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Breaking the Cycle: Implicit Bias, Racial Anxiety, and Stereotype Threat Rachel D

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Breaking the Cycle: Implicit Bias, Racial Anxiety, and Stereotype Threat Rachel D January/February 2015 Volume 24: Number 1 Breaking the Cycle: Implicit Bias, Racial Anxiety, and Stereotype Threat Rachel D. Godsil Our country is in the midst of a obstacles rooted in racial or ethnic dif- scribe, “Breaking the Prejudice Habit” racial cataclysm. Deaths of black men ference with alarming frequency. And (Devine 2014) and research identify- and boys at the hands of police, com- yet most Americans espouse values of ing best practices to prevent implicit bined with grand juries’ failure to in- racial fairness. How can we make bias from affecting decision-making dict, have spurred grief, rage and pro- sense of these seeming contradictions? and behavior. test across the country. The reactions And how can we work to change the Understanding implicit bias can to the events are not uniform, how- conditions that set the stage for daily help explain why a black criminal de- ever. A deep polarization along racial challenges and tragic endings that are fendant charged with the same crime lines has emerged that contributes to linked to race? as a white defendant may receive a the feeling among many people of In November 2014, the Perception more draconian sentence, or why a color that black lives don’t matter. Institute, along with the Haas Institute resume from someone named Emily Neither these tragedies nor the ra- for a Fair and Inclusive Society, and will receive more callbacks than an cial disconnect that followed occur in the Center for Police Equity, issued otherwise identical resume from some- isolation. People of color experience the first in a series of reports entitled, one named Lakeisha. This work con- The Science of Equality: Addressing firms that people of color whose ex- Implicit Bias, Racial Anxiety, and Ste- periences of the world make abun- Rachel D. Godsil (rachel.godsil@ reotype Threat in Education and dantly clear that “race matters” are not gmail.com) is the Eleanor Bontecou Health Care, co-authored by Rachel simply oversensitive, while also ex- Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law Godsil, Linda Tropp, Phillip Atiba plaining how whites who consider School and Director of Research for Goff and john powell. The goal of this themselves non-racist may be sincere, the Perception Institute, a national series of reports is to synthesize and even if their behavior sometimes sug- consortium of social scientists, legal make accessible the advances in neu- gests otherwise. academics, lawyers and social justice roscience, social psychology and other This is not meant to suggest that advocates focusing on the implications “mind sciences” that have provided racialized outcomes are only a result of the mind sciences for policy, cul- insight into otherwise confounding of individual actions; cumulative ra- ture and institutions. She also chairs contradictions between our country’s cial advantages for whites as a group the New York City Rent Guidelines stated commitment to fairness and the have been embedded into society’s Board.This article is a précis of a behaviors that lead both to tragic out- structures and institutions. However, longer Perception Inst./Haas Inst. for comes and day-to-day indignities (Please turn to page 2) a Fair & Inclusive Society/Ctr. for linked to race. Police Equity report by Rachel Godsil, Our report includes a lengthy dis- Linda Tropp, Phillip Atiba Goff & cussion of social psychological re- CONTENTS: john powell, The Science of Equal- search focusing on “implicit bias”— ity: Addressing Implicit Bias, Racial the automatic association of stereotypes Implicit Bias ................ 1 Anxiety, and Stereotype Threat in Edu- or attitudes with particular social §8 Landlords ................ 3 cation and Health Care. The Percep- groups. We place particular emphasis Resources .................. 10 tion Inst., http://perception.org/our- on new research on reducing bias or, publications as Patricia Devine and colleagues de- Poverty & Race Research Action Council • 1200 18th Street NW • Suite 200 • Washington, DC 20036 202/906-8023 • FAX: 202/842-2885 • E-mail: [email protected] • www.prrac.org Recycled Paper (IMPLICIT BIAS: from page 1) how we navigate racial interactions. explored is the idea that whites can suf- These can translate into racial anxiety fer stereotype threat when concerned as john powell and I argued in these and stereotype threat which, indepen- that they may be perceived as racist. pages in 2011 ("Implicit Bias Insights dent of bias, can create obstacles for In the former context, the threat pre- as Preconditions to Structural institutions and individuals seeking to vents students from performing as well Change," P&R, Sept./Oct. 2011), adhere to antiracist practices. Indeed, as they ought, and so they themselves there are two key reasons why struc- research suggests that some forms of suffer the consequences of this phe- tural racism cannot be successfully anti-bias education may have detrimen- nomenon. Stereotype threat among