Does the Implicit Association Test (IAT) Measure Racial Prejudice?

[Keny]

ISSUE 15. Does the Implicit Association Test (IAT) Measure Racial Prejudice?

YES: CHRIS BERDIK, FROM “INVISIBLE BIAS,” BOSTON GLOBE (DECEMBER 19, 2004)

NO: AMY WAX AND PHILIP E. TETLOCK, FROM “WE ARE ALL RACISTS AT HEART,” WALL STREET JOURNAL (DECEMBER 1, 2005)

The performance of most white Americans on the Implicit Association Test reflects hidden or "implicit" racial prejudice. Since implicit prejudice can result in discriminatory behavior toward African-Americans, it is appropriate to consider scores on the Implicit Association Test to be a form of racial prejudice. Most white Americans are aware of the negative stereotypes of African-Americans that exist in American society, even though they may not believe those stereotypes to be true. So the performance of whites on the Implicit Association Test likely reflects their knowledge of these negative stereotypes, rather than true racial prejudice.