Implicit bias and contact: the role of interethnic friendships.
In 2 studies, the authors examined the role of interethnic friendship with African Americans or Latinos in predicting implicit and explicit biases against these groups. White participants completed the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K., 1998), several self-report bias measures, and a friendship questionnaire. Participants with close friends who were members of the target group exhibited less implicit prejudice than participants without close friends from the target group. Friendship influenced only 2 of the 7 explicit measures, a result that likely stems from social desirability bias rather than truly non-prejudiced attitudes. Results support the importance of contact, particularly interethnic friendship, in improving intergroup attitudes.
Aberson
Christopher L
CL
Department of Psychology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA. CLA18@humboldt.edu
Shoemaker
Carl
C
Tomolillo
Christina
C
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D011822:Race Relations; D011930:Reaction Time; D012928:Social Desirability; D014481:United States; D044465:White People