There is no I in team...but there is one in prejudice.

Whether conscious or subconscious we all hold stereotypes and prejudices due to our natural social categorizations and our social learning. In the past, stereotypes and prejudices were much more obvious and shown through deliberate discrimination between groups. Nowadays this discrimination is more likely to be displayed when it is "safe" and unlikely to be detected because people want to see themselves as fair although they may still harbor feelings of discomfort towards other groups (Hass et al., 1992).

The Implicit Association Test, also known as the IAT, is a measure that helps to detect and compute a person’s unconscious thoughts and feelings about different groups (Greenwald et al., 1998). It does this by having participants complete a word/picture association task. An example of how this is done is shown to the left.

A participant completing an African American - European American IAT will be shown a computer screen with the word "Black" and "Good" in the top left-hand corner and the word "White" and "Bad" in the top right-hand corner. In the middle of the screen a picture that is associated with either the "Black" or "White" category will be shown. The participant is asked to sort each of the pictures into the correct “Black/Good” or “White/Bad” category by pressing the “e” key (representing the left side of the screen) or “i” key (representing the right side of the screen). Before taking the IAT participants are told to respond as fast as possible to the images they see; therefore, the reaction times become directly associated with one’s unconscious thoughts and feelings. If a participants reaction time is faster when pairing the "Good" terms and pictures of black faces than when pairing the "Good" terms and pictures of white faces, this person may unconsciously associate "Black" and "Good" and ""White" and "Bad". 

As I looked through the numerous IAT tests to decide which I would prefer to take, 3 of the IAT tests stood out: the African American - European American IAT, the Fat-Thin IAT, and the Religions IAT.

The first test I completed was exactly like the IAT explained above (the African American - European American IAT). The results showed a moderate automatic preference for white people compared to African American people. These results were not consistent with my prior beliefs about my behavior towards this group. Throughout my life I believe that I have had more contact with African Americans then European Americans. Growing up in South Austin and going to Akins High School, European Americans were the minority compared to Hispanics and African Americans and although my best friend is White, my other half is African American.   

I believe that this IAT is showing an attitude that is consistent with my culture as an American. As an American, African Americans are often viewed as more unfavorable or the minority. Growing up in America I believe that although I may not consciously know that I prefer Whites over African Americans I have been taught that that is the more favorable choice. Despite the fact that I was not aware of my preference for Whites I understand where and how it may have been created. Completing the IAT has made me think about my prejudices very differently. I am now more aware of them and will no doubt think about the results of my IAT when interacting with White or African Americans and when having to choose between the two groups.

As a former athlete my health and weight are very important to me. This is why the second IAT I chose to complete was the Fat-Thin IAT. The results showed a moderate automatic preference for thin people compared to fat people. I believe that the results were pretty much consistent with my conscious beliefs about my behavior towards this group and because of this I believe that the IAT is showing my true attitudes. I am very self conscious about my weight (especially because I am no longer an athlete and have every opportunity to become fat) and sadly a part of me believes that if I become completely okay with others being overweight I may become overweight myself and that scares me. Because I know that it is not right to treat people that are thin/fat differently and my beliefs were confirmed, in the future I will think about my IAT results and try to change this prejudice of mine.
The last IAT I chose to complete was the Religions IAT. As many of you may or may not know I was formally a Phi Lamb and (although I have become more liberal) I am still moderately religious; this is why I chose to take this IAT. The results showed that my thoughts of Christianity and Judaism are significantly more positive then my thoughts about Islam and Buddhism. My results were somewhat inconsistent with my beliefs about my behavior towards these groups. Me being more favorable towards Christianity would make sense because I am a Christian but for me to have equal positive thoughts towards Judaism? Maybe it is because the two are similar? Or maybe they aren’t? I honesty have no idea. I believe that the IAT is showing not my prejudice but how little knowledge I have about the other three religions.

For the Religions IAT I had to sort certain words that were associated with a certain religion. I did not recognize many of the words to be associated with the certain religion they were assigned to therefore I believe that the results are inaccurate. Because I do not agree with the results, I will probably not think about them very much in the future. I may however take the time to learn about and appreciate other religions like Buddhism or Islam more.

Overall, I think that taking the different IATs was beneficial for me and others around me. Now that I better understand my implicit thoughts and feelings I can work on myself and changing my prejudices.

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Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464 - 1480.

Hass, R.G., Katz, I., Rizzo, N., Bailey, J., & Moore, L. (1992). When racial ambivalence evokes negative affect, using a disguised measure of mood. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 786-797.