investigator?s abstract): Unconscious attitudes such as implicit racism can produce unintended discrimination that inhibits equal opportunity for minority groups. The goal of the proposed research is to conduct an in-depth examination of unconscious race attitudes in order to discover methods for reducing unintended discrimination. Three sets of experiments are proposed using behavioral measures, experimental manipulations, and the Implicit Association Test a computerized measure of implicit attitudes that assesses the unconscious endorsement of in-group favoritism and out-group bias.
Specific aims of the experiments are to (1) examine if super ordinate grouping experience (Black and White together) reduces implicit racism, (2) determine if the targets of implicit racism generalize to infants as well as adults of ethnic minority groups, (3) assess how implicit attitudes affect behaviors that are simultaneously controlled and reflexive (e.g., smiling), and (4) examine how a position of power (high versus low) influences self-concept and implicit intergroup bias. The proposed research makes two central contributions to the psychology of unconscious social cognition and stereotyping by (1) showing how implicit race attitudes reflect, create, and bias social situations, and (2) identifying the features of social cognition and social situations that can be used to reduce implicit stereotyping. The research is intended to be useful to social scientists interested in reducing prejudice and racism as well as to public policy makers seeking to identify and decrease subtle biases that inhibit equal opportunity and opportunity and advancement for minority groups.
