Racial Context Modulates Psychophysiological Responses in an Asian Sample: Differences in General Arousal Rather Than Associative Fear Learning

This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. Racial Context Modulates Psychophysiological Responses in an Asian Sample: Differences in General Arousal Rather Than Associative Fear Learning Abstract Previous research in primarily Western samples has suggested that conditioned fear to racial out-group faces is resistant to extinction, supporting the idea that social threat learning may be evolutionarily prepared. However, the generalizability of this phenomenon to non-Western populations and the mechanisms underlying group differences remain unclear. In this study, seventy-nine Chinese participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups and conditioned with Asian, Black, or White facial stimuli. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded throughout acquisition, extinction, and re-extinction phases. Linear mixed-effects modelling confirmed successful differential conditioning (CS+ > CS−) and effective extinction across all groups. Critically, no significant interaction between group, stimulus, and phase type emerged in any phase, suggesting that associative learning and extinction mechanisms were comparable regardless of racial context. Instead, participants conditioned with White faces consistently exhibited higher overall SCRs—indicating heightened general physiological arousal—compared to those conditioned with Asian faces. This group difference persisted during extinction but diminished during re-extinction, suggesting that extended extinction training normalized physiological arousal across groups. These findings indicate that, among Chinese participants, the racial context of conditioned stimuli primarily modulates general vigilance or arousal rather than the efficiency of associative fear learning. This distinction challenges the universality of the “resistant extinction” effect observed in Western samples and suggests that previously reported group differences may reflect broader disparities in baseline arousal rather than differences in associative processes. The results underscore the importance of including diverse populations in psychophysiological research to clarify how social context and cultural background shape fear learning and regulation. Supplementary Material File (race_fear_manuscript_r1101.docx) - Download - 1.27 MB Information & Authors Information Version history Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 190views 111downloads Citations Download citation Jingchu Hu, Zhiying Zheng, Xiaodi Wang. Racial Context Modulates Psychophysiological Responses in an Asian Sample: Differences in General Arousal Rather Than Associative Fear Learning. Authorea. 01 November 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176199491.19532653/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176199491.19532653/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.