This essay argues for the existence of a form of unconscious racism. Research on implicit prejudice provides good evidence that most persons have deeply held negative associations with minority groups that can lead to subtle discrimination without conscious awareness. The evidence for implicit attitudes is briefly reviewed. Criticisms of the implicit prejudice literature raised by Arkes and Tetlock (2004) are discussed, but found to be inconsistent with several findings of prejudice research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AignerDJCainG.1977. “The Statistical Theory of Discrimination in Labor Markets.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review30: 175–87.
2.
ArkesHal R.TetlockPhilip E.2004. “Attributions of Implicit Prejudice, or “Would Jesse Jackson ‘Fail’ the Implicit Association Test?”Psychological Inquiry24: 257–278.
3.
AyresIan2001. Pervasive Prejudice? Unconventional Evidence of Race and Gender Discrimination.Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
4.
BanajiMahzarinNosekBrian A.GreenwaldAnthony G.2004. “No place for Nostalgia in Science: A Response to Arkes and Tetlock.”Psychological Inquiry15: 279–310.
5.
BertrandM.MullainathanS.2004. “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination.”American Economic Review94: 991–1013.
6.
BleeKatherine2002. Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
7.
DevinePatricia1989. “Stereotypes and Prejudice: Their Automatic and Controlled Components.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology56: 5–18.
8.
DevinePatriciaElliotAndrew1995. “Are Racial Stereotypes Really Fading? The Princeton Trilogy Revisited.”Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin21: 1139–1142.
9.
DovidioJohn F.KawakamiKerryGaertnerSamuel L.2002. “Implicit and Explicit Prejudice and Interracial Interaction.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology82: 62–68.
10.
FazioR.OlsonM.2003. “Implicit Measures in Social Cognition Research: their Meaning and Use.”Annual Review of Psychology54: 297–327.
11.
GreenAlexanderCarneyDanaPallinDanielNgoLongRaymondKristalLezzoniLisaBanajiNahzarin Forthcoming. “Implicit Bias among Physicians and its Prediction of Thrombolysis Decisions for Black and White Patients.”Journal of General Internal Medicine..
12.
GreenwaldAnthony G.McGheeDebbie E.SchwartzJordan L.K.1998. “Measuring Individual Differences in Implicit Cognition: The Implicit Association Test.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology74: 1464–1480.
13.
KawakamiKerryDovidioJohnMollJasperHermsenSanderRussinAbby2000. “Just Say No (to Stereotyping): Effects of Training in the Negation of Stereotypic Association on Stereotype Activation.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology78: 871–888.
14.
LaneKristinBanajiMahzarinNosekBrianGreenwaldAnthony2007. “Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: IV.” Pp. 59–101 in Implicit Measures of Attitude, edited byWittenbrinkBerndSchwarzNorbert. New York: The Guilford Press.
15.
McConnellAllenLieboldJill2001. “Relations among the Implicit Association Test, Discriminatory Behavior, and Explicit Measures of Racial Attitudes.”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology37: 435–442.
16.
NoseckBrianBanajiMahzarinGreenwaldAnthony D.2002. “Harvesting Implicit Attitudes and Beliefs from a Demonstration Web Site.”Group Dynamics6: 101–115.
17.
PagerDevah2003. “The Mark of a Criminal Record.”American Journal of Sociology108: 937–75.
QuillianLincoln2006. “New Approaches to Understanding Racial Prejudice and Discrimination.”Annual Review of Sociology32: 299–328.
20.
Quillian, Lincoln and Devah Pager.2001. “Black Neighbors, Higher Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of Neighborhood Crime.”American Journal of Sociology107: 717–67.
21.
Quillian, Lincoln and Devah Pager.2007. “Estimating Risk: Stereotype Amplification and the Perceived Risk of Criminal Victimization.”Paper presented at the Institute for Research on Poverty Conference, Madison, WI, June.
22.
SchumanHowardSteehCharlotteBoboLawrenceKrysanMaria1997. Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations.Revised Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
23.
TurnerMargery A.RossStephen L.GalsterGeorge C.YingerJohn2002. Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets: National Results from Phase I HDS 2000.Washington D.C.: Urban Institute.
24.
WittenbrinkBerndJuddCharles M.ParkBernadette1997. “Evidence for Racial Prejudice at the Implicit Level and Its Relationship with Questionnaire Measures.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology72: 262–274.