Reflection on Implicit Association Test
Print Essay 
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is one that is used to measure the unspoken thought processes that are in the mind. This is because it has been found that there are other ways that people communicate about social issues. Such issues may not be directly expressed due to certain prevailing social pre-conditions. For example, research has shown that racism still prevails in many social realms at alarming rates (Swim, Hyers, Cohen, Fitzgerald, & Buylsma, 2003). Nonetheless, people are less willing to express this because of the prevailing social pre-conditions that are against the racism trend (Sue, Lin, Torina, Capodilupo, & Rivera, 2008). This paper is a reflection on the personal views of the IAT test.
The IAT test revealed that there are some expressions that one is not likely to make because of social preconditioning in todays world which may not readily accept radical views, especially on the matters of gender and race. While there have been assertions and campaigns concerning the equal treatment of women and men before the law, this is not the case. There are still affirmative action campaigns that spring from the apparent unequal treatment of the genders. The Implicit Association test has revealed to me that there are some particularly deep-rooted attitudes that prevail in social situations despite the social rules put in place. For example, while people assert that either sex is competent as a family provider, families with sole female providers have been found to be struggling as opposed to those with a male provider, reinforcing the belief that the man should be the provider of the house (Sue, Lin, Torina, Capodilupo, & Rivera, 2008).
On the other hand, race has also become an interesting thing to consider. While racism has been openly condemned, the rates of racism in countries have not gone any lower. In fact, some may assert that racism has increased. While this cannot be accurately proven for its validity, other forms of racism have been adopted. These forms are more subtle and therefore harder to detect on conscious interviews. The IAT test, for example, has shown in various studies that there are new forms of subtle racial aggression, including micro-aggression (Swim, Hyers, Cohen, Fitzgerald, & Buylsma, 2003). Such beliefs thus cause the individuals to have stereotypic attitudes towards some things that may not openly be reveled through confrontational style of information mining in researches (Czopp, Monteith, & Mark, 2006). In fact, I found that the IAT test can reveal the intention of ones bias, which could be out of emotions of embarrassment or an inability to face the truth.
While the reasons for ones bias may not be important, a reflection on the IAT test shows that there are many underlying beliefs that influence the daily practice of people everywhere in the world. A consideration of these beliefs and practices could show that some of them are not desirable, yet the individual will find a method of self-justification in order to evade the consequence of having their beliefs disproved. While this could be expository on the aspects of human life that are not so desirable, there is need to ensure that ethical considerations are made in order to reduce the possibility of causing harm while taking the test. Even when the test reveals something, there is a possibility that someone could react negatively to it, and therefore the need to exercise caution.
References BIBLIOGRAPHY Czopp, A., Monteith, M., & Mark, A. (2006). Standing up for a change: Reducing bias through interpersonal confrontation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Sue, D., Lin, A., Torina, G., Capodilupo, C., & Rivera, D. (2008). Racial microaggressions and difficult dialogues on race in the classroom. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 183-190.
Swim, J., Hyers, L., Cohen, L., Fitzgerald, D., & Buylsma, W. (2003). African Americancollege students experiences with everyday racism: Characteristics of the responses to these incidents. Journal of Black Psychology.
If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the SuperbGrade website, please click below to request its removal: