uch of this research is surprising to those working for racial justice. To begin with the positive: White people appear to want to be fair and non-discriminatory when they are aware that they may be influenced by race. The study involving doctors showed this clearly; when the doctors were told that race had been shown to influence treatment decisions, all signs of racially different treatment disappeared. Jurors, too, wanted to be fair. In a jury study, four sets of jurors were asked to recommend conviction and sentencing for an assault charge: In the first scenario, a black man hits his white girlfriend in a bar. In the second, a white man hits his black girlfriend in a bar. In the third, the black man says, “How dare you laugh at a black man in public,” before he hits his girlfriend. And in the fourth, the white man says: “How dare you laugh at a white man in public.” White jurors recommended higher sentences for the black man than the white man in the first scenario, but not the fourth. In the fourth, race was an explicit issue, and the White jurors clearly wanted to be fair. In the first, it was more subtle, so their implicit biases affected their decision-making. Our challenges: the levels of implicit bias are very high, and the research is far more developed in measuring bias than effectively changing it. We know that people are less implicitly biased if they are exposed to “counter-stereotypical” individuals, but most white people lead very segregated lives. How does implicit bias tie into Claude Steele’s idea of stereotype threat? Stereotype threat refers to a person’s anxiety or fear that their performance on a difficult task will confirm a negative stereotype about their group. Claude Steele was able to illustrate this phenomena beginning in 1995 by having white and black undergraduates take a difficult verbal test. One group was told that this test was a measure of their verbal ability, while the other was told that the goal of the study was to learn how people experienced test-taking and that their score was not relevant. The students in both groups took the same difficult test, but there was a wide racial disparity in the performance of white and black students when they thought the test was “diagnostic” of their intelligence. The students’ scores were almost identical when they thought their score was not being measured. Hundreds of other studies have been done to confirm this finding, and it applies to all sorts of groups depending on the context. Implicit bias and stereotype threat are linked because both are a result of the strength of negative stereotypes about race and gender within our culture. And both occur without the individual knowing about them. How can those working in the field of social justice use these research findings to structure their messaging? The most important lesson is that if our messages accuse people of being racist, they will do more harm than good to our work. Because the vast majority of people consider racism to be immoral they will be highly resistant to any message that suggests that they or people like them are racist or biased. Some white people will experience guilt when confronted with a message suggesting that they are racist, but this group is a small minority who are likely to be our allies already. We need to appeal to people’s best selves, to encourage them to act on their conscious egalitarian values, and to create a broader coalition for social justice work. Learn More: United States, Rights & Justice, Black Male Achievement, Rights & Justice in the United States Add your voice 7 Comments chris banks posted on Jan 19, 2012 Well done Hayley! reply Valerie Ray posted on Jan 21, 2012 Great article! We have always been aware of this; now thanks to you we have a name to attach to it. reply Martin Luther K... posted on Jun 21, 2012 Usually I do not post on blogs, but I wish to say that this post really forced me to do so! Thanks, incredibly nice article.Thank you lots, I am obliged to announce that your blog is excellent! reply Larry posted on May 3, 2013 Genius - especially the part where the author exhibits their own implicit bias by only citing examples of white people exhibiting implicit bias. Was that intentional? reply Rick posted on Jun 13, 2013 Very interesting. The concept of Stereotype threat reminds me of the sociological definitions of self = sum of roles we play in society. So the stereotype threat is a role that society has picked out for us as a white person, as a latino male, etc., and the societal pressure to perform as expected is great. Probably the same societal pressure that exists for positive purposes as well.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 15:23:23 +0000
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