"They all look alike": Understanding the "other race effect"

[AGDLynn]

My sorority sister was offended when I said she was from Atlanta, she said "I'm from Marietta, not Atlanta!".


That was the first semester away from home...45 miles on the east side of Atlanta and UWG was about 30 minutes west of Atlanta so everything else was Atlanta.

When I am out of state these days, people ask me where I'm from and I say "Atlanta...or at least 30 minutes south of the Atl airport or 45 minutes east".

[knight_shadow]

I don't think I've ever tried to guess someone's ethnicity/race. If the topic comes up, I will generally ask the person what his/her background is.

Ex. Instead of "You're Mexican, right?" I'll ask "What is your background?" or something. Easy fix.

[DTD Alum]

It's funny, I have a hard time telling just about anybody apart for the first few times I meet them. I am terrible with faces no matter what the race and it usually takes a couple interactions before I can pick you out of a crowd. On the other hand, I can remember people's first and last names much easier than any of my friends. I will say that I am better at remembering and differentiating faces of my own race than I am with other races, but I'm pretty hopeless either way.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by DTD Alum

It's funny, I have a hard time telling just about anybody apart for the first few times I meet them. I am terrible with faces no matter what the race and it usually takes a couple interactions before I can pick you out of a crowd. On the other hand, I can remember people's first and last names much easier than any of my friends. I will say that I am better at remembering and differentiating faces of my own race than I am with other races, but I'm pretty hopeless either way.

Me too, more or less.

I am pretty good at telling ethnic Koreans from other Asians, but that's about it.

[tld221]

I worked with a girl who "no one" could tell apart. Our residents, RAs and even our RD would start convos with one of us and continue it the next day with the other.


I'd just *blank stare* until they realized I wasn't her. Then followed by the awkward "omgz, you look JUST ALIKE, you even sound the same."


Me: 5' 7", dark, clear skin, from nyc w/ an accent to match, contacts, and I worked there almost a year before co-worker!
Her: 5' 10", a little lighter, acne-d skin, from florida w/ accent to match, glasses, braces.


We just combined our names and when faced w/ mix-up, laugh it off w/ a "I know we have the same smile..."


So yeah, I hear what Dr. Phil is saying.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by tld221

I worked with a girl who "no one" could tell apart. Our residents, RAs and even our RD would start convos with one of us and continue it the next day with the other.


I'd just *blank stare* until they realized I wasn't her. Then followed by the awkward "omgz, you look JUST ALIKE, you even sound the same."


Me: 5' 7", dark, clear skin, from nyc w/ an accent to match, contacts, and I worked there almost a year before co-worker!
Her: 5' 10", a little lighter, acne-d skin, from florida w/ accent to match, glasses, braces.


We just combined our names and when faced w/ mix-up, laugh it off w/ a "I know we have the same smile..."


So yeah, I hear what Dr. Phil is saying.

Yes and I hear what you and rhoyaltempest are saying. Based on such trends, whites are generally mistaken for other whites less often because:

1) Whites are less likely than racial and ethnic minorities to have substantial interracial interactions and associations. Being around other white people most of the time, with exception for the relatively few instances when you are not, does not lend itself to being mistaken for other white people. Plus, in looking at dominant-minority relations, particular statuses do not lend themselves to mistaking that white person for another white person. Even if you think "they" all look alike, you better damn well know that they aren't the same person if this is a person who has some level of power over you.

2) This is a generally segregated country and world so people's knowledge of "others" will operate accordingly, similar to what Drolefille said but without the dominant-minority relations approach. Being the sprinkle of brown in majority nonbrown settings can lend itself to being confused for another brown person particularly if brown people are not considered "worth" recognizing and distinguishing which is what rhoyaltempest was saying.

In other words, these researchers had a particular research question that asks "why" in the literal sense of the imagery and psychology of it all but not in the social sense of "why." Their findings will be taken within context and critiqued as all research is.

[christiangirl]

Ditto, TLD! Co-worker and I get mixed up at least once a day. We don't even work on the same floor and never have. Racial nuances aside, there's no reason for us to be mistaken for each other.

Me: Lighter-skinned, medium length natural hair, curvy
Her: Dark-skinned, long natural hair, heavy

One day, she snapped and yelled, "Oh you think I'm CG? Cuz all the black people look alike, right?"

I can tell the difference between a Chinese and Korean name before I can a face. I just don't know the features well enough to do that. I know that they look "different" but I never remember which features go with which label. I think that, in general, it's the Europeans who identify by their country of origin anyway. The general population don't usually bother to get any more specific than African-American and Asian-American, Latino, etc. On average, I think a white person will be quicker to point out their Irish ancestors than a Black person will pinpoint Madagascar (noting that part of this may be because a good percentage of Black people don't know from which country their ancestors came).

ETA: Dang, y'all replied fast. The "Ditto" was aimed at TLD. And I see what you're saying DP, that makes sense.

[DrPhil]

So the nonwhite GCers have shared stories.

Do the GC white folks want to share a "we all look alike" story in which they were confused for another white person? Perhaps a white person who they look like and/or a white person who they look NOTHING alike.

This is white folks' opportunity to be the "what do whites (your people) think about this" representatives. That's a rarity.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

So the nonwhite GCers have shared stories.

Do the GC white folks want to share a "we all look alike" story in which they were confused for another white person? Perhaps a white person who they look like and/or a white person who they look NOTHING alike.

This is white folks' opportunity to be the "what do whites (your people) think about this" representatives. That's a rarity.

Oh, you.

And you've said pretty much everything I would have said in this thread, including the distinction between the actual study and some of the broader societal issues.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Do the GC white folks want to share a "we all look alike" story in which they were confused for another white person? Perhaps a white person who they look like and/or a white person who they look NOTHING alike.

Happens all the time...especially when comparing people to stars and stuff.

I don't look much like Mark Wahlberg or Kenny Chesney, yet I've gotten both of them.

Also use to be mistaken as Asian, especially southeast Asian during the summer time. I called the University doucher judicial board justice a racist for saying I was high during an interview. I told her I was half asian that's why my eyes were closed.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Happens all the time...especially when comparing people to stars and stuff.

I don't look much like Mark Wahlberg or Kenny Chesney, yet I've gotten both of them.

Interesting. I would wager to say that there are plenty of white stars the people could compare you to if you look nothing like Wahlberg or Chesney. LOL.

Were you mistaken for Mark Wahlberg and Kenny Chesney? Have you ever been mistaken for another white person?

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Interesting. I would wager to say that there are plenty of white stars the people could compare you to if you look nothing like Wahlberg or Chesney. LOL.

Were you mistaken for Mark Wahlberg and Kenny Chesney? Have you ever been mistaken for another white person?

I have. It was a problem at a camp I worked at one summer, because several superiors constantly confused myself and another girl, and we were counselors in two different cabins. We both had brown hair and eyes, but she is significantly taller than I am and our faces are not alike at all. I just assumed it was because of our hair and eyes and because we were about the same size (except in height). It's also happened to me in a couple of classes. In one, the professor kept mixing up myself and the girl that usually sat two rows behind me. They'd mark her absent when I was and vice versa. Again, brown hair and brown eyes, and about the same size. Her face is much slimmer than mine and her nose is much smaller. It drove her crazy, too. In the other, about the same thing happened, but it didn't take nearly as long for the professor to get us straight (about 3 classes). This one was not very good with names, either, though so maybe they're just really bad at differentiating people in general.

One of my blond and tan friends (very popular look down here) has one of those faces that just looks familiar. We'll go to the mall and people will call her someone else's name...it happens all the time. She does honestly look a little like Carrie Underwood, but for some reason she never gets that, just people thinking she's their friend. She must just have a generic sort of face and I'm very sure the blond and tan combo doesn't help.

