Dataset of Asian Face Ratings from Chinese and Asian American Perceivers

Facial recognition plays a large role social categorization; however, little work has examined how contact within a racial group shapes these perceptions amongst Han Chinese (N = 190) and Asian American (N = 201) participants. The present study asked both Chinese and Asian American participants to rate the prototypicality of Asian faces in the Chicago Face Database to study how within-race participant variation and contact affects perception of Asian faces. Perceivers rated each Asian face on a 7-point scale of Asian prototypicality among other ratings (e.g., gender, attractiveness, broad racial categorization). Linear mixed effects logistic regression showed both Chinese and Asian Americans perceive East Asian faces to be significantly more prototypically Asian compared to all other Asian ethnicity categories. In addition, across both participant groups, Central Asian faces and South Asian faces were perceived as more atypical. These findings align with prior work suggesting that East Asian identity is considered the most representative “Asian” category even amongst Asian perceivers regardless of their regional background.