RESEARCH
My research explores the fascinating world of social and person perception, focusing on how we form impressions of others and how these impressions are shaped by various factors including stereotypes, cultural context, and individual experiences. By combining insights from social psychology, vision science, and cultural psychology, and emplo
ying advanced computational methods, I aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex processes involved in social cognition. I investigate three interconnected themes:
Together, these lines of research aim to advance our theoretical and practical understanding of social perception processes. My ultimate goal is to contribute to academic knowledge and to propose effective strategies for addressing social biases and improving interpersonal relationships in our increasingly diverse and connected world.
ying advanced computational methods, I aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex processes involved in social cognition. I investigate three interconnected themes:
- Uncovering Hidden Biases in Social Perception
- Cross-Cultural Variability in Person Perception
- Dynamic Nature of Person Perception
Together, these lines of research aim to advance our theoretical and practical understanding of social perception processes. My ultimate goal is to contribute to academic knowledge and to propose effective strategies for addressing social biases and improving interpersonal relationships in our increasingly diverse and connected world.
Uncovering Hidden Biases in Social Perception
My work employs data-driven computational modeling to reveal hidden biases in social judgments that are often difficult to articulate or measure through traditional methods. For instance, we've uncovered a concealed masculinity bias in competence judgments of faces (Oh et al., 2019, Psych Sci) and identified a phenomenon of 'impression compression' in perceptions of female faces (Oh et al., 2019, JEP: General).
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[1] People have more simplified impressions of women than of men. In this plot, the level of impression simplification is indexed by the level of all pairwise correlations across specific trait impressions (e.g., impression of likeability). Each dot represents the level of correlations between a pair of impression ratings (e.g., correlation between the impression of likeability and the impression of dominance across all participants). (from Oh et al., 2020 J Exp Psychol: Gen)
[2] The level of impression simplification (how different individual impressions were differentiated, e.g., between ‘trustworthy’ impressions and ‘unhappy’ impressions, were predicted by participants’ level of gender stereotype endorsement. The more one endorsed the gender stereotypes (”women are on average more emotional than men are”), the more simplified their face-based impressions for others were. (from Oh et al. 2020 J Exp Psychol: Gen)
These studies demonstrate how computational modeling can reveal subtle yet pervasive biases in social perception that traditional methods might miss. This approach opens up new avenues for understanding the nuanced ways in which social biases operate and potentially inform interventions to mitigate their effects.
Related work:
Oh, D., Buck, E. A., & Todorov, A. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions from faces. Psychological Science, 30(1), 65-79.
Oh, D., Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., & Todorov, A. (2019). Gender biases in first impressions from faces: Empirical studies and computational models. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(2), 323-342.
[2] The level of impression simplification (how different individual impressions were differentiated, e.g., between ‘trustworthy’ impressions and ‘unhappy’ impressions, were predicted by participants’ level of gender stereotype endorsement. The more one endorsed the gender stereotypes (”women are on average more emotional than men are”), the more simplified their face-based impressions for others were. (from Oh et al. 2020 J Exp Psychol: Gen)
These studies demonstrate how computational modeling can reveal subtle yet pervasive biases in social perception that traditional methods might miss. This approach opens up new avenues for understanding the nuanced ways in which social biases operate and potentially inform interventions to mitigate their effects.
Related work:
Oh, D., Buck, E. A., & Todorov, A. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions from faces. Psychological Science, 30(1), 65-79.
Oh, D., Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., & Todorov, A. (2019). Gender biases in first impressions from faces: Empirical studies and computational models. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(2), 323-342.
Cultural and Individual Variability in Person Perception
My research explores how both external cultural factors and internal individual differences shape mental representations of personality traits and social categories. Through large-scale, cross-cultural studies, we've found that perceptions of facial information are rooted in region-specific associations between personality traits, reflecting profound cultural influences on social cognition (Oh et al., 2022, Psych Sci).
Beyond cultural influences, we've also investigated how individual-level factors shape impression formation. Our work has revealed people's tendency to project their own personality trait organization onto others (Oh et al., under review), demonstrating how self-concepts influence perceptions of others. This research highlights the importance of considering both cultural context and individual differences in understanding social cognition.
Related Work:
Oh, D., Martin, J. D., & Freeman, J. B. (2022). Personality across world regions predicts variability in the structure of face impressions.Psychological Science, 33(8), 1240–1256.
Oh, D., Tan, N., Moner, F., Hong, R., & Teo, H. M. (under review). Self-other mirroring in personality structure.
Beyond cultural influences, we've also investigated how individual-level factors shape impression formation. Our work has revealed people's tendency to project their own personality trait organization onto others (Oh et al., under review), demonstrating how self-concepts influence perceptions of others. This research highlights the importance of considering both cultural context and individual differences in understanding social cognition.
Related Work:
Oh, D., Martin, J. D., & Freeman, J. B. (2022). Personality across world regions predicts variability in the structure of face impressions.Psychological Science, 33(8), 1240–1256.
Oh, D., Tan, N., Moner, F., Hong, R., & Teo, H. M. (under review). Self-other mirroring in personality structure.
Dynamic Nature of Person Perception
My work investigates how unique encounters and experiences can reshape core processes in person perception. We've shown that when individuals discover shared personality traits between strangers, they often perceive their faces as more similar than their actual physical resemblances (Oh et al., 2021, Cognition). This finding illuminates how person knowledge can influence even basic face perception processes.
Knowledge of a person’s personality can bias perception of a face’s identity toward an alternate identity that is not ostensibly related. For example, if Vladimir Putin and Justin Bieber (above) have more similar personalities in your mind, then they visually appear more similar to you as well. Further, when you learn two novel individuals are similar in their personalities (below), you remember their faces as more similar to each other (compared to when you learn the two individuals were dissimilar in their personalities). (from Oh et al., 2021 Cognition)
Current projects extend this line of research to real-time social interactions, examining how impressions form and evolve during actual conversations. By incorporating measures of perceiver personality, existing stereotypes, and various communication channels, we aim to create comprehensive models of dynamic person perception in interpersonal contexts.
Using a continuous rating paradigm, participants altered their trait judgments over time as they watch naturalistic interactions between other individuals. Participants considerably changed their impressions of each character as they learned more about these individuals, but there was a high level of consensus across participants in how they changed their impressions of each character over time. The impressions of each character were tracked in multiple brain regions.
Related Work:
Oh, D., Walker, M., & Freeman, J. B. (2021). Person knowledge shapes face identity perception. Cognition, 217, 104889.