Facial femininity and perceptions of eating disorders: A reverse-correlation study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Perception

Background:

• Eating disorders (ED) are common in college students, yet accurate identification is challenging, particularly when race is a factor.
• Existing research on diagnostic ability primarily uses vignette studies, leaving a gap in understanding how real-world perceptions, like facial features, influence ED likelihood assessments.
• The interplay between perceived facial characteristics, race, and disordered eating beliefs remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how racial biases affect perceptions of eating disorder likelihood based on facial appearance.
• To examine the influence of perceived facial femininity on disordered eating beliefs across different races.
• To explore the interaction between race, facial features, and the perception of disordered eating.

Main Methods:

• Employed reverse correlation to generate image templates associated with perceived ED likelihood for White and Black faces.
• Recruited college students to categorize faces based on ED likelihood under noisy conditions.
• Utilized Amazon Mechanical Turk participants to rate race-specific face templates for ED likelihood and perceived femininity.

Main Results:

• Independent raters could distinguish face templates associated with high ED likelihood from low-likelihood templates above chance for both racial groups.
• For Black faces, templates linked to higher ED likelihood were also perceived as more feminine.
• No significant association between perceived femininity and ED likelihood was found for White faces.

Conclusions:

• Stereotyped beliefs about femininity and disordered eating appear to interact with perceptual processes, influencing how ED likelihood is judged based on race.
• Racial biases may shape the perception of disordered eating, potentially impacting identification and diagnosis.
• Further research is needed to understand the complex relationship between race, facial perception, and eating disorder beliefs.