Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Taking Stock of Explicit and Implicit Prejudice
- 1 Report from the NSF Conference on Implicit Bias
- Section I What is Implicit Bias and (How) Can We Measure It?
- Introduction
- 2 Implicit Bias: What Is It?
- 3 Lessons from Two Decades of Project Implicit
- 4 Aversive Racism and Implicit Bias
- 5 Stretching the Limits of Science: Was the Implicit-Racism Debate a “Bridge Too Far” for Social Psychology?
- Section II Do Measures of Implicit Bias Predict Cognition and Behavior?
- Section III Challenges of Research on Implicit Bias
- Section IV Improving Measurement and Theorizing About Implicit Bias
- Section V How to Change Implicit Bias?
- Section VI Explicit Prejudice; Alive and Well?
- Section VII The Public’s (Mis)understanding of Implicit Bias
- Index
- References
2 - Implicit Bias: What Is It?
from Section I - What is Implicit Bias and (How) Can We Measure It?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 December 2024
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Taking Stock of Explicit and Implicit Prejudice
- 1 Report from the NSF Conference on Implicit Bias
- Section I What is Implicit Bias and (How) Can We Measure It?
- Introduction
- 2 Implicit Bias: What Is It?
- 3 Lessons from Two Decades of Project Implicit
- 4 Aversive Racism and Implicit Bias
- 5 Stretching the Limits of Science: Was the Implicit-Racism Debate a “Bridge Too Far” for Social Psychology?
- Section II Do Measures of Implicit Bias Predict Cognition and Behavior?
- Section III Challenges of Research on Implicit Bias
- Section IV Improving Measurement and Theorizing About Implicit Bias
- Section V How to Change Implicit Bias?
- Section VI Explicit Prejudice; Alive and Well?
- Section VII The Public’s (Mis)understanding of Implicit Bias
- Index
- References
Summary
We offer a conceptual framework by which to consider implicit bias. In contrast to a far too common presumption that implicit bias involves unconscious attitudes and stereotypes, i.e., ones for which individuals lack awareness, we emphasize a view of implicit bias as an effect of attitudes of which individuals are unaware. The perspective is grounded in decades of social psychological theory and research concerning the constructive nature of perception and the potential biasing influence of attitudes on perceptions and judgments. Attitudes that are automatically activated from memory can exert such a biasing influence, without individuals’ awareness that they have been affected. We articulate the advantages of such a perspective for both the science and the politics of implicit bias. We also discuss how individuals can overcome the influence of an automatically activated attitude, given appropriate motivation and opportunity to do so, and briefly review evidence concerning the joint influence of these factors on prejudicial judgments and behavior.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Implicit Bias and Racism , pp. 75 - 96Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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