ETA: I almost forgot the biggest one...I have a cousin with the same last name as mine and we were in the same grade from junior high to high school...my first name is the same as her middle name. So I understand the names can be confusing, but the lunch lady would charge our things to each others' counts, without fail unless we remembered to tell her who we were twice to make sure she chose the right one. When we registered every fall, voted for class president, all that stuff we had to double check to make sure they had gotten the right person with the right name. The thing is, we look nothing alike. Nothing. Different hair and eye colors, dramatically different body types and heights, no similar facial features, very different voices...nothing in common but the names.

[DrPhil]

AGDee and Alumiyum, are these nonwhites who were confusing you with another white person?

I notice differences between the stories the white GCers have shared as compared to the nonwhite GCers.

[VandalSquirrel]

I can tell the difference among varying groups of people within a region but I grew up in a area that was very diverse and taken a lot of course work in physical anthropology. The thing is that many people are multi or biracial and even within a regional group there are variations. Furthering that, a trait from the past can pop up due to independent assortment and make someone appear to be from a different group. I've heard/seen this most from Native Americans/Alaska Native/First Nations people of the arctic who are often mistaken for being Asian.

I've been one of two white women in a work place of a few hundred and we were never mistaken for each other. When a customer said they were helped by a white lady they knew to call me or the other woman, but we were different heights and age, as well as working different departments. I've usually taken someone calling me by the wrong name in stride as if a parent called a kid by their sibling's or pet's name, brain misfiring. If someone is a complete jackass and always spells my name wrong, forgetting a vowel or adding consonants, then I get irritated.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

In YOUR opinion...as "someone of color". See thread title.

My $0.02 as the white person here...I tend to identify caucasians by hair color. I think other whites do as well. Example: When I started dying my hair red, people in my church started mistaking me for another redhead in our church. Even people who had known us for years couldn't tell us apart from behind, and she's got a good 4 inches on me.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I do too, at least at first. That said, I think I do identify by differences in skin tone as well.

I identify caucasians by hair color and eye color.

Originally Posted by DTD Alum

It's funny, I have a hard time telling just about anybody apart for the first few times I meet them. I am terrible with faces no matter what the race and it usually takes a couple interactions before I can pick you out of a crowd. On the other hand, I can remember people's first and last names much easier than any of my friends. I will say that I am better at remembering and differentiating faces of my own race than I am with other races, but I'm pretty hopeless either way.

If I run into someone in a different setting than where I usually see them, I often don't recognize them at first. I'm really really horrible with names. It's embarrassing. Sometimes I introduce myself to someone who I've already met. It's awful.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

So the nonwhite GCers have shared stories.

Do the GC white folks want to share a "we all look alike" story in which they were confused for another white person? Perhaps a white person who they look like and/or a white person who they look NOTHING alike.

This is white folks' opportunity to be the "what do whites (your people) think about this" representatives. That's a rarity.

My sister-daughter and I were mistaken for each other all the time, even by our sorority sisters. We hung out together a lot and lived together, we had similar body types and hair color but my hair was long, hers was short, she has green eyes, I have brown. I have a big Italian nose, she has the tiniest nose of anybody I've ever seen. I don't think we look that much alike, just body type and hair color but that was obviously enough for people to confuse us.
There are pics of us somewhere here, probably in the retro thread.

I have two co-workers, young, female epidemiolgists who started the same week. They both have long dark hair but one has very dark brown eyes and is really stunning. The other has hazel eyes and is, well, not stunning at all. Some people didn't even realize they were two different people. When they were sitting next to each other at a meeting one day, three different people said to them "There are two of you?"

And, the oddest one.. there is another epidemiologist who seems to change her hair color every other week. Sometimes she wears glasses, sometimes contacts. Sometimes she wears her hair up, sometimes down. Each of those changes makes her look TOTALLY different. I don't recognize her sometimes and she's been in our department for 4 or 5 years now. It is really bizarre how completely different she can make herself look.

ETA: Found the pic with my sister-daughter that people confused me with. Wow, we did have the same hair length at one time. You can't tell in the picture that her eyes are super green either. http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...39#post1756939 We look more alike that I thought.