A growing body of evidence demonstrates that perceivers recognize painful expressions less readily on Black (compared to White) faces. However, it is unclear how rapidly this bias emerges and whether it occurs automatically or effortfully—for example, via the deliberate application of consciously-held racialized beliefs regarding pain tolerance. Across five experiments we examined the speed and spontaneity of racial bias in pain perception. First, we observed that racial bias in pain perception was still evident under minimal presentation conditions (as brief as 33 ms) and was most apparent for ambiguous (versus high intensity) pain expressions (Exp. 1A-B). Notably, these findings generalized across both Black and White perceivers. Next, we manipulated the amount of cognitive load participants were under while viewing and rating Black and White faces in varying degrees of pain (Exps. 2A-C). Here, we observed that perceivers had more stringent thresholds for seeing pain on Black (versus White) faces regardless of whether participants were under high (versus low) load. Bayesian analyses of these data suggested strong evidence for the null hypothesis that racial bias in pain perception is not moderated by cognitive load. Together, these data demonstrate that racial bias in pain perception occurs rapidly, automatically, and with minimal visual input.

越来越多的证据表明，感知者不太容易识别黑色（与白色相比）脸上的痛苦表情。然而，目前尚不清楚这种偏见出现的速度有多快，以及它是自动发生还是努力发生——例如，通过有意识地应用关于疼痛耐受性的种族化信念。在五个实验中，我们检查了疼痛感知中种族偏见的速度和自发性。首先，我们观察到疼痛感知的种族偏见在最小呈现条件下（短至 33 毫秒）仍然很明显，并且对于模棱两可（相对于高强度）疼痛表达最为明显（实验 1A-B）。值得注意的是，这些发现普遍适用于黑人和白人感知者。下一个，我们控制了参与者在观察和评价不同程度疼痛的黑白面孔时所承受的认知负荷量（实验 2A-C）。在这里，我们观察到，无论参与者是否处于高（相对于低）负荷下，感知者在看到黑色（相对于白色）脸上的疼痛方面都有更严格的阈值。对这些数据的贝叶斯分析为无效假设提供了强有力的证据，即疼痛感知中的种族偏见不受认知负荷的影响。总之，这些数据表明，疼痛感知中的种族偏见会迅速、自动地以最少的视觉输入发生。对这些数据的贝叶斯分析为无效假设提供了强有力的证据，即疼痛感知中的种族偏见不受认知负荷的影响。总之，这些数据表明，疼痛感知中的种族偏见会迅速、自动地以最少的视觉输入发生。对这些数据的贝叶斯分析为无效假设提供了强有力的证据，即疼痛感知中的种族偏见不受认知负荷的影响。总之，这些数据表明，疼痛感知中的种族偏见会迅速、自动地以最少的视觉输入发生。