View all articles in this issue
Personal Prejudice: Examining Relations Among Trait Characteristics, Parental Experiences, and Implicit Bias
Download this article for $1.00 (FREE for Members)
by Carolyn Brayko - Gonzaga University
This study focused on potential linkages between
personality traits, past parental relationships, and implicit bias toward
an outgroup. Introductory psychology students (N = 75, 56 women,
19 men) completed the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald,
McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998), designed to identify preference for either
Muslim or non-Muslim names, followed by the Adult Parental
Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (short form; Rohner, 2004),
and the State-Trait Personality Inventory (Speilberger, 1979). Findings
showed perceived paternal warmth had a significant negative
correlation with the IAT association effect, r(75) = -.27, p = .02.
In other words, as reports of paternal warmth increased, positive
association with Muslim names decreased. Results also indicated a
moderate, yet nonsignificant, correlation between trait anger and
the IAT association effect, r(75) = .21, p = .07. That is, as trait anger
increased, reaction times for positive associations with Muslim names
also increased. These findings supported the notion that intrapersonal
factors play a role in implicit bias.
Spring 2011 | Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research (Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 20), published by Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology (Chattanooga, TN). Copyright, 2011, Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology. All rights reserved.