The Generalization of Implicit Racial