Perceived physical resemblance licenses presumptive knowledge of others’ inner lives

Evidence

Abstract familial connection – loosely sharing some traits or characteristics or bordered dispositions – becomes the basis in turn for an abstracted familiarity. This connection is well captured in the extraordinary body of Casta painting spanning eighteenth-century Mexico, those elaborations of early racial classification schemes predicated on miscegenation I discuss in the chapter on “racial latinamericanization” below, some of which explicitly linked racial types to behavioral, emotional, and moral characterizations. That we are alike in physically predicated ways is thought to entail that we are alike in other ways also. We share benefits, and no doubt burdens too, in ways family members are presumed to do. And perhaps we share more than this, an intuitive set of sensibilities and sentiments, sensitivities and resentments, likes and dislikes. The hint of concrete connectivity, however slight, becomes invested with value well beyond what the concrete bonds of connectivity alone can sustain. I can presume to know you because your somehow looking like me on supposedly crucial markers (skin color, hair texture, facial shape, mannerisms, ways of speaking, even dress and the like) suggests also social dispositions and perhaps even beliefs. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 70

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘abstracted familiarity from shared markers’ mechanism parallels the threatened-privilege status-signaling work — resemblance/groupness lubricates presumed shared interests that then convert to zero-sum threats when markers shift. — connects to: Perceived physical resemblance is presumed to entail shared dispositions and beliefs — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 70; Visible physical traits drive essentialist beliefs that link appearance to deeper traits — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 113; People simulate similar others’ minds but explain dissimilar others through general knowledge — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 381 (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Defines the mechanistic step connecting physical likeness to presumed psychosocial likeness — a candidate general mechanism component worth testing across identity axes.

Broader Connections

• Perceived physical resemblance is presumed to entail shared dispositions and beliefs #corroborates (0.92) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 70
• Visible physical traits drive essentialist beliefs that link appearance to deeper traits #expands (0.88) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 113
• People simulate similar others’ minds but explain dissimilar others through general knowledge #corroborates (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 381
• Perceived similarity to another person determines which mind-reading strategy is used #corroborates (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 380
• Physical resemblance triggers trait inferences while coordinated action triggers goal inferences #qualifies (0.78) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 229