title: Implicit associations as the seeds of intergroup bias: how easily do they take root?
abstract: Three experiments provided evidence that intergroup bias occurs automatically under minimal conditions, using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In Experiment 1, participants more readily paired in-group names with pleasant words and out-group names with unpleasant words, even when they were experienced only with the in-group and had no preconceptions about the out-group. Participants in Experiment 2 likewise showed an automatic bias favoring the in-group, even when in-group/out-group exemplars were completely unfamiliar and identifiable only with the use of a heuristic. In Experiment 3, participants displayed a pro-in-group IAT bias following a minimal group manipulation. Taken together, the results demonstrate the ease with which intergroup bias emerges even in unlikely conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ashburn-Nardo
authors.forename: C I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Voils
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Monteith
mesh_terms: D001244:Association; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D011897:Random Allocation; D012938:Social Perception