Exploring My Unconscious Racial Bias: Results From IAT Test - Essay Sample

introduction

I completed the Racial Bias. Black/White Adults or the skin tone Implicit Association Test (IAT) that required the ability to recognize the light and dark-skinned faces. As expected and suggested the results usually reveals a spontaneous preference of light-skinned to dark-skinned faces. After the test completion, my results showed a light-skinned preference to dark skin. I must note that I strongly agree with the results the IAT gave me. On an honest and explicit remark, I was not surprised with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) for I claim to understand myself very well. That being said, before even undertaking the test, I knew which side of the spectrum I was going to fall under. Besides, I carried out other Implicit Association Test to see if the results will surprise me, but I was not surprised by any of the outcomes from the tests that I undertook. The other tests I took was gender-career and weapons.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

There is no reason to be afraid of the results of the Implicit Association Test. According to my results, the findings suggested a strong preference for light-skinned people to dark-skinned people. The results are valid to me. In other words, I see being light-skinned as something positive and dark-skinned as a color that is mostly associated with mostly negativity. Which makes perfect sense according to the environment I was brought up. From elementary school, high school, and even beyond the black Americans were always teased, criticized, and also beaten up because of their color. Anyone who grew up with this set of the standards going on will have some prejudice concerning more burdensome set individuals. I cannot name any individual whom I know, Who would not have produced similar results had they been presented to the same belief system as I was in my tender age. Not unless, of course, the individual had a robust set of people around them appealing or has a family or a very close friend who has that affliction.

I cannot state with complete certainty and confidence if these if the results meticulously resemble my own beliefs in the present life. I can appreciate how somebody who was raised with a negative of heavyset persons could have some persistent prejudice. But I have confidence as we mature, we develop our own beliefs autonomous of our cultural standards and upbringing.

Causes of Prejudicial Attitudes and Discriminatory Behaviors

The term prejudice refers to prejudgment (Nemec, 2015). Sometimes the word bias can also be used to illustrate prejudice (Whitley Jr, 2016). A person can be said to be prejudiced when they have a formed opinion or attitude towards a particular group of people before having adequate information on which to create a knowledgeable view (Nemec, 2015). An undesirable prejudice is when the attitude towards the member of the specific social group is hostile. While a positive prejudice is when there is a duly friendly and welcoming attitude towards the group. The target groups for prejudice in most cases are distinguished by any these features, which include, age, sexual orientation, gender, social class, race, religion, language only to mention a few.

Prejudice is not just a feeling or emotion, a personality trait, or a habit. Prejudice is more of an attitude that is influenced by church groups, family, close friends, and experiences that are first hand (Whitley Jr, 2016). A prejudiced individual is one who has a strong belief that one group. In most cases, his own is superior in some way to the other group or possesses an added advantage over the other social group. Some of the causes of prejudice include.

Socialization

Prejudice is taught and encouraged by socialization. Individuals involvements in social attitudes around them from a very tender age (Nemec, 2015). The family history of acceptance forms a person's personality. As children, they learn prejudice largely so unconscious as part of the whole society. As time goes, they learn prejudice not only from family but also, churches, teachers, and peer groups.

Ethnocentrism and Social Status

The need to maintain or to elevate one social status can also contribute to the growth and prejudice establishment (Nemec, 2015). These desires can promote an individual or a group of people to have prejudices and discriminate against the minority. Possibly the person or the group of people is in a truncated socioeconomic situation. Hence out of fear of completion, they tend to feel superior over someone.

Threats and Fear

Threats and fear to a group or an individual can also result in prejudice (Whitley Jr, 2016). The danger sometimes can be imaginable or real. Threats include physical violence and loss of financial wellbeing and material affluence. An instance of these would be the new immigrant threats coming into a country where job competition is at a high rate. Also, when one group starts the believe that the other group is obtaining prestige, emotions such as anger or frustrations sets in, and this may trigger prejudice towards that particular group (Nemec, 2015).

On a general validity and reliability of The Implicit Association Test (IAT), it has the potential to be a remarkable, powerful tool, but it has got problems. Something as diverse as prejudice. However, how much human beings try to simplify it. They cannot be summed up in a ten-minute survey or test, regardless of how the questions have been framed and worded, or the participants time of responding. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) only gauges how first a person responds to what was placed on the screen. And not an individual's beliefs.

References

Blair, I. V., Judd, C. M., Havranek, E. P., & Steiner, J. F. (2015). Using community data to test the discriminant validity of ethnic/racial group IATs. Zeitschrift fur Psychologie/Journal of Psychology.

Lowes, S., Nunn, N., Robinson, J. A., & Weigel, J. (2015). Understanding ethnic identity in africa: Evidence from the implicit association test (iat). American Economic Review, 105(5), 340-45.

Nemec, P. B., Swarbrick, M., & Legere, L. (2015). Prejudice and discrimination from mental health service providers. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 38(2), 203.

Whitley Jr, B. E., & Kite, M. E. (2016). Psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Routledge.