Evaluating validity properties of 25 race-related scales.

Racial attitudes, beliefs, and motivations lie at the center of many influential theories of prejudice and discrimination. The extent to which such theories can meaningfully explain behavior hinges on accurate measurement of these latent constructs. We evaluated the validity properties of 25 race-related scales in a sample of 910,066 respondents using various tools, including dynamic fit indices, item response theory, and nomological nets. Despite showing adequate internal reliability, many scales demonstrated poor model fit and had latent score distributions showing clear floor or ceiling effects, results that illustrate deficiencies in these measures' ability to capture their intended latent construct. Nomological nets further suggested that the theoretical space of "racial prejudice" is crowded with scales that may not capture meaningfully distinct latent constructs. We provide concrete recommendations for both scale selection and scale renovation and outline implications for overlooking measurement issues in the study of prejudice and discrimination.

Misplaced Intuitions in Interventions to Reduce Attractiveness-Based Discrimination.

Individuals and organizations are increasing efforts to address discrimination. Nonexperts may lack awareness of, or are resistant to, scientifically informed strategies for reducing discrimination, instead relying on intuition. Five studies investigated the accuracy of nonexperts' intuitions about reducing discrimination concerning physical attractiveness. In Studies 1a to 1c (N = 902), participants predicted the effectiveness of six interventions to reduce attractiveness-based favoritism on a judgment task. Studies 2a and 2b (N = 6,292) investigated the effectiveness of these interventions. Although two interventions reduced discrimination, intuitions were poorly aligned with actual results; fewer than 1% of participants identified the combination of interventions that did, versus did not, impact judgment, and responses were more likely to be below than above chance when predicting each intervention's effectiveness. Although follow-up work should investigate the accuracy of intuition in other forms of discrimination, these results further stress the need for greater development and adoption of evidence-based strategies for combating discrimination.

What Underlies the Opposition to Trans-Inclusive Policies? The Role of Concerns About Male Violence Versus Attitudes Toward Trans People.

Transgender women's access to women-only spaces is controversial. Arguments against trans-inclusive policies often focus on cisgender women's safety from male violence, despite little evidence to suggest that such policies put cisgender women at risk. Across seven studies using U.S. and U.K. participants (N = 3,864), we investigate whether concerns about male violence versus attitudes toward trans people are a better predictor of support for trans-inclusive policies and whether these factors align with the reasons given by opponents and supporters regarding their policy views. We find that opponents of these policies do not accurately report their reasons for opposition: Specifically, while opponents claim that concerns about male violence are the primary reason driving their opposition, attitudes toward transgender people more strongly predicted policy views. These results highlight the limitations of focusing on overt discourse and emphasize the importance of investigating psychological mechanisms underlying policy support.

The good and the bad: Are some attribute words better than others in the Implicit Association Test?

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is one of the most popular measures in psychological research. A lack of standardization across IATs has resulted in significant variability among stimuli used by researchers, including the positive and negative words used in evaluative IATs. Does the variability in attribute words in evaluative IATs produce unwanted variability in measurement quality across studies? The present work investigated the effect of evaluative stimuli across three studies using 13 IATs and over 60,000 participants. The 64 positive and negative words that we tested provided similar measurement quality. Further, measurement was satisfactory even in IATs that used only category labels as stimuli. These results suggest that common sense is probably a sufficient method for selection of evaluative stimuli in the IAT. For reasonable measurement quality, we recommend that researchers using evaluative IATs in English select words randomly from the set we tested in the present research.

Implicit Transgender Attitudes Independently Predict Beliefs About Gender and Transgender People.

Surprisingly little is known about transgender attitudes, partly due to a need for improved measures of beliefs about transgender people. Four studies introduce a novel Implicit Association Test (IAT) assessing implicit attitudes toward transgender people. Study 1 (N = 294) found significant implicit and explicit preferences for cisgender over transgender people, both of which correlated with transphobia and transgender-related policy support. Study 2 (N = 1,094) found that implicit transgender attitudes predicted similar outcomes among participants reporting no explicit preference for cisgender versus transgender people. Across Study 3a (N = 5,647) and Study 3b (N = 2,276), implicit transgender attitudes predicted multiple outcomes, including gender essentialism, contact with transgender people, and support for transgender-related policies, over and above explicit attitudes. This work introduces a reliable means of measuring implicit transgender attitudes and illustrates how these attitudes independently predict meaningful beliefs and experiences.

The Psychological Appeal of Fake-News Attributions.

