IAT Race Test

The IAT Race test gauges the strength of mental associations that people have on different races. Through the results of the test, one can ascertain their association of different attributes with different races. For instance, majority of the people are more likely to associate pleasant words with white people. In contrast, most of the results show that black people are associated with unpleasant words. In light of this development, there are concerns that the larger America is racist in a natural sense. More worrying is perhaps the fact that most people are racist without even knowing it.

The concept used in administering the test is based on the assumption that people will associate good things with people they prefer. Additionally, people are more likely to attach unpleasant words to people from racial backgrounds that they detest. The concept is further supported by the nature of humans to prejudice against the out-group. However, the concept is rather flawed as it drives people to associate black people with negative words at first. Consequently, the concept succeeds in making people associate white people with pleasant words.

The test results suggested that I had a moderate automatic preference for white people over black people. Initially, the results of the test were rather shocking to me as I never harbored any racial bias. The results instilled guilt in me guilty at the thought of being a racist when my values are against such sentiments. However, it is also true that racism is a social construction and we are all part of the human race. Therefore, the results built an urge within me to respect every person regardless of their race.

 

 
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