Shared signal effects ocur more strongly for salient outgroups than ingroups

Facial expression recognition is influenced by factors exogenous to the expression itself, including targets' group membership and facial structure. The current work represents an attempt to understand the combined influence of such factors. Across two experiments, the authors found that the effects of facial structure on expression recognition (Shared Signal-style effects) are influenced by ingroup/outgroup status. Perceivers showed elevated influence of facial structure on expression recognition for outgroup relative to ingroup faces, especially when the ingroup/outgroup status of the target faces was salient. This work is a novel example of how target group memberships can moderate the well-replicated influence of facial structure on expression recognition.