Master of Science

thesisImpression formation is a ubiquitous socio-cognitive process underlying perceptions, judgments, and interactions with other people. Dominant theories regarding impression formation processes underscore the importance of social categorization (e.g., by race or gender). However, limited research has examined impression formation in the context of dual or ambiguous group membership. This research examined the consequences of being unable to categorize by investigating the influence of racial ambiguity on spontaneous trait inferences (STIs). Participants (N = 112) completed a savings-in-relearning paradigm, designed to measure the formation of STIs. STI formation for racially ambiguous and racially unambiguous (i.e., easily categorizable) faces was compared. Results suggest that racial ambiguity impaired perceiver's ability to form STIs, a basic impression formation process. Implications of these findings for social perception and social interaction are discussed