Implicit Stereotyping and Prejudice: Strategies and Processes of Change

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This project capitalizes upon current understanding of implicit attitudes in social psychology. The study of implicit processes has been especially prevalent in the area of stereotyping and prejudice where researchers have determined that attitudes and associations activated implicitly may be consistent with or strikingly contradictory to attitudes activated explicitly. For example, White people's explicit attitudes may lead them to espouse egalitarian and non-prejudiced attitudes toward African Americans. However, various cognitive, motivational and social processes can simultaneously lead to negative implicit attitudes and stereotypic associations in relation to African Americans. These associations have been linked to discriminatory outcomes in many domains, including education, psychological health, employment outcomes, medical care, and policing. Therefore, understanding how implicit biases can be changed is critically important not only for advances in our knowledge of attitudes, but also for reducing the pervasive consequences of implicit prejudice. The purpose of the research in this grant is to improve understanding of the potential effectiveness of different strategies for changing implicit attitudes, the time course and persistence of change brought about through these strategies, as well as the underlying processes through which change may be achieved. In addition, the research examines the effects of implicit bias reduction strategies on judgmental and evaluative behavioral outcomes in short and long term contexts, and with respect to interracial interactions. The first set of experiments examines the effectiveness of intergroup bias reduction strategies among Whites. The second set of experiments examines the effects of the change strategies on judgmental and evaluative behavioral outcomes. The final set of experiments focuses on the outcomes of implicit bias change among members of stereotyped groups who have negative implicit biases related to their own group. Ultimately, this research will advance current understanding of the interplay of automatic and controlled processes by providing and testing a framework of implicit bias change.