challenged without an understanding of tal effects, if they increase bias aware- whites, by contrast, often causes be- how race operates psychologically. ness without also providing skills for havior that harms others—usually the First, public policy choices are often managing anxiety. very people they are worried about. affected by implicit bias or other Racial anxiety refers to discomfort Concern about being perceived as rac- racialized phenomena that operate im- about the experience and potential con- ist explains, for example, why some plicitly. As a result, the changes in sequences of inter-racial interactions. white teachers, professors and super- policy necessary to address institutional It is important to distinguish this defi- visors give less critical feedback to structures are dependent upon success- nition of racial anxiety from what so- black students and employees than to fully addressing implicit biases that can cial scientists refer to as “racial threat,” white ones (Harber et al., 2012) and affect political choices. Second, insti- which includes the anger, frustration, why white peer advisors may fail to tutional operations invariably involve uncertainty, feelings of deprivation and warn a black student but will warn a human behavior and interaction: Any white or Asian student that a certain policies to address racial inequities in Skills are needed for course load is unmanageable (Crosby schools, workplaces, police depart- managing racial anxiety. & Monin, 2007). ments, courthouses, government of- In other words, cognitive depletion fices and the like will only be success- or interference caused by stereotype ful if the people implementing the other emotions associated with concern threat can affect how one’s own ca- policy changes comply with them over loss of resources or dominance. pacity, such as the ability to achieve (Crosby & Monin, 2007). People of color may experience racial academically, will be judged; this Although implicit phenomena have anxiety that they will be the target of causes first-party harm to the indi- the potential to impede successful in- discrimination and hostile treatment. vidual whose performance suffers. stitutional change, implicit racial bias White people tend to experience anxi- However, as is explored in more de- is not the only psychological phenom- ety that they will be assumed to be racist tail below, stereotype threat about how enon that blocks society from achiev- and will be met with distrust or hostil- one’s character will be judged (i.e., ing racial equality. We risk being myo- ity. Whites experiencing racial anxi- being labeled a racist) can cause third- pic if we focus only on people’s cog- ety can seem awkward and maintain party harms when suffered by an indi- nitive processing, and we also risk un- less eye contact with people of color, vidual in a position of power. intended consequences if we focus our and ultimately these interactions tend Implicit bias, racial anxiety and ste- interventions only on addressing im- to be shorter than those without anxi- reotype threat have effects in virtually plicit bias. Our experiences, motiva- ety. If two people are both anxious that every important area of our lives. In tions and emotions are also integral to an interaction will be negative, it of- the first report, we illustrate the inter- ten is. So racial anxiety can result in a related implications of the three phe- Poverty & Race (ISSN 1075-3591) negative feedback loop in which both nomena in the domains of education is published six times a year by the Pov- parties’ fears seem to be confirmed by and healthcare. Education and health- erty and Race Research Action Council, the behavior of the other. care are of critical importance for ob- 1200 18th Street NW, Suite 200, Wash- Stereotype threat refers to the pres- vious reasons, and an abundance of ington, DC 20036, 202/906-8023, fax: 202/842-2885, E-mail: [email protected]. sure people feel when they fear that research has highlighted the role race Chester Hartman, Editor. Subscriptions their performance may confirm a nega- plays in unequal outcomes in both do- are $25/year, $45/two years. Foreign tive stereotype about their group mains. postage extra. Articles, article sugges- (Steele, 2010). This pressure is expe- The report also emphasizes the in- tions, letters and general comments are rienced as a distraction that interferes terventions that are emerging in the welcome, as are notices of publications, conferences, job openings, etc. for our with intellectual functioning. Although research that institutions can begin to Resources Section. Articles generally stereotype threat can affect anyone, it use to prevent continuing racialized may be reprinted, providing PRRAC has been most discussed in the context obstacles. Ideally, this work will hap- gives advance permission. of academic achievement among stu- pen at the structural and institutional © Copyright 2015 by the Poverty and dents of color, and among girls in sci- level—but many of us don’t want to Race Research Action Council. All rights reserved. ence, technology, engineering and wait, and the social science research math (STEM) fields.
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