Written by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Definition
The cross-race effect is a psychological phenomenon where individuals are better at recognizing faces of their own race compared with faces of other races.
This is the perception that individuals in an out-group are more similar (homogeneous) than they really are, as well as being more similar than the members of the in-group.
Own-Race Bias: This term is synonymous with Cross-Race Effect and refers to the ability to recognize faces from oneโs own race easier than faces from different races.