Implicit bias is an interesting topic because we all have it. Taking the tests made me more aware of my subconscious thoughts, but I am still skeptical about some of my results. I felt like some of them may not have been accurate. I am very competitive, and the evaluation became less about my instincts and more about trying to get a perfect score. Everyone’s results may be slightly skewed because of the testing mentality. Some people freeze up, and others would not take the test for what it is, a sociological examination. That being said, the test could show some personal tendencies when rational thinking is out the door. The test brought up some tendencies and biases I did not even know I had, as well. That is mostly due to my culture, how I was brought up. Many of my implicit biases I could see why I had them, especially the one where I was slightly biased toward younger people. I had been raised around younger people, and my closest grandparents were two hours away. Of course, I have a bias. It is all based on my life experiences, and it is hard to socialize with older people when your grandparents, the old people you are closest to, are so distanced from you. I understood where the bias came from, but I was not aware that the bias existed in the first place. I always thought that everyone was the same no matter what qualities they had, but now I have a greater awareness of how ageism takes hold in my own life. Because I am from America and have not socialized with many older people, I have developed a slight cultural belief against older people. In American culture, we associate older people with disability and senility, and those stereotypes have even taken root in my own beliefs. aardvark123
Aardvark123, I can see what you mean when you said that the tests were a little competitive. I felt the same way when I was taking the different tests as well. We all want to tell ourselves that we are not subconsciously biased against another group of people because we know that it is wrong. However, it is completely normal to have some form of implicit biases within us. Being aware of these certain subconscious biases is what is important. Knowing about our weaknesses can help teach us to change and try to become as neutral as possible. These testes were a really good eye opener for all of us and allow us to open up our minds to what we are really thinking subconsciously. Check123
I also think these tests are interesting. I also think this subject is interesting. I think that the way you test and the time in your life you take the test can skew the results. Your mindset at the time of taking the test can also impact the results. For the most part though my results were a good indication of who I thought I was. I do think knowing these subconscious biases can help each of us as people. It can make you more aware of a bias you may feel, but are denying that you truly feel this way. Diver123
The first IAT I took was the gender-career IAT. My results showed that I tend to associate men with a career and women with a family. I am not shocked by this. I know that women are very capable of having a career and supporting their family financially. My mother does so for me. But, for most of my life my dad had been the one who paid the bills really. I grew up wanting to be a mom more than anything else. While I look forward to becoming a counselor, I also look forward to having a family. I see nothing wrong with being stay at home mom or dad and letting your spouse be the financial provider for the family. I think that different lifestyles work for different people. My entire family, primary and secondary, consists of fathers being the main provider for the families. So, it makes sense that I would naturally have a slight bias towards men being more career focused and women being more family focused. The second IAT was the one about religion and my results showed that I have no automatic preference between islam and judaism. I think this is because my mother went on several mission trips to Israel while I was growing back and she always came back telling me about how kind her muslim friends were. I learned at a young age that religion does not always define someone’s personal traits. I am very much a christian. I currently intern at my church, so I spend more than 20 hours a week there. I have grown up in church all of my life. I have met lots of christians who are kind and loving, but I have also met some christians with hard hearts who do not “practice what they preach.” If this is true for my own religion, it makes sense that it would happen in other religions. I think that is what really gets people messed up with prejudices against religions, such as the muslim religion. If the only muslims you know of were terrorists, you are more likely to associate all muslims as terrorists. That’s what happens with stereotypes too. I finished with the IAT about races because this is the one I was most curious about. I’ve been exposed to many cultures growing up. I believe that all men and women are created equally regardless of race. However, the test results showed that I have a slight automatic preference to white people. This does not surprise me considering I grew up in a primarily white school district. Many of my friends from college are African American, but I am sure that more of them are white. I am lucky to go to a school full of many international students. I think that if I had taken this test in high school, the results would have been much higher than slight because I was never really exposed to many races outside of my own. I think a lot of these biases can be explained by experiences people have or haven’t had. -M&M123
I think you are right when you say that the biases are rooted in people's own personal experiences, but nowadays, many of the biases people have come from media. The media has such an influence on people now, and, frankly, it is quite astounding how easily people can be programmed. It is very much a case of monkey see, monkey do, but it can be summed up better as monkey see, monkey internalize. The people who program us are the ones who own the media outlets and, in turn, own the American culture. It is important to consider that more when deciding who really shapes your beliefs. aardvark123
The first test I did for the IAT was the age one. I went into it thinking that I would score a higher preference for old people rather than young one, but the results are saying that I have a higher preference for the young people over the old. I’m not sure if I fully agree with this test. I’m rather shocked by my answer, and more than a bit skeptical. I am a care giver to an elderly lady and I absolutely love it. I have enough experience babysitting kids to know that I prefer to be a care giver to the elderly rather the young. So I’m not sure how I feel about these results. But I don’t think that there is any age group that I could not be able to socialize with, and I knew that going into it. The second test I did was the skin tone one. The results for that suggest that I prefer darker toned people to lighter toned people. I’m actually more okay with these results than I was the with the first test I took. For the third test I took I chose the career and family one. Apparently I associate women in the work force and men to be the caregivers. Which I find to be extremely interesting considering my mom was the one who raised me and stayed home while my dad went to work and was so busy working that I don’t have a memory of him from my childhood. Over all, I think these tests are interesting, but I wouldn’t put stock into it. It opens your mind up to make you realize if you are doing these things or not. I would say that two out of the three tests that I did I would agree with. sunflower123
I know what you mean about getting results you didn't expect. And that sorta comes with figuring out your implicit biases. We really can't be sure of them because they are unconscious. If we knew we had them, we could get over them much easier. I'm not saying you're wrong though. I think some of the results I got might have been bad just because I would get into a rhythm of clicking the letters. You didn't really talk much about your second results. I would like to know why you are, "more okay with these results." That last test result you got was very interesting! I didn't expect to see that.
I also agree with both of you about getting results that really didn't match who you were as a person or something that you did not expect all together. However she makes a good point of how we are not entirely aware of them so maybe we really do feel that way and we just do not see it ourselves. Sometimes it is often hard to admit things that we know our society views as wrong even though that is how we feel. I am just really unsure though because I really didn't agree with some of the answers.
M&M123- You asked why I was more okay with my second answer with preferring darker sink to lighter skin... The area I live in, Montgomery, AL, has a majority population of African American and Koreans because of the Hyundai HQ being located there. So Caucasians are a minority. When I first moved there to go to school, it seemed that the African American men were way more friendly and willing to help you out in a bad situation than the caucasian men. So when I say I'm more okay with it I simply mean that I can connect the dots to see where the results are coming from. sunflower123
I agree with all three of you about getting results that you didn't expect. If we would have taken the test at different ages then I am certain that the test results would have been different than the ones we received today. Our life expiriences influences our answers. If we were raised in a racist household and we later learned that that is wrong then even though we now know that its wrong it could still affect our answers because that is how we started in life. Of course these test aren't 100% accurate, it is still interesting to see how you think, and how you associate people with different attributes. panda123
@Sunflower123 - I received unexpected results too. It is common to be skeptical about these tests because it is showing our imperfections and biases in a sense which is a touchy subject. I believe it has to do with your environment, where you grow up, where you went to school, family members, and your friends. The more you see certain biases, the more likely you follow them especially if they are coming from someone you respect such as a family member or friend. I think these tests are good to take even if it is not accurate because everyone has implicit biases that they need to work on. -softball_savvy123
I thought these tests were really fascinating to do. They go to show that we all have subconscious biased opinions that we may not know about. We like to tell ourselves that we don’t have these biased opinions because we know that it is wrong to have them. In my opinion, it is important to know of these implicit biases because we need to know what our natural tendencies are. In order to prevent these subconscious biases from showing is by know about them. The first test that I did was the gender-career one. I was surprised that I came out as neutral. Looking back at my family, I can see why I did not favor one gender to be in as science or liberal arts career. My parents strongly encouraged me and my sisters to be involved with music at a young age. They also pushed us to do well in all of our school subjects, not just one particular area. My parents are also very respectful of what kind of careers that me and my sisters chose to pursue. They never said things like “you need to go into a job suitable for a woman.” The second test that I took was if I associated black or white people with harmful or harmless objects. The test came out and told me that I associated black people with harmless objects and white people with harmful objects. I was kind of shocked when I saw these results. Being white, I would assume that I would subconsciously associate white people with harmless objects. I did not grow up around any harmful objects nor did I associate myself with any harmful objects in school. I think this implicit bias of mine may be explained by my opinion of how I view some white people around where I live. I live in a conservative area that is very passionate with the right to bare arms. I may have never associated myself with these people, but I did not agree with their views on owning guns. I know that not all people in the U.S that do not agree with stricter gun laws are not all white, but I subconsciously associate those that are to be white and therefore are more likely to have harmful objects. The last test I did was whether or not I had preference to recent presidents or Donald Trump. Initially, I thought this test was more targeted towards which political party I preferred. I try to stay independant when it comes to politics, but I know there are biased opinions within me that may swing me towards another party over the other. My results showed that I preferred recent presidents over Donald Trump. I was not too surprised by this result, but I was still interested to see what I preferred. Check123
The fact that you associated white people with harmful objects because of gun advocates in your town is so interesting. I also live in a town where many people advocate for gun laws. I wonder how my results in this test would be similar because of this. I never thought about the fact that I may associate these two things in the back of my mind. I have also taken the gender implicit bias test a while ago and despite being raised in a stereotypical household I also had no automatic preference either way. Perhaps it is because I am an advocate for women’s rights. -Glass123
The first test I took was the Religion IAT I was interested in this test because I had never taken this test and I wanted to see where I stood when it came to this issue. I was asked about Judaism vs Islam both religions that I do not practice. I have never been to a religious service of either Judaism and Islam and have had fairly low exposure to either groups of people. I do have a few community members and friends that are Jewish but I do not know anyone personally that is a practicing Muslim. I would like to think that I am not biased towards Muslims but I have a moderate automatic preference to Jewish people over Muslims. This makes sense because I have friends who are Jewish and I am never exposed to Muslims. I live in a small town and am considered very liberal to everyone who lives there but this test is a good reminder that just because I’m doing better than the racists and xenophobes in my town I still have biases that I must be aware of. The next test that I took was the disability test I received a moderate automatic preference to able bodied individuals. I think this could be because society has programed that able bodied individuals are desirable. Disability discrimination is not talked about nearly as much as women’s rights or race rights or lgbt rights but they are still a group that is discriminated against every day. The last test I took was the sexuality test. I received no automatic preference to gay people or straight people. I took this test because I have taken the sexuality implicit bias test about a year ago and I had a slight or moderate preference to straight people over gay people. At the time I didn’t think that I had a preference towards one or the other and was shocked to find that I did have an implicit bias. I am glad that I was able to grow as a person since I first took the sexuality test. -Glass123
Glass 123- It is so interesting to me that your results changed from a year ago until now. Isn't it interesting how our views on society can evolve like that? I also liked the fact that you were able to rationalize why you may by implicitly biased to some rather than others. I had thought about taking the disability one but opted out of it. I would agree with you that it is something that is widely overlooked in todays society. I do have a feeling that it will become more pronounced over time like woman's rights and racial equality has. sunflower123
I really like that your results changed within a year. That is so fascinating to me, and I am sure it was to you. I also agree with sunflower that it was a very nice explanation of why you think the way that you do. Growing up in a culture that has specific biases towards specific groups makes it difficult to think differently than the majority of that area. I can relate to that completely living in a very traditional, small town. I also agree that disability discrimination is under represented in our society today. I hope that in the future disabled people are less looked down upon in our culture. SAS123
I think the entire topic of subconscious bias is really fascinating and interesting to study. Many people have bias's towards different races that are clearly obvious but then there are the ones that we never even knew that we had. I think bias towards different races is something that is very common here in America. Just like we were talking about the other day in class we associate certain behavior and actions with so many different races. We often associate these actions with certain groups of people because we have seen it happen within that race, however just because a group out of that race does something it does not mean the entire race will perform or behave that same way. I feel like the results that I got on some of my test were very interesting and maybe not all entirely true. However there were some that I had never even thought you could really be bias towards. I took the Native American one first because I thought that was really interesting. When I think of people I really do not see the color of their skin but them as a person. So to judge someone because they are Native American seems very odd to me. I also never really thought one could be subconsciously bias to that many different races. But after seeing all the different things we could take test for it is obvious how many different races and people our world is bias towards. Out of all our blogs I think this was one of the better ones because it really brought some things into perspective for people. You can learn a lot about yourself through this course and I feel like this was a really good exercise for us to do as a class. Litv123
I agree with you Litv123. I believe almost everyone in America has biases yet they do not know about it or just will not admit it. If everyone took this test I feel as if a lot of them, just like myself, would not accept their results and would say that the test is flawed. We do not want to believe what we don't know is true, what we implicitly think. I think it is important to see these biases as insight within ourselves and also seeing them as nothing bad. I also think this was a really good exercise for our class to do. Scuba123
Implicit biases are shaped by our experiences throughout our lives and everyone has them. I am not sure if this is a completely accurate way to test what biases you may have but this could give you an idea of some that you may not know you had. After seeing your scores maybe you could put two and two together and see what the test is telling you. The first test I took was the race test. I was pretty certain that I would come out neutral before I took the test but my results said differently. My results said that I had a moderate preference for white people over black people. I do not totally agree with this because I really don't see color meaning anything but maybe I do have a slight bias and I did not even know about it. I do not think this would make anyone a worse person because they are implicit biases. They are things that we cannot control or decide what we are. They are what they are because of experiences we have had. The second test that I took was the religion test. I also went into this one thinking I did not have a preference between Islam and Judaism. This time I was right. The test said I had no preference between the two religions. I have always grown up a Catholic but have looked at all the different religions as very interesting to me. I love the way each one has their own story of how creation started and who their leader is. I have always wanted to learn more about other religions. I am very opened to the beliefs of others. We are all on this planet together and all have the common goal of surviving and leading a noble, holy life. How you do that does not affect, or bother me. I did enjoy taking these bias tests and really thinking about things from a different angle. Scuba123
I don't see color meaning either, but society is bias. We may not realize it until we take test like this that we see things no different than everyone around us. I see that you grew up as a Catholic and only had knowledge about many diverse cultures. I was thinking maybe because you weren’t Islam or Judaism that's why you got the results you got for the test. I don't think that this test is an accurate way to show bias even though it shows that we are bias based on our cultures and beliefs. This test was an eye opener to me with the questions it was asking whether it was for race, gender, sexuality, etc. The IAT overalls shows how bias society is as a whole. Rendezvous123
I find it both interesting and unique that you grew up Catholic but have maintained a certain level of interest and respect for other worldly religions. You would think in today's world that most people regardless of what they think, would have some sort of implicit bias towards either Islam or Judaism, and the fact that you do not have a preference between the two shows that both implicitly and explicitly that you truly have a certain level of respect and tolerance for not just those two religions but all religions in general. That is most definitely something to be proud of with yourself.-MrG123
The first test I took was the Gender-Career IAT. My test results were little or no automatic association between female and male with career and family. I am not shocked by this result. I am pretty sure that if I took this test in high school my results would be different. My view of life back then was moms stayed home and took care of the kids and housework and dads went to work. It was a different time and that was the norm for society back then. Now that I am older and more experienced, I can see why I am more neutral here. I have seen both men and women in the workplace and know both men and women that are caregivers to their children and keep up with the upkeep of the house. Several years ago my wife stayed home and took care of our kids when they were toddlers and cleaned the house. Now my wife works full time and I go to school and take care of the kids and clean the house. Since I have both seen and experienced both sides of the gender role I am not surprised to have a more neutral opinion here. The second test I have taken was the Skin-tone IAT test. My results were moderate automatic preference for light skinned people over dark skinned people. Even though I try to live a life where I try not to see color when talking or even observing another, I am not truly surprised. Growing up I lived in a small town next to a cornfield. Needless to say my exposure to people of a different skin color was limited. The high school I attended was mostly white also. So even though I try not to see color in people, I am not surprised that there could be a subconscious prejudice deep down that I am trying not to show. The third test I took was the Age IAT. My test results were moderate automatic preference for young people over old people. I was not sure what my results were going to be. I do think the time in my life right now has an impact on the test results. I am older than most of the other students in class. I am sure if I took the test a year ago when I was working and not going to school that my results could be different. Diver 123
I was also going to do the gender in the workplace test but decided against it. I agree that my results would probably be different too if I took it five years ago. I took the race test and I know it would’ve been a lot worse if I took it as a fifteen-year-old. The race test wasn’t surprising to me for everyone just having a slight favor for their skin tone it seems, which is fine. Again, if I took this in high school it would be far worse, being that I was raised in a pretty racist household. rosethorns123
So for my first preliminary test, I wanted to do an easy one, so I chose the homsexual/heterosexual preference test. My results came up as “no automatic preference between straight people and gay people”, which of course I find to be one-hundred percent correct. That's why I chose it as my easy starter because I wanted to be sure with myself that I’m not biased in that ball park. The overall results were a little surprising to me. Three percent had a strong like for homosexuals while twenty-five percent had a strong like for heterosexuals. I find it odd how people prefer someone just because of their sexuality. Next I did the skin-tone test which I was a little scared to do. After hearing what Dr. White said in class about how we tend to favor our own skin tones, I got a little nervous, I don’t like the idea of favoring someone over the color of their skin. But anyway, my fears became a reality when I my result came back as being somewhat favorable to my own race. I’m kind of upset over the result, but if I was to take anything away from it, I would say that I will try to be more equal when it comes to my actions. Meaning I won’t focus on their color and more focus on them as a person. Finally I did the age test. I know for a fact that when I go about my day, and I see an old person I automatically become biased, I know this. So the test just further proved my point. I know I shouldn’t judge someone on their age because there's some pretty cool grandparents out there I won’t lie about that. Mostly it springs up when I’m working and an old person comes in, I automatically assume that they will cause me some trouble, opposed to a young person coming in. So I will try to be more open minded on the topic of age and try not to assume that every elderly individual is coming to ruin my day. rosethorns123
I also took the age test and my results showed I had a slight bias towards older people. Working in retail probably causes that bias in me due to the amount of elderly people who cause trouble when I am working and the amount of young people who do not cause any at all. Some older people are more concerned about issues that don't matter to me personally or to the values of the store I work at. No matter the age, I treat all my customers with kindness and respect, but I see an obvious difference in the attitudes of young and old people. I can't help but feel that younger adults and kids are more relatableand understand the world the way that I do because they make my job easier. -Kiwi123
I took the Gender-Career Implicit Association Test (IAT). I categorized Male and Female words with Career and Family. My data results suggested a slight automatic association for Male with Career and Female with Family. The IAT measures the strength of associations between concepts of Female/Family and Male/Career. The questions that was asked based off my results show that I agree with society on how the male is supposed to work and the female is supposed to take care of the family. It was much easier for me to sort Male with Career and Female with Family then to sort Female with Career and Male with Family. My data suggest a slight automatic association for Harmless Objects with White Americans and Weapons with Black Americans when I was taking the Weapons IAT. My result is described as an "Automatic association for White Americans with Weapons" if you were faster responding when White Americans and Weapons are assigned to the same response key than when Black Americans and Weapons were classified with the same key. Your score is described as an "Automatic association for Black Americans with Weapons" if the opposite occurred. It was easier for me to associate Black Americans with Weapons and White Americans with Weapons. In society, it’s sad but stereotypically Black Americans are associated as the one’s being violent. While taking the Sexuality IAT I found myself to be bias towards sexuality. My data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Straight people over Gay people. I would have thought that my data would have suggested a strong automatic preference for Straight people over gay people. The questions that was asked within the test were bias, but I guess that makes me bias, because of my results against Straight people and Gay people. Taking this test was fun to me. It made me realize that I think just like society when it comes to sexuality, weapons, and gender-career. Rendezvous123
Implicit bias is a very interesting and true concept that is in our lives. The first test that I took was the Race IAT. I was a little surprised by the result. It showed that I have a moderate automatic preference for white people over black people. I was raised to love and accept all races, skin colors, and ethnic backgrounds. I was expecting a neutral answer, but that was not the case. I obviously disagree because again I love all races. The second IAT test that I took was the Weight test. The result was that I have no automatic preference between fat and thin people. I was pleased with this result because I endeavor to accept and love people no matter what their size may be. This result added a little more pride to my beliefs. The last test I took was the Gender-career test. The result was that I have a moderate automatic association for male with career and women with family. I strongly believe that women have equal treatment in the workplace and that they have the right to have a career. I wasn't that surprised with my result, only because growing up it was my father that went to work, and my mother stayed at home homeschooling me and taking care of me. It is just in how I was raised that I associate more with men with careers and not women. These tests were very fun to take, and it can give you a little bit more knowledge in how you think and how you treat people. panda123
These tests were fascinating to me but I also found them to be quite bias in themselves. After taking the sexuality, race, and religion tests it was easy for me to see that the second half of the tests where they implement pictures were almost trying template the test taking individuals in a position for discrimination. They encouraged you to click "I" or "E" as fast as you can in order to determine the psychological stratification of one's viewpoints on race or other issues when in reality that is not the case at all. In life it take more than two seconds for someone to form an opinion or an acting decision on someone or something. When we ultimately tap into our implicit biases through tests like these we are teaching ourselves that it is okay to hate. I think that is why more often than not we as humans try to avoid these parts of our brains and go to a "happy place" where racism and hatred doesn't exist. The sad part is that they both do exist and they're still alive and well, deep down, in all of our implicit biases. Of course we all may think that we would treat a black person and a white person just as equally, but when our implicit biases kick in we may find out that is not exactly the case. Police officers especially encounter implicit biases almost everyday as they sometimes have to make split second decisions regarding an individual or suspect. They often make these split second decisions based on implicit biases before really having the time to think about them. By doing so they are contributing to the everlasting cycle of the sociological imagination. Implicit biases are dangerous tools that are brain uses to force us to make a decision.-MrG123
MrG I can see where you’re going with it and I do agree with you to a degree. I believe the test is trying to see how fast you respond to seeing something that you’re more familiar with. While taking my test I had in my head the key that was more familiar with me is the one I’d remember to hit most often and when it came to the other key I had to think it about it a little longer than the other key. I also think this test brought out what we do try to not bring up or think about, even in class we’re all so timid when the doctor is teaching us about what we classify as inappropriate or uncomfortable to discuss. So no I don’t think it’s saying that racism is ok it’s just making us think about what’s constantly being “hushed” by society. Benoodles123
The first test I took was the Race-Weapons. The result said I had a moderate association for harmless objects with White Americans. While I feel like I have no racist at all, the test shows you that you are already with biases for certain people because of your environment, media, and other sources. The second test I took was the race one. It said I had a moderate automatic preference for light skinned people. This saddened and surprised me. I was raised to love everyone equally and I always thought that I did. Even though I grew up with mostly light skinned people (family, hometown, school), I still thought that I would be completely neutral. Sadly, biases will always exist in our society. I took the disabled versus abled people test and it said that I have no preference. I was pleased by these results, because I know a lot of people who are not physically disabled but have mental illnesses. I like to think that I do not treat them any differently which is seemingly true. Sometimes people, such as police officers, have to make rapid decisions about suspects. On occasion, their instincts will come from their own personal biases, such as gender or race. I am not sure how accurate these tests are, but either way, they are eye-opening to me. It is interesting to me that the reasons people become bias is the because of how they are, family, friends, their environment, school, and so forth. Biases are dangerous to have especially for people who are high in their work field, such as a CEO, president, an executive, or a police officer. Even though these biases are dangerous, there are hard to destroy them. It is wired into our brains from a young age because of how we grow up. In my high school, I was blessed to be able to attend school with many different races. We had Korean exchanged students and I have been to South Korea on a mission trip. I have a lot of experience with different cultures and races and I think it is beneficial to help demolish biases by spending time and learning about those people. -softball_savvy123
My first test that I chose to take was the religion test. It started off with basic questions and then went on to ask me about specific religions and which I prefer. My result said that I have a strong automatic preference for Christianity over Judaism. It explained that this was because I associated the good and Christianity words and symbols much quicker than I associated the good with Judaism. I understand how this could show that it’s easier for me to assume all good things tie into the religion I am most familiar with. Although, I don’t think this test made too much sense in deciding my religious bias considering it only asked me about three religions specifically. It didn’t ask me how I felt about other unfamiliar religions, only the ones closely associated with each other. My next test was the Age test and my result was a slight automatic preference for young people. I never really considered having a bias towards age other than when an older adult looks down on a young person. I can see how I could prefer young people considering I am one. I think it also must do with believing in my generation positively and feeling confident that young people like me are working towards a better future and being good people all the time, although I know that this is not true for everyone. My last test was the Disability test. My result was that I have a slight automatic preference for abled persons over disabled persons. Although I think of every person equally, I understand that I feel uncomfortable around disable people only because I am not familiar with that lifestyle and I don’t know how to communicate sometimes. In some cases, I feel more sympathy towards disabled people and give them more attention. -Kiwi123
These tests were very interesting to do. The first one I took was gender associating with career and family. My results came back as neutral to both men and women. I am surprised by this because the culture I grew up in. My family is Apostolic Christian, which means very conservative and traditional. In my church, it is the norm for men to have a job and women to stay home with the children and tend to the home. It is also common for men to move up the ladder while women have on average five children. I expected to associate women with family and men with career as that is the culture I have been in the entirety of my life. The next I took was skin tone. It came back that I have a slight bias towards light skinned people over darker skinned people. This is not that surprising considering I grew up in Eureka, Illinois. In my high school, I had four people that were not white - and they were all siblings. I have grown up all my life around white people so that probably explains why that came to be. The last test I took was the Asian-American one. I took this because my father is a Vietnamese American and I wanted to see how I would test out. My results came back as “a slight automatic association for American with Asian American and Foreign with European American.” Basically, I take that as I associate Asians being American and European descent as being foreign. I do not really agree with this one. I think that because this was the last test I took, I may have unintentionally answered improperly or something to sway the data. These tests were very interesting for me and I think that while they could have a little truth to them, they do not define 100% our biases because it is too few questions to fully understand how the person works. I also kept forgetting which side was which and would hit the wrong one on easy ones and then it would stress me out so I would hit it wrong a couple times. SAS123
I think that the results that you received really prove that the interactions you have throughout your own life affect these implicit biases. I am not surprised by your first result, because as an apostolic christian, it is likely you were raised in a household where everyone was treated fairly. If you also have brothers and sisters, this could also be a factor as to why your result came back neutral. I think the result you had on the Asian-American IAT was really cool, because to you specifically you associate European decent with being foreign. This is not something I have been exposed to, and as an American with European descent I am sure my results would've been the opposite. To grow up with a father that is Vietnamese would definitely impact one's implicit bias towards Asian-Americans, and I think it's really interesting how well your tests showed how society has impacted your implicit biases. Daisy123
Implicit bias is real and while doing the test, I thought I knew what the outcomes would be but to my dismay, I was shockingly surprised. I took the age test and it suggest a moderate automatic response for young people over old people which I surprised me only because I love working with the older population and coming into an older age bracket I feel so old but I suppose I’m trying to hold onto my youth through younger people or it could be that I still implicitly identify as being younger than what I actually am. The second test I took was the race test. I just knew hands down that I would get a neutral suggestion because of interracial upbringing, but it suggested that I have a slight automatic response for black people over white people. Which a slight indicator doesn’t really suggest that I overly identify with blacks more than another race. But it just goes to show how the culture in my family has had a lot to do with my decisions for today because I was still exposed to more blacks than Filipinos. The third test I completed was about gays and straights. Now these results I was completely shocked with. It suggests a strong automatic preference for straight people over gay people. I’ve never been the one to judge someone nor have I ever pushed my beliefs upon others and I’ve always felt that gay people were no different than straight individuals. I guess it just opens my mind to start noticing the little things that I’ve been completely unaware of all of this time. Implicit biases happens all of the time even if we know that without a doubt we’d never treat someone different or prefer one type of person over another just because of factors neither we nor them have any control over. Benoodles123
Implicit bias is an interesting concept and one I haven't heard about until this sociology class. I like to think of myself as a pretty accepting, non-judgemental person. If you respect me, I'm going to respect you. With this being said, I tried to take the tests that seemed like I clearly had no bias for. The first IAT I took was the sexuality one. My results came back that I had a slight automatic preference for straight people. I had hoped to come up neutral, but my results were not a surprise because I am straight. The second IAT I took was the abled-disabled IAT. I had also hoped to come back neutral, as I have a few friends and extended family members that are disabled, but again it was not a surprise that my results came back as a moderate automatic preference for abled persons, as I myself am not disabled. The final test I took was the age IAT. I had expected to get a preference for young people because I am still very young, but instead my results were a slight automatic preference for old persons. I think this is because I have been raised by older people my whole life, as my parents waited until they were in their 30s to start having children. The topic of implicit bias is really interesting and definitely affects our daily lives. Even if we think we treat everyone equally, it turns out that our attitudes towards others might show our own implicit bias. This project is really awesome, because if people are made aware of their implicit biases they can actively try to diminish them. Daisy123
As your results support, no matter how confident you are that you will be neutral on a subject you have a very good chance of actually having an implicit bias. Our experiences shape who we are and therefore there is no getting around forming implicit biases on some topics. We can not chose certain experiences from our lives like where we grow up, what race we are, etc., but I agree with you that if we discover the implicit biases that our lives have caused us to hold we can lessen them or maybe even overcome them with enough effort. -Chameleon123
Implicit biases surround ourselves and our culture whether we are aware of it or not, hence the name “implicit.” These biases creep in from many different avenues such as the media, observing peers, or looking at how adults act themselves. Although I had never heard of these tests prior to this class, I am extremely interested in them and found them to be very telling. The first test I took was the one about preference to either Black or White people. The results showed that I had a slight automatic preference for White people over Black people. Now I’m not justifying the test’s findings, but they do make sense. I have been raised by my Caucasian parents with basically all white family members and mostly white friends. I live in a mostly White town with not a whole lot of racial or ethnic diversity (African American or others.) So you can clearly see where that implicit bias has developed. The second test I took was the preference for straight people or gay people. The results suggested that I have a moderate preference for straight people as opposed to gay people. This result also makes sense considering I have been around mostly heterosexual people my entire life and the few encounters I have had with gay people have not exactly been pleasant. The final test I took was gender science option. This study suggested that I possess a moderate automatic association for male with science and female with liberal arts. I believe this implicit bias exists because it is a common trend in our society for more men to go into STEM work. Now, that is changing which is definitely a good thing, but I believe there still is a gap to be filled. -ThreeTwo123
I agree with you all the way, i feel like the people you are surrounded by do affect your preference for people in the long run. Being surrounded by a certain group of people for a long time do affect the way your see them or the world. Like you said you don't have a problem with darker toned people you just grew up around or Caucasian rather than African Americans. Same with people who are straight and gay you grew up with people who were straight but i don't think being surrounded by people who are gay will make you want to be gay i thinks that is just your sexual preference. Dancer123
The results from taking these tests to discover implicit bias has really shocked me. The first test that I took was the one on race. My result was that I have a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American. I do not see this to be true in my mind, but I can see how being raised in an almost entirely white town could have shaped this bias. The second test that I took was the one on old vs. young. Before taking this test, I was almost certain that I was going to favor old people because I love them so much. However, my result was that I have a moderate automatic preference for young people over old people. Overall I would say our society has a negative attitude towards the elderly maybe because they can be slow or get confused at times, but we forget how much life experience they have and that we will be in their shoes someday. Perhaps the most shocking result of all was that of my last test. I got that I have a strong association for male with science and female with liberal arts. This is not at all what I had expected because I am an avid defender of men and women equality. The fact that I have such a strong association for a certain gender corresponding to a certain educational path is scary because it is a reminder of how bias our society is. It is also eye opening because now I know that I hold these biases and I can try not to let myself be influenced by them in my life. The outcomes from these tests go to show how much more your upbringing and society can have on your views later in life whether you are aware of it or not. -Chameleon123
The two test i took implicit bias and sociological perspectives were the young versus old and the light skinned versus dark skinned people. After taking the light skinned veruses th dark skinned test i got my result and had to reevaluate my thoughts. I didn't think i leaned towards a race more than the other i consider myself neutral but my test result said otherwise. They said that i would prefer dark skinned people over light skinned people. I honestly believe that with me growing up in african american communities could be an underlying factor for the result of this test. For the second test those result to me were more logical, my results were that i prefered younger individuals rather than those who were older. The only elderly person i have really spent time with was my grandma and she really isn't that old.i have always been around younger people my whole life so yeah of course i prefer younger over older. I feel like these test should be mandatory in schools so maybe we could see less racial discrimination and more of students actually including kids of all races in their activities. As far as being equal with the elders i don't think there will be much of relating with each other on a sociological perspective due to the fact our generation are continuously growing and they are still stuck with the same mind set they had when the were our age just because of the generation gaps but in the end well will think just like them not about the same stuff but wanting to keep our same ideas and thought from our generation. Dancer 123
Implicit bias is an interesting topic because we all have it. Taking the tests made me more aware of my subconscious thoughts, but I am still skeptical about some of my results. I felt like some of them may not have been accurate. I am very competitive, and the evaluation became less about my instincts and more about trying to get a perfect score. Everyone’s results may be slightly skewed because of the testing mentality. Some people freeze up, and others would not take the test for what it is, a sociological examination. That being said, the test could show some personal tendencies when rational thinking is out the door. The test brought up some tendencies and biases I did not even know I had, as well. That is mostly due to my culture, how I was brought up. Many of my implicit biases I could see why I had them, especially the one where I was slightly biased toward younger people. I had been raised around younger people, and my closest grandparents were two hours away. Of course, I have a bias. It is all based on my life experiences, and it is hard to socialize with older people when your grandparents, the old people you are closest to, are so distanced from you. I understood where the bias came from, but I was not aware that the bias existed in the first place. I always thought that everyone was the same no matter what qualities they had, but now I have a greater awareness of how ageism takes hold in my own life. Because I am from America and have not socialized with many older people, I have developed a slight cultural belief against older people. In American culture, we associate older people with disability and senility, and those stereotypes have even taken root in my own beliefs. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteAardvark123, I can see what you mean when you said that the tests were a little competitive. I felt the same way when I was taking the different tests as well. We all want to tell ourselves that we are not subconsciously biased against another group of people because we know that it is wrong. However, it is completely normal to have some form of implicit biases within us. Being aware of these certain subconscious biases is what is important. Knowing about our weaknesses can help teach us to change and try to become as neutral as possible. These testes were a really good eye opener for all of us and allow us to open up our minds to what we are really thinking subconsciously. Check123
DeleteI also think these tests are interesting. I also think this subject is interesting. I think that the way you test and the time in your life you take the test can skew the results. Your mindset at the time of taking the test can also impact the results. For the most part though my results were a good indication of who I thought I was. I do think knowing these subconscious biases can help each of us as people. It can make you more aware of a bias you may feel, but are denying that you truly feel this way. Diver123
DeleteThe first IAT I took was the gender-career IAT. My results showed that I tend to associate men with a career and women with a family. I am not shocked by this. I know that women are very capable of having a career and supporting their family financially. My mother does so for me. But, for most of my life my dad had been the one who paid the bills really. I grew up wanting to be a mom more than anything else. While I look forward to becoming a counselor, I also look forward to having a family. I see nothing wrong with being stay at home mom or dad and letting your spouse be the financial provider for the family. I think that different lifestyles work for different people. My entire family, primary and secondary, consists of fathers being the main provider for the families. So, it makes sense that I would naturally have a slight bias towards men being more career focused and women being more family focused.
ReplyDeleteThe second IAT was the one about religion and my results showed that I have no automatic preference between islam and judaism. I think this is because my mother went on several mission trips to Israel while I was growing back and she always came back telling me about how kind her muslim friends were. I learned at a young age that religion does not always define someone’s personal traits. I am very much a christian. I currently intern at my church, so I spend more than 20 hours a week there. I have grown up in church all of my life. I have met lots of christians who are kind and loving, but I have also met some christians with hard hearts who do not “practice what they preach.” If this is true for my own religion, it makes sense that it would happen in other religions. I think that is what really gets people messed up with prejudices against religions, such as the muslim religion. If the only muslims you know of were terrorists, you are more likely to associate all muslims as terrorists. That’s what happens with stereotypes too.
I finished with the IAT about races because this is the one I was most curious about. I’ve been exposed to many cultures growing up. I believe that all men and women are created equally regardless of race. However, the test results showed that I have a slight automatic preference to white people. This does not surprise me considering I grew up in a primarily white school district. Many of my friends from college are African American, but I am sure that more of them are white. I am lucky to go to a school full of many international students. I think that if I had taken this test in high school, the results would have been much higher than slight because I was never really exposed to many races outside of my own. I think a lot of these biases can be explained by experiences people have or haven’t had. -M&M123
I think you are right when you say that the biases are rooted in people's own personal experiences, but nowadays, many of the biases people have come from media. The media has such an influence on people now, and, frankly, it is quite astounding how easily people can be programmed. It is very much a case of monkey see, monkey do, but it can be summed up better as monkey see, monkey internalize. The people who program us are the ones who own the media outlets and, in turn, own the American culture. It is important to consider that more when deciding who really shapes your beliefs. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteThe first test I did for the IAT was the age one. I went into it thinking that I would score a higher preference for old people rather than young one, but the results are saying that I have a higher preference for the young people over the old. I’m not sure if I fully agree with this test. I’m rather shocked by my answer, and more than a bit skeptical. I am a care giver to an elderly lady and I absolutely love it. I have enough experience babysitting kids to know that I prefer to be a care giver to the elderly rather the young. So I’m not sure how I feel about these results. But I don’t think that there is any age group that I could not be able to socialize with, and I knew that going into it. The second test I did was the skin tone one. The results for that suggest that I prefer darker toned people to lighter toned people. I’m actually more okay with these results than I was the with the first test I took. For the third test I took I chose the career and family one. Apparently I associate women in the work force and men to be the caregivers. Which I find to be extremely interesting considering my mom was the one who raised me and stayed home while my dad went to work and was so busy working that I don’t have a memory of him from my childhood. Over all, I think these tests are interesting, but I wouldn’t put stock into it. It opens your mind up to make you realize if you are doing these things or not. I would say that two out of the three tests that I did I would agree with.
ReplyDeletesunflower123
I know what you mean about getting results you didn't expect. And that sorta comes with figuring out your implicit biases. We really can't be sure of them because they are unconscious. If we knew we had them, we could get over them much easier. I'm not saying you're wrong though. I think some of the results I got might have been bad just because I would get into a rhythm of clicking the letters. You didn't really talk much about your second results. I would like to know why you are, "more okay with these results." That last test result you got was very interesting! I didn't expect to see that.
Delete^^ M&M123
DeleteI also agree with both of you about getting results that really didn't match who you were as a person or something that you did not expect all together. However she makes a good point of how we are not entirely aware of them so maybe we really do feel that way and we just do not see it ourselves. Sometimes it is often hard to admit things that we know our society views as wrong even though that is how we feel. I am just really unsure though because I really didn't agree with some of the answers.
DeleteM&M123-
DeleteYou asked why I was more okay with my second answer with preferring darker sink to lighter skin... The area I live in, Montgomery, AL, has a majority population of African American and Koreans because of the Hyundai HQ being located there. So Caucasians are a minority. When I first moved there to go to school, it seemed that the African American men were way more friendly and willing to help you out in a bad situation than the caucasian men. So when I say I'm more okay with it I simply mean that I can connect the dots to see where the results are coming from.
sunflower123
I agree with all three of you about getting results that you didn't expect. If we would have taken the test at different ages then I am certain that the test results would have been different than the ones we received today. Our life expiriences influences our answers. If we were raised in a racist household and we later learned that that is wrong then even though we now know that its wrong it could still affect our answers because that is how we started in life. Of course these test aren't 100% accurate, it is still interesting to see how you think, and how you associate people with different attributes.
Deletepanda123
@Sunflower123 - I received unexpected results too. It is common to be skeptical about these tests because it is showing our imperfections and biases in a sense which is a touchy subject. I believe it has to do with your environment, where you grow up, where you went to school, family members, and your friends. The more you see certain biases, the more likely you follow them especially if they are coming from someone you respect such as a family member or friend. I think these tests are good to take even if it is not accurate because everyone has implicit biases that they need to work on. -softball_savvy123
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ReplyDeleteI thought these tests were really fascinating to do. They go to show that we all have subconscious biased opinions that we may not know about. We like to tell ourselves that we don’t have these biased opinions because we know that it is wrong to have them. In my opinion, it is important to know of these implicit biases because we need to know what our natural tendencies are. In order to prevent these subconscious biases from showing is by know about them. The first test that I did was the gender-career one. I was surprised that I came out as neutral. Looking back at my family, I can see why I did not favor one gender to be in as science or liberal arts career. My parents strongly encouraged me and my sisters to be involved with music at a young age. They also pushed us to do well in all of our school subjects, not just one particular area. My parents are also very respectful of what kind of careers that me and my sisters chose to pursue. They never said things like “you need to go into a job suitable for a woman.” The second test that I took was if I associated black or white people with harmful or harmless objects. The test came out and told me that I associated black people with harmless objects and white people with harmful objects. I was kind of shocked when I saw these results. Being white, I would assume that I would subconsciously associate white people with harmless objects. I did not grow up around any harmful objects nor did I associate myself with any harmful objects in school. I think this implicit bias of mine may be explained by my opinion of how I view some white people around where I live. I live in a conservative area that is very passionate with the right to bare arms. I may have never associated myself with these people, but I did not agree with their views on owning guns. I know that not all people in the U.S that do not agree with stricter gun laws are not all white, but I subconsciously associate those that are to be white and therefore are more likely to have harmful objects. The last test I did was whether or not I had preference to recent presidents or Donald Trump. Initially, I thought this test was more targeted towards which political party I preferred. I try to stay independant when it comes to politics, but I know there are biased opinions within me that may swing me towards another party over the other. My results showed that I preferred recent presidents over Donald Trump. I was not too surprised by this result, but I was still interested to see what I preferred. Check123
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you associated white people with harmful objects because of gun advocates in your town is so interesting. I also live in a town where many people advocate for gun laws. I wonder how my results in this test would be similar because of this. I never thought about the fact that I may associate these two things in the back of my mind. I have also taken the gender implicit bias test a while ago and despite being raised in a stereotypical household I also had no automatic preference either way. Perhaps it is because I am an advocate for women’s rights. -Glass123
DeleteThe first test I took was the Religion IAT I was interested in this test because I had never taken this test and I wanted to see where I stood when it came to this issue. I was asked about Judaism vs Islam both religions that I do not practice. I have never been to a religious service of either Judaism and Islam and have had fairly low exposure to either groups of people. I do have a few community members and friends that are Jewish but I do not know anyone personally that is a practicing Muslim. I would like to think that I am not biased towards Muslims but I have a moderate automatic preference to Jewish people over Muslims. This makes sense because I have friends who are Jewish and I am never exposed to Muslims. I live in a small town and am considered very liberal to everyone who lives there but this test is a good reminder that just because I’m doing better than the racists and xenophobes in my town I still have biases that I must be aware of. The next test that I took was the disability test I received a moderate automatic preference to able bodied individuals. I think this could be because society has programed that able bodied individuals are desirable. Disability discrimination is not talked about nearly as much as women’s rights or race rights or lgbt rights but they are still a group that is discriminated against every day. The last test I took was the sexuality test. I received no automatic preference to gay people or straight people. I took this test because I have taken the sexuality implicit bias test about a year ago and I had a slight or moderate preference to straight people over gay people. At the time I didn’t think that I had a preference towards one or the other and was shocked to find that I did have an implicit bias. I am glad that I was able to grow as a person since I first took the sexuality test. -Glass123
ReplyDeleteGlass 123- It is so interesting to me that your results changed from a year ago until now. Isn't it interesting how our views on society can evolve like that? I also liked the fact that you were able to rationalize why you may by implicitly biased to some rather than others. I had thought about taking the disability one but opted out of it. I would agree with you that it is something that is widely overlooked in todays society. I do have a feeling that it will become more pronounced over time like woman's rights and racial equality has.
Deletesunflower123
I really like that your results changed within a year. That is so fascinating to me, and I am sure it was to you. I also agree with sunflower that it was a very nice explanation of why you think the way that you do. Growing up in a culture that has specific biases towards specific groups makes it difficult to think differently than the majority of that area. I can relate to that completely living in a very traditional, small town. I also agree that disability discrimination is under represented in our society today. I hope that in the future disabled people are less looked down upon in our culture. SAS123
DeleteI think the entire topic of subconscious bias is really fascinating and interesting to study. Many people have bias's towards different races that are clearly obvious but then there are the ones that we never even knew that we had. I think bias towards different races is something that is very common here in America. Just like we were talking about the other day in class we associate certain behavior and actions with so many different races. We often associate these actions with certain groups of people because we have seen it happen within that race, however just because a group out of that race does something it does not mean the entire race will perform or behave that same way. I feel like the results that I got on some of my test were very interesting and maybe not all entirely true. However there were some that I had never even thought you could really be bias towards. I took the Native American one first because I thought that was really interesting. When I think of people I really do not see the color of their skin but them as a person. So to judge someone because they are Native American seems very odd to me. I also never really thought one could be subconsciously bias to that many different races. But after seeing all the different things we could take test for it is obvious how many different races and people our world is bias towards. Out of all our blogs I think this was one of the better ones because it really brought some things into perspective for people. You can learn a lot about yourself through this course and I feel like this was a really good exercise for us to do as a class. Litv123
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Litv123. I believe almost everyone in America has biases yet they do not know about it or just will not admit it. If everyone took this test I feel as if a lot of them, just like myself, would not accept their results and would say that the test is flawed. We do not want to believe what we don't know is true, what we implicitly think. I think it is important to see these biases as insight within ourselves and also seeing them as nothing bad. I also think this was a really good exercise for our class to do. Scuba123
DeleteImplicit biases are shaped by our experiences throughout our lives and everyone has them. I am not sure if this is a completely accurate way to test what biases you may have but this could give you an idea of some that you may not know you had. After seeing your scores maybe you could put two and two together and see what the test is telling you. The first test I took was the race test. I was pretty certain that I would come out neutral before I took the test but my results said differently. My results said that I had a moderate preference for white people over black people. I do not totally agree with this because I really don't see color meaning anything but maybe I do have a slight bias and I did not even know about it. I do not think this would make anyone a worse person because they are implicit biases. They are things that we cannot control or decide what we are. They are what they are because of experiences we have had. The second test that I took was the religion test. I also went into this one thinking I did not have a preference between Islam and Judaism. This time I was right. The test said I had no preference between the two religions. I have always grown up a Catholic but have looked at all the different religions as very interesting to me. I love the way each one has their own story of how creation started and who their leader is. I have always wanted to learn more about other religions. I am very opened to the beliefs of others. We are all on this planet together and all have the common goal of surviving and leading a noble, holy life. How you do that does not affect, or bother me. I did enjoy taking these bias tests and really thinking about things from a different angle. Scuba123
ReplyDeleteI don't see color meaning either, but society is bias. We may not realize it until we take test like this that we see things no different than everyone around us. I see that you grew up as a Catholic and only had knowledge about many diverse cultures. I was thinking maybe because you weren’t Islam or Judaism that's why you got the results you got for the test. I don't think that this test is an accurate way to show bias even though it shows that we are bias based on our cultures and beliefs. This test was an eye opener to me with the questions it was asking whether it was for race, gender, sexuality, etc. The IAT overalls shows how bias society is as a whole. Rendezvous123
DeleteI find it both interesting and unique that you grew up Catholic but have maintained a certain level of interest and respect for other worldly religions. You would think in today's world that most people regardless of what they think, would have some sort of implicit bias towards either Islam or Judaism, and the fact that you do not have a preference between the two shows that both implicitly and explicitly that you truly have a certain level of respect and tolerance for not just those two religions but all religions in general. That is most definitely something to be proud of with yourself.-MrG123
DeleteThe first test I took was the Gender-Career IAT. My test results were little or no automatic association between female and male with career and family. I am not shocked by this result. I am pretty sure that if I took this test in high school my results would be different. My view of life back then was moms stayed home and took care of the kids and housework and dads went to work. It was a different time and that was the norm for society back then. Now that I am older and more experienced, I can see why I am more neutral here. I have seen both men and women in the workplace and know both men and women that are caregivers to their children and keep up with the upkeep of the house. Several years ago my wife stayed home and took care of our kids when they were toddlers and cleaned the house. Now my wife works full time and I go to school and take care of the kids and clean the house. Since I have both seen and experienced both sides of the gender role I am not surprised to have a more neutral opinion here. The second test I have taken was the Skin-tone IAT test. My results were moderate automatic preference for light skinned people over dark skinned people. Even though I try to live a life where I try not to see color when talking or even observing another, I am not truly surprised. Growing up I lived in a small town next to a cornfield. Needless to say my exposure to people of a different skin color was limited. The high school I attended was mostly white also. So even though I try not to see color in people, I am not surprised that there could be a subconscious prejudice deep down that I am trying not to show. The third test I took was the Age IAT. My test results were moderate automatic preference for young people over old people. I was not sure what my results were going to be. I do think the time in my life right now has an impact on the test results. I am older than most of the other students in class. I am sure if I took the test a year ago when I was working and not going to school that my results could be different. Diver 123
ReplyDeleteI was also going to do the gender in the workplace test but decided against it. I agree that my results would probably be different too if I took it five years ago. I took the race test and I know it would’ve been a lot worse if I took it as a fifteen-year-old. The race test wasn’t surprising to me for everyone just having a slight favor for their skin tone it seems, which is fine. Again, if I took this in high school it would be far worse, being that I was raised in a pretty racist household. rosethorns123
DeleteSo for my first preliminary test, I wanted to do an easy one, so I chose the homsexual/heterosexual preference test. My results came up as “no automatic preference between straight people and gay people”, which of course I find to be one-hundred percent correct. That's why I chose it as my easy starter because I wanted to be sure with myself that I’m not biased in that ball park. The overall results were a little surprising to me. Three percent had a strong like for homosexuals while twenty-five percent had a strong like for heterosexuals. I find it odd how people prefer someone just because of their sexuality. Next I did the skin-tone test which I was a little scared to do. After hearing what Dr. White said in class about how we tend to favor our own skin tones, I got a little nervous, I don’t like the idea of favoring someone over the color of their skin. But anyway, my fears became a reality when I my result came back as being somewhat favorable to my own race. I’m kind of upset over the result, but if I was to take anything away from it, I would say that I will try to be more equal when it comes to my actions. Meaning I won’t focus on their color and more focus on them as a person. Finally I did the age test. I know for a fact that when I go about my day, and I see an old person I automatically become biased, I know this. So the test just further proved my point. I know I shouldn’t judge someone on their age because there's some pretty cool grandparents out there I won’t lie about that. Mostly it springs up when I’m working and an old person comes in, I automatically assume that they will cause me some trouble, opposed to a young person coming in. So I will try to be more open minded on the topic of age and try not to assume that every elderly individual is coming to ruin my day. rosethorns123
ReplyDeleteI also took the age test and my results showed I had a slight bias towards older people. Working in retail probably causes that bias in me due to the amount of elderly people who cause trouble when I am working and the amount of young people who do not cause any at all. Some older people are more concerned about issues that don't matter to me personally or to the values of the store I work at. No matter the age, I treat all my customers with kindness and respect, but I see an obvious difference in the attitudes of young and old people. I can't help but feel that younger adults and kids are more relatableand understand the world the way that I do because they make my job easier. -Kiwi123
DeleteI took the Gender-Career Implicit Association Test (IAT). I categorized Male and Female words with Career and Family. My data results suggested a slight automatic association for Male with Career and Female with Family. The IAT measures the strength of associations between concepts of Female/Family and Male/Career. The questions that was asked based off my results show that I agree with society on how the male is supposed to work and the female is supposed to take care of the family. It was much easier for me to sort Male with Career and Female with Family then to sort Female with Career and Male with Family. My data suggest a slight automatic association for Harmless Objects with White Americans and Weapons with Black Americans when I was taking the Weapons IAT. My result is described as an "Automatic association for White Americans with Weapons" if you were faster responding when White Americans and Weapons are assigned to the same response key than when Black Americans and Weapons were classified with the same key. Your score is described as an "Automatic association for Black Americans with Weapons" if the opposite occurred. It was easier for me to associate Black Americans with Weapons and White Americans with Weapons. In society, it’s sad but stereotypically Black Americans are associated as the one’s being violent. While taking the Sexuality IAT I found myself to be bias towards sexuality. My data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Straight people over Gay people. I would have thought that my data would have suggested a strong automatic preference for Straight people over gay people. The questions that was asked within the test were bias, but I guess that makes me bias, because of my results against Straight people and Gay people. Taking this test was fun to me. It made me realize that I think just like society when it comes to sexuality, weapons, and gender-career. Rendezvous123
ReplyDeleteImplicit bias is a very interesting and true concept that is in our lives. The first test that I took was the Race IAT. I was a little surprised by the result. It showed that I have a moderate automatic preference for white people over black people. I was raised to love and accept all races, skin colors, and ethnic backgrounds. I was expecting a neutral answer, but that was not the case. I obviously disagree because again I love all races. The second IAT test that I took was the Weight test. The result was that I have no automatic preference between fat and thin people. I was pleased with this result because I endeavor to accept and love people no matter what their size may be. This result added a little more pride to my beliefs. The last test I took was the Gender-career test. The result was that I have a moderate automatic association for male with career and women with family. I strongly believe that women have equal treatment in the workplace and that they have the right to have a career. I wasn't that surprised with my result, only because growing up it was my father that went to work, and my mother stayed at home homeschooling me and taking care of me. It is just in how I was raised that I associate more with men with careers and not women. These tests were very fun to take, and it can give you a little bit more knowledge in how you think and how you treat people.
ReplyDeletepanda123
These tests were fascinating to me but I also found them to be quite bias in themselves. After taking the sexuality, race, and religion tests it was easy for me to see that the second half of the tests where they implement pictures were almost trying template the test taking individuals in a position for discrimination. They encouraged you to click "I" or "E" as fast as you can in order to determine the psychological stratification of one's viewpoints on race or other issues when in reality that is not the case at all. In life it take more than two seconds for someone to form an opinion or an acting decision on someone or something. When we ultimately tap into our implicit biases through tests like these we are teaching ourselves that it is okay to hate. I think that is why more often than not we as humans try to avoid these parts of our brains and go to a "happy place" where racism and hatred doesn't exist. The sad part is that they both do exist and they're still alive and well, deep down, in all of our implicit biases. Of course we all may think that we would treat a black person and a white person just as equally, but when our implicit biases kick in we may find out that is not exactly the case. Police officers especially encounter implicit biases almost everyday as they sometimes have to make split second decisions regarding an individual or suspect. They often make these split second decisions based on implicit biases before really having the time to think about them. By doing so they are contributing to the everlasting cycle of the sociological imagination. Implicit biases are dangerous tools that are brain uses to force us to make a decision.-MrG123
ReplyDeleteMrG I can see where you’re going with it and I do agree with you to a degree. I believe the test is trying to see how fast you respond to seeing something that you’re more familiar with. While taking my test I had in my head the key that was more familiar with me is the one I’d remember to hit most often and when it came to the other key I had to think it about it a little longer than the other key. I also think this test brought out what we do try to not bring up or think about, even in class we’re all so timid when the doctor is teaching us about what we classify as inappropriate or uncomfortable to discuss. So no I don’t think it’s saying that racism is ok it’s just making us think about what’s constantly being “hushed” by society. Benoodles123
DeleteThe first test I took was the Race-Weapons. The result said I had a moderate association for harmless objects with White Americans. While I feel like I have no racist at all, the test shows you that you are already with biases for certain people because of your environment, media, and other sources. The second test I took was the race one. It said I had a moderate automatic preference for light skinned people. This saddened and surprised me. I was raised to love everyone equally and I always thought that I did. Even though I grew up with mostly light skinned people (family, hometown, school), I still thought that I would be completely neutral. Sadly, biases will always exist in our society. I took the disabled versus abled people test and it said that I have no preference. I was pleased by these results, because I know a lot of people who are not physically disabled but have mental illnesses. I like to think that I do not treat them any differently which is seemingly true. Sometimes people, such as police officers, have to make rapid decisions about suspects. On occasion, their instincts will come from their own personal biases, such as gender or race. I am not sure how accurate these tests are, but either way, they are eye-opening to me. It is interesting to me that the reasons people become bias is the because of how they are, family, friends, their environment, school, and so forth. Biases are dangerous to have especially for people who are high in their work field, such as a CEO, president, an executive, or a police officer. Even though these biases are dangerous, there are hard to destroy them. It is wired into our brains from a young age because of how we grow up. In my high school, I was blessed to be able to attend school with many different races. We had Korean exchanged students and I have been to South Korea on a mission trip. I have a lot of experience with different cultures and races and I think it is beneficial to help demolish biases by spending time and learning about those people.
ReplyDelete-softball_savvy123
My first test that I chose to take was the religion test. It started off with basic questions and then went on to ask me about specific religions and which I prefer. My result said that I have a strong automatic preference for Christianity over Judaism. It explained that this was because I associated the good and Christianity words and symbols much quicker than I associated the good with Judaism. I understand how this could show that it’s easier for me to assume all good things tie into the religion I am most familiar with. Although, I don’t think this test made too much sense in deciding my religious bias considering it only asked me about three religions specifically. It didn’t ask me how I felt about other unfamiliar religions, only the ones closely associated with each other. My next test was the Age test and my result was a slight automatic preference for young people. I never really considered having a bias towards age other than when an older adult looks down on a young person. I can see how I could prefer young people considering I am one. I think it also must do with believing in my generation positively and feeling confident that young people like me are working towards a better future and being good people all the time, although I know that this is not true for everyone. My last test was the Disability test. My result was that I have a slight automatic preference for abled persons over disabled persons. Although I think of every person equally, I understand that I feel uncomfortable around disable people only because I am not familiar with that lifestyle and I don’t know how to communicate sometimes. In some cases, I feel more sympathy towards disabled people and give them more attention. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteThese tests were very interesting to do. The first one I took was gender associating with career and family. My results came back as neutral to both men and women. I am surprised by this because the culture I grew up in. My family is Apostolic Christian, which means very conservative and traditional. In my church, it is the norm for men to have a job and women to stay home with the children and tend to the home. It is also common for men to move up the ladder while women have on average five children. I expected to associate women with family and men with career as that is the culture I have been in the entirety of my life. The next I took was skin tone. It came back that I have a slight bias towards light skinned people over darker skinned people. This is not that surprising considering I grew up in Eureka, Illinois. In my high school, I had four people that were not white - and they were all siblings. I have grown up all my life around white people so that probably explains why that came to be. The last test I took was the Asian-American one. I took this because my father is a Vietnamese American and I wanted to see how I would test out. My results came back as “a slight automatic association for American with Asian American and Foreign with European American.” Basically, I take that as I associate Asians being American and European descent as being foreign. I do not really agree with this one. I think that because this was the last test I took, I may have unintentionally answered improperly or something to sway the data. These tests were very interesting for me and I think that while they could have a little truth to them, they do not define 100% our biases because it is too few questions to fully understand how the person works. I also kept forgetting which side was which and would hit the wrong one on easy ones and then it would stress me out so I would hit it wrong a couple times. SAS123
ReplyDeleteI think that the results that you received really prove that the interactions you have throughout your own life affect these implicit biases. I am not surprised by your first result, because as an apostolic christian, it is likely you were raised in a household where everyone was treated fairly. If you also have brothers and sisters, this could also be a factor as to why your result came back neutral. I think the result you had on the Asian-American IAT was really cool, because to you specifically you associate European decent with being foreign. This is not something I have been exposed to, and as an American with European descent I am sure my results would've been the opposite. To grow up with a father that is Vietnamese would definitely impact one's implicit bias towards Asian-Americans, and I think it's really interesting how well your tests showed how society has impacted your implicit biases. Daisy123
DeleteImplicit bias is real and while doing the test, I thought I knew what the outcomes would be but to my dismay, I was shockingly surprised. I took the age test and it suggest a moderate automatic response for young people over old people which I surprised me only because I love working with the older population and coming into an older age bracket I feel so old but I suppose I’m trying to hold onto my youth through younger people or it could be that I still implicitly identify as being younger than what I actually am.
ReplyDeleteThe second test I took was the race test. I just knew hands down that I would get a neutral suggestion because of interracial upbringing, but it suggested that I have a slight automatic response for black people over white people. Which a slight indicator doesn’t really suggest that I overly identify with blacks more than another race. But it just goes to show how the culture in my family has had a lot to do with my decisions for today because I was still exposed to more blacks than Filipinos.
The third test I completed was about gays and straights. Now these results I was completely shocked with. It suggests a strong automatic preference for straight people over gay people. I’ve never been the one to judge someone nor have I ever pushed my beliefs upon others and I’ve always felt that gay people were no different than straight individuals. I guess it just opens my mind to start noticing the little things that I’ve been completely unaware of all of this time.
Implicit biases happens all of the time even if we know that without a doubt we’d never treat someone different or prefer one type of person over another just because of factors neither we nor them have any control over. Benoodles123
Implicit bias is an interesting concept and one I haven't heard about until this sociology class. I like to think of myself as a pretty accepting, non-judgemental person. If you respect me, I'm going to respect you. With this being said, I tried to take the tests that seemed like I clearly had no bias for. The first IAT I took was the sexuality one. My results came back that I had a slight automatic preference for straight people. I had hoped to come up neutral, but my results were not a surprise because I am straight. The second IAT I took was the abled-disabled IAT. I had also hoped to come back neutral, as I have a few friends and extended family members that are disabled, but again it was not a surprise that my results came back as a moderate automatic preference for abled persons, as I myself am not disabled. The final test I took was the age IAT. I had expected to get a preference for young people because I am still very young, but instead my results were a slight automatic preference for old persons. I think this is because I have been raised by older people my whole life, as my parents waited until they were in their 30s to start having children. The topic of implicit bias is really interesting and definitely affects our daily lives. Even if we think we treat everyone equally, it turns out that our attitudes towards others might show our own implicit bias. This project is really awesome, because if people are made aware of their implicit biases they can actively try to diminish them. Daisy123
ReplyDeleteAs your results support, no matter how confident you are that you will be neutral on a subject you have a very good chance of actually having an implicit bias. Our experiences shape who we are and therefore there is no getting around forming implicit biases on some topics. We can not chose certain experiences from our lives like where we grow up, what race we are, etc., but I agree with you that if we discover the implicit biases that our lives have caused us to hold we can lessen them or maybe even overcome them with enough effort. -Chameleon123
DeleteImplicit biases surround ourselves and our culture whether we are aware of it or not, hence the name “implicit.” These biases creep in from many different avenues such as the media, observing peers, or looking at how adults act themselves. Although I had never heard of these tests prior to this class, I am extremely interested in them and found them to be very telling. The first test I took was the one about preference to either Black or White people. The results showed that I had a slight automatic preference for White people over Black people. Now I’m not justifying the test’s findings, but they do make sense. I have been raised by my Caucasian parents with basically all white family members and mostly white friends. I live in a mostly White town with not a whole lot of racial or ethnic diversity (African American or others.) So you can clearly see where that implicit bias has developed. The second test I took was the preference for straight people or gay people. The results suggested that I have a moderate preference for straight people as opposed to gay people. This result also makes sense considering I have been around mostly heterosexual people my entire life and the few encounters I have had with gay people have not exactly been pleasant. The final test I took was gender science option. This study suggested that I possess a moderate automatic association for male with science and female with liberal arts. I believe this implicit bias exists because it is a common trend in our society for more men to go into STEM work. Now, that is changing which is definitely a good thing, but I believe there still is a gap to be filled.
ReplyDelete-ThreeTwo123
I agree with you all the way, i feel like the people you are surrounded by do affect your preference for people in the long run. Being surrounded by a certain group of people for a long time do affect the way your see them or the world. Like you said you don't have a problem with darker toned people you just grew up around or Caucasian rather than African Americans. Same with people who are straight and gay you grew up with people who were straight but i don't think being surrounded by people who are gay will make you want to be gay i thinks that is just your sexual preference. Dancer123
DeleteThe results from taking these tests to discover implicit bias has really shocked me. The first test that I took was the one on race. My result was that I have a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American. I do not see this to be true in my mind, but I can see how being raised in an almost entirely white town could have shaped this bias. The second test that I took was the one on old vs. young. Before taking this test, I was almost certain that I was going to favor old people because I love them so much. However, my result was that I have a moderate automatic preference for young people over old people. Overall I would say our society has a negative attitude towards the elderly maybe because they can be slow or get confused at times, but we forget how much life experience they have and that we will be in their shoes someday. Perhaps the most shocking result of all was that of my last test. I got that I have a strong association for male with science and female with liberal arts. This is not at all what I had expected because I am an avid defender of men and women equality. The fact that I have such a strong association for a certain gender corresponding to a certain educational path is scary because it is a reminder of how bias our society is. It is also eye opening because now I know that I hold these biases and I can try not to let myself be influenced by them in my life. The outcomes from these tests go to show how much more your upbringing and society can have on your views later in life whether you are aware of it or not. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteThe two test i took implicit bias and sociological perspectives were the young versus old and the light skinned versus dark skinned people. After taking the light skinned veruses th dark skinned test i got my result and had to reevaluate my thoughts. I didn't think i leaned towards a race more than the other i consider myself neutral but my test result said otherwise. They said that i would prefer dark skinned people over light skinned people. I honestly believe that with me growing up in african american communities could be an underlying factor for the result of this test. For the second test those result to me were more logical, my results were that i prefered younger individuals rather than those who were older. The only elderly person i have really spent time with was my grandma and she really isn't that old.i have always been around younger people my whole life so yeah of course i prefer younger over older. I feel like these test should be mandatory in schools so maybe we could see less racial discrimination and more of students actually including kids of all races in their activities. As far as being equal with the elders i don't think there will be much of relating with each other on a sociological perspective due to the fact our generation are continuously growing and they are still stuck with the same mind set they had when the were our age just because of the generation gaps but in the end well will think just like them not about the same stuff but wanting to keep our same ideas and thought from our generation. Dancer 123
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