So I took the 2012 Implicit Associations Test and was quite surprised by the results!
In this task, I was asked to categorize "good" words, such as successful and wonderful, with white faces compared to "good" words with black faces as fast as I could. Afterwards I was asked to categorize presidential candidates with good words as fast as I could. The faster I categorized good words with one presidential candidate compared to the other candidate determined my implicit preference for that candidate. The same concept was measured when comparing white and black faces with good words: The faster I categorized good words with one racial group compared to the other exposed my hidden preference for that group.
The results of my test suggested that I had a MODERATE implicit preference for white people compared to black people and a SLIGHT implicit preference for Newt Gingrich compared to Mitt Romney.
I thought these results made sense for the most part. I wasn't surprised that I showed a higher preference toward Newt Gingrich due to his Republican affiliation; however, my white racial preference caught me off guard. Although I do not consider myself racist, I'll admit to stereotyping racial groups by using the shortcut way of thinking--the availability heuristic. The IAT revealed my subconscious racial predispositions and allowed me the opportunity to self-reflect on these test findings.
I think this test is very informative and sheds much light on the role racial attitudes and party affiliation plays on voting preferences. Although we may be unaware of some of our feelings, the IAT successfully exposes the impact implicit thinking has on our judgment, perception and action and also provides participants the opportunity for self-reflection on their individual results.
Thanks for the great post! I actually did a similar REP study, where I was asked to math up 'good' words and 'bad' words to either a heterosexual category or a homophobic category. I did not find out the results of this activity, but I know it was a way of measuring my views on sexual preference, again by utilizing my unconscious predisposition in order to avoid obvious bias. I'm curious as to what my results would show, because I am completely unaware of any bias/prejudice that I hold to other sexual orientations compared to my own, but it is definitely interesting to find out what our 'true' subconscious attitudes are!