Why do some people have a hard time approximating the age of someone from a different race?

Question

And sometimes when watching a movie with people different from one's own race, why is it sometimes a person has a hard time differentiating the people?

I think I have read or heard somewhere that when we differentiate people we look to a certain point of the face and that point varies for different racial groups. If that is so, what point of the face do Europeans look to, and Asians, Africans, etc.?

Its an interesting topic

Answer 1

I knew some older Thai women.  I couldn't believe how young they looked.  It is hard to believe that it wasn't due to eating better or something different about them.  There are people who just seem to age faster.  It seems likely that some races may show their age to a lesser degree if from either environmental or genetic reasons.

Answer 2

It has to do with familiariaity.  When I knew no Blacks, I thought they all looked alike,  After going to college which was about 40% Black, I learned the differences and can them apart now.

I do not know any Oriental people.  If I meet them, I think I can learn to tell them apart by being open to more clues, than when I was younger/

Answer 3

it is hard to tell because black doesn't crack.

Answer 4

Simply from a lack of familiarity. If you tried to guess the age of a ferret, you'd be hard pushed. Spend a year breeding ferrets and you'd have a better clue.