The term fake news is increasingly used to discredit information from reputable news organizations. We tested the possibility that fake-news claims are appealing because they satisfy the need to see the world as structured. Believing that news organizations are involved in an orchestrated disinformation campaign implies a more orderly world than believing that the news is prone to random errors. Across six studies (N > 2,800), individuals with dispositionally high or situationally increased need for structure were more likely to attribute contested news stories to intentional deception than to journalistic incompetence. The effect persisted for stories that were ideologically consistent and ideologically inconsistent and after analyses controlled for strength of political identification. Political orientation showed a moderating effect; specifically, the link between need for structure and belief in intentional deception was stronger for Republican participants than for Democratic participants. This work helps to identify when, why, and for whom fake-news claims are persuasive.

A meta-analysis of procedures to change implicit measures.

Using a novel technique known as network meta-analysis, we synthesized evidence from 492 studies (87,418 participants) to investigate the effectiveness of procedures in changing implicit measures, which we define as response biases on implicit tasks. We also evaluated these procedures' effects on explicit and behavioral measures. We found that implicit measures can be changed, but effects are often relatively weak (|ds| < .30). Most studies focused on producing short-term changes with brief, single-session manipulations. Procedures that associate sets of concepts, invoke goals or motivations, or tax mental resources changed implicit measures the most, whereas procedures that induced threat, affirmation, or specific moods/emotions changed implicit measures the least. Bias tests suggested that implicit effects could be inflated relative to their true population values. Procedures changed explicit measures less consistently and to a smaller degree than implicit measures and generally produced trivial changes in behavior. Finally, changes in implicit measures did not mediate changes in explicit measures or behavior. Our findings suggest that changes in implicit measures are possible, but those changes do not necessarily translate into changes in explicit measures or behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Reducing discrimination: A bias versus noise perspective.

Discrimination can occur when people fail to focus on outcome-relevant information and incorporate irrelevant demographic information into decision-making. The magnitude of discrimination then depends on (a) how many errors are made in judgment and (b) the degree to which errors disproportionately favor one group over another. As a result, discrimination can be reduced through two routes: reducing noise-lessening the total number of errors but not changing the proportion of remaining errors that favor one group-or reducing bias-lessening the proportion of errors that favor one group but not changing the total number of errors made. Eight studies (N = 7,921) investigate how noise and bias rely on distinct psychological mechanisms and are influenced by different interventions. Interventions that removed demographic information not only eliminated bias, but also reduced noise (Studies 1a and 1b). Interventions that either decreased (Studies 2a-2c) or increased (Study 3) the time available to evaluators impacted noise but not bias, as did interventions altering motivation to process outcome-relevant information (Study 4). Conversely, an intervention asking participants to avoid favoring a certain group impacted bias but not noise (Study 5). Finally, a novel intervention that both asked participants to avoid favoring a certain group and required them to take more time when making judgments impacted bias and noise simultaneously (Study 5). Efforts to reduce discrimination will be well-served by understanding how interventions impact bias, noise, or both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Reducing Social Judgment Biases May Require Identifying the Potential Source of Bias.

Social judgment is shaped by multiple biases operating simultaneously, but most bias-reduction interventions target only a single social category. In seven preregistered studies (total N > 7,000), we investigated whether asking participants to avoid one social bias affected that and other social biases. Participants selected honor society applicants based on academic credentials. Applicants also differed on social categories irrelevant for selection: attractiveness and ingroup status. Participants asked to avoid potential bias in one social category showed small but reliable reductions in bias for that category (r = .095), but showed near-zero bias reduction on the unmentioned social category (r = .006). Asking participants to avoid many possible social biases or alerting them to bias without specifically identifying a category did not consistently reduce bias. The effectiveness of interventions for reducing social biases may be highly specific, perhaps even contingent on explicitly and narrowly identifying the potential source of bias.

Relationship between the Implicit Association Test and intergroup behavior: A meta-analysis.

Using data from 217 research reports (N = 36,071, compared to 3,471 and 5,433 in previous meta-analyses), this meta-analysis investigated the conceptual and methodological conditions under which Implicit Association Tests (IATs) measuring attitudes, stereotypes, and identity correlate with criterion measures of intergroup behavior. We found significant implicit-criterion correlations (ICCs) and explicit-criterion correlations (ECCs), with unique contributions of implicit (ß = .14) and explicit measures (ß = .11) revealed by structural equation modeling. ICCs were found to be highly heterogeneous, making moderator analyses necessary. Basic study features or conceptual variables did not account for any heterogeneity: Unlike explicit measures, implicit measures predicted for all target groups and types of behavior, and implicit, but not explicit, measures were equally associated with behaviors varying in controllability and conscious awareness. However, ICCs differed greatly by methodological features: Studies with a declared focus on ICCs, standard IATs rather than variants, high-polarity attributes, behaviors measured in a relative (two categories present) rather than absolute manner (single category present), and high implicit-criterion correspondence (k = 13) produced a mean ICC of r = .37. Studies scoring low on these variables (k = 6) produced an ICC of r = .02. Examination of methodological properties-a novelty of this meta-analysis-revealed that most studies were vastly underpowered and analytic strategies regularly ignored measurement error. Recommendations, along with online applications for calculating statistical power and internal consistency are provided to improve future studies on the implicit-criterion relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

An unintentional pro-Black bias in judgement among educators.

BACKGROUND: Previous work indicates widespread preference for White over Black people in attitudes and behaviour. However, there are instances where Black people receive preferential treatment over White people. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate whether a sample of education professionals would favour Black or White applicants to an academic honour society, and the extent to which any biases were related to conscious intentions. SAMPLE: Participants were education professionals (N = 618; 75.5% White) who completed an online study. METHODS: Participants completed a hypothetical admissions task where they evaluated more and less qualified applicants for an academic honour society, and applicants were either White or Black. Participants also completed measures of implicit and explicit racial attitudes. RESULTS: Educational professionals at all levels showed a pro-Black bias in judgement, adopting a lower acceptance criterion for Black compared to White applicants, replicating previous work using online and undergraduate samples. The bias was present among participants reporting they did not want to be biased or believed they were unbiased, suggesting that bias arose without conscious awareness or intention. Bias was also weakly but reliably related to racial attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the notion that educators automatically hold lower standards for Black versus White applicants. While education professionals likely have experience evaluating students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, these professionals were, nevertheless, unable to eliminate the impact of race in their decision-making.

Reducing implicit racial preferences: II. Intervention effectiveness across time.

Implicit preferences are malleable, but does that change last? We tested 9 interventions (8 real and 1 sham) to reduce implicit racial preferences over time. In 2 studies with a total of 6,321 participants, all 9 interventions immediately reduced implicit preferences. However, none were effective after a delay of several hours to several days. We also found that these interventions did not change explicit racial preferences and were not reliably moderated by motivations to respond without prejudice. Short-term malleability in implicit preferences does not necessarily lead to long-term change, raising new questions about the flexibility and stability of implicit preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record

Scientists' Reputations Are Based on Getting It Right, Not Being Right.

Replication is vital for increasing precision and accuracy of scientific claims. However, when replications "succeed" or "fail," they could have reputational consequences for the claim's originators. Surveys of United States adults (N = 4,786), undergraduates (N = 428), and researchers (N = 313) showed that reputational assessments of scientists were based more on how they pursue knowledge and respond to replication evidence, not whether the initial results were true. When comparing one scientist that produced boring but certain results with another that produced exciting but uncertain results, opinion favored the former despite researchers' belief in more rewards for the latter. Considering idealized views of scientific practices offers an opportunity to address incentives to reward both innovation and verification.

Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites.

Black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white Americans. We examine whether this racial bias is related to false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites (e.g., "black people's skin is thicker than white people's skin"). Study 1 documented these beliefs among white laypersons and revealed that participants who more strongly endorsed false beliefs about biological differences reported lower pain ratings for a black (vs. white) target. Study 2 extended these findings to the medical context and found that half of a sample of white medical students and residents endorsed these beliefs. Moreover, participants who endorsed these beliefs rated the black (vs. white) patient's pain as lower and made less accurate treatment recommendations. Participants who did not endorse these beliefs rated the black (vs. white) patient's pain as higher, but showed no bias in treatment recommendations. These findings suggest that individuals with at least some medical training hold and may use false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites to inform medical judgments, which may contribute to racial disparities in pain assessment and treatment.

The rules of implicit evaluation by race, religion, and age.

The social world is stratified. Social hierarchies are known but often disavowed as anachronisms or unjust. Nonetheless, hierarchies may persist in social memory. In three studies (total N > 200,000), we found evidence of social hierarchies in implicit evaluation by race, religion, and age. Participants implicitly evaluated their own racial group most positively and the remaining racial groups in accordance with the following hierarchy: Whites > Asians > Blacks > Hispanics. Similarly, participants implicitly evaluated their own religion most positively and the remaining religions in accordance with the following hierarchy: Christianity > Judaism > Hinduism or Buddhism > Islam. In a final study, participants of all ages implicitly evaluated age groups following this rule: children > young adults > middle-age adults > older adults. These results suggest that the rules of social evaluation are pervasively embedded in culture and mind.