physical anthropology