Resource scarcity priming and face perception: A preregistered conceptual replication of Study 1 of Rodeheffer et al. (2012) in Japan

Abstract

Rodeheffer et al. (2012) showed that when people perceive resource scarcity, they are more likely to judge racially ambiguous people as out-group members. In their first experiment, 71 White participants viewed a slideshow depicting either resource scarcity or abundance; subsequently, they judged 20 biracial faces created by averaging a White and a Black face. We conducted this experiment's preregistered conceptual replication study in Japan. Specifically, after observing a slideshow depicting either resource scarcity or abundance, East Asian participants judged 20 biracial faces produced by averaging an East and a South Asian face. The statistical power to detect a small effect (d = 0.2) was 0.79 (N = 769). Although the pattern was the same as Rodeheffer et al.'s (2012) research, the priming effect was insignificant (d = 0.1). The reasons for this null result as well as future research directions are discussed.

Keywords

• Resource scarcity
• Recession
• In-group boundary formation
• Social priming
• Replication