Implicit Racial Bias

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   Study 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this study, we seek to understand the causes and consequences of implicit bias toward black males.

Drawing on a racially diverse sample from Philadelphia, we find evidence that threat sensitivity increases implicit racial bias, but only among white participants. Here, we measure threat sensitivity from participants electrodermal reactions to threatening images and we measure implicit racial bias using the Implicit Attitude Test.

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   Study 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a related study, we find that as implicit racial bias increases, participants are more likely to blame protesters for causing violence when the protests are described as organized by Black Lives Matters, whereas they are less likely to blame protesters for violence if they are attributed to Blue Lives Matter.

Taken together, these findings illustrate how racial attitudes are rooted (for whites) in concerns about existential threats and how they, in turn, shape attitudes toward police.

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