Implicit Association Study

More often than not, our subconscious thoughts are different than our conscious thoughts. How does one get to the root of bias? Through Implicit Association Tests, one is able to see their natural bias’s (or lack thereof) through reaction times to grouping things as “good” or “bad”. One can use the results of the test to better understand an outgroup and to change how they interact with the member of the outgroup. For this project, I took the sexuality IAT. Through this IAT, I learned that I do indeed have a bias, and because of this, I can alter how I interact with others.
The purpose of this IAT was to measure the presence of a preference to Gay or Straight individuals. IATs measures the strength of associations. The test detects presence of a preference to Gay or Straight individuals through reaction times to grouping activities. If one reacts very quickly to “Straight” and “good” together, they have a preference for Straight people, and vice versa. This test first collects demographic information; then it collects baseline data (how quickly do you react to neutral stimuli, how quickly you react to good/bad stimuli, etc.). After these things, the test measures how quickly you react to associations. If one gets too many question wrong (grouping a lesbian couple as “heterosexual”,
After taking the assigned test, I went back and took more. Through these tests, I feel like I’m able to learn more about myself and my subconscious thoughts. When I got the results of the sexuality test back, I was pleasantly surprised. Seeing these results was affirmation that my subconscious aligns with my conscious thoughts of equality. While my results did come back as a “slight preference for gay individuals”, the affirmation was still there. I don’t believe that the results of my IAT will affect how I interact with people. I will still love my bisexual boyfriend, as well as loving my straight colleagues, family, and friends the exact same