In taking the Harvard Implicit Association Test I was surprised by my results. I took the test associated with guns and race. In choosing this test I was sure I would have bias. I was raised in a very red area in which white americans are proud and obnoxious gun owners. When returning home to visit I purposely avoid places where there are gun rights activists and trump supporters, as I feel incredibly uncomfortable. I fear that if they knew my views some may get angry and try to start an argument. My results read that I have “little or no automatic association between weapons and harmless objects with White Americans and Black Americans.” These results made me wonder that if response time truly and accurately can predict biases. There are a variety of other IAT tests in which I plan to take to test if my response time is the issue here. I am glad that the results indicated that I do not have a bias, although I question the validity of this test and wonder if it is truly measuring implicit bias, or purely response rate? I wonder if my avoidant behavior might be telling of another story.
One reason I believe could have affected my test results is that I am habituated to this issue because of where I was raised. Even though I feel like I am biased, it is not reflected in my response rate. I do wonder if habituation and consistent exposure to an issue, that participants have likely processed extensively, would throw off the results of a test like this? Harvard does caution against using the IAT tests to predict individual behavior in an employment setting, for example. This is important to remember, as the implications of this research is to be interpreted as a generalization and at a societal level.
Despite my results of this test, and my questioning of its validity, I do know that I have implicit biases in many areas. There is real world experience to prove implicit biases exist. For example, infant and maternal health care for Black women in the US is much worse than that of other countries. Implicit bias is particularly apparent in health care fields, and should be a priority in addressing means of change. Unfortunately, these disparities are consistent for Black citizens among many issues in the United States.
Implicit biases are inevitable in society and rather than avoid the fact that we have them, it is important to address them head on. Rather than shame people who have biases, we should normalize them and teach ways in which we can learn and become informed to inspire much needed change in society.
