# Picture a scientist: classification images of scientists are perceived as White, male, and socially inept

## TL;DR

This study shows that people's mental images of scientists are mostly White, male, and socially awkward, reflecting common stereotypes.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel use of classification images to uncover stereotypes about social categories like scientists.

## Key findings

- The scientist image was perceived as predominantly White and male.
- Scientists were rated more negatively than other categories as unsociable and poor communicators.
- The method reveals how stereotypes about social groups are mentally represented.

## Abstract

Stereotypes and biases toward social categories are often reflected in mental representations of faces. The current study used a two-phase reverse correlation procedure to visualize mental representations of the faces of a scientist, a hero, a genius, and a person.

In the first phase, 20 participants completed four blocks of a two-image forced-choice task. In each block, they selected which face from a pair resembled one of the four categories. The images they selected were averaged to create classification images (CIs), which serve as proxy images for their mental representations of the four categories. In the second phase of the study, 251 naive participants rated the CIs based on various valence and demographic characteristics.

We found that the scientist image was rated predominantly as White and male, which reflects stereotypes about who pursues scientific careers. The scientist image was also rated more negatively than the other CIs on several characteristics, which may indicate negative biases toward scientists as unsociable, poor communicators, and incompetent authority figures, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These findings deepen our understanding of how social categories are represented and demonstrate how the CI method can reveal stereotypes and attitudes related to these social categories.