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Cited by 870Social and Intergroup PsychologyRacial and Ethnic Identity ResearchEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Can race be erased? Coalitional computation and social categorization.

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Kurzban, Robert, Tooby, John, Cosmides, Leda·2001·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.251541498PMC PMC65039
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Abstract

Previous studies have established that people encode the race of each individual they encounter, and do so via computational processes that appear to be both automatic and mandatory. If true, this conclusion would be important, because categorizing others by their race is a precondition for treating them differently according to race. Here we report experiments, using unobtrusive measures, showing that categorizing individuals by race is not inevitable, and supporting an alternative hypothesis: that encoding by race is instead a reversible byproduct of cognitive machinery that evolved to detect coalitional alliances. The results show that subjects encode coalitional affiliations as a normal part of person representation. More importantly, when cues of coalitional affiliation no longer track or correspond to race, subjects markedly reduce the extent to which they categorize others by race, and indeed may cease doing so entirely. Despite a lifetime's experience of race as a predictor of social alliance, less than 4 min of exposure to an alternate social world was enough to deflate the tendency to categorize by race. These results suggest that racism may be a volatile and eradicable construct that persists only so long as it is actively maintained through being linked to parallel systems of social alliance.

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  • The origin of humans' sensitivity to group-boundaries results more from cultural markers rather than from racism (boundaries according to phenotypic markers).

    “This could be a reason why the origin of humans' sensitivity to group-boundaries, as elaborated e.g. by social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982), results more from cultural markers rather than from racism (boundaries according to phenotypic markers) (Kurzban et al., 2001).”

    From Durkheim, Indoctrinability and the Moral Ambivalence of Human Sociality (2026) · cites this paper as Kurzban et al., 2001

    The Abstract proposes that sensitivity to coalitions and alliances, rather than an innate tendency to encode race, underlies racial categorization; it lists dress and dialect among possible cues. But it does not identify cultural markers as the primary origin of group-boundary sensitivity or establish that they generally matter more than phenotypic markers. The Results show that an arbitrary shirt-color cue outweighed race in a particular experimental setting. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In [28], an experiment showed that racial categorizations can be eliminated in favor of categorization by membership of a cross-racial coalition.

    “For example, in [28] an experiment is reported that shows that racial categorizations can be eliminated in favor of categorization by membership of a cross-racial coalition.”

    From First person experience of body transfer in virtual reality (2010) · cites this paper as [28]

  • Gender categorization is known to be persistent.

    “Gender categorization is known to be persistent.”

    From First person experience of body transfer in virtual reality (2010) · cites this paper as [28]

  • When the same technique was applied to gender categorization, the effect of gender could not be extinguished.

    “When the same technique was applied to gender categorization the effect of gender could not be extinguished.”

    From First person experience of body transfer in virtual reality (2010) · cites this paper as [28]

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Research works printed but not linked: 20

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Related

Authors
Kurzban, R., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L.
Affiliations
University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2001-12-11
Volume
98
Issue
26
Pages
15387-15392
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.251541498
PMC
PMC65039
OpenAlex
W2017014848
Cited by
870
References
17
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 69 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 61
FWCI
23.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
racial classification, social categorization, person representation, racism, social cognition, person perception
MeSH terms
Humans, Social Identification, Racial Groups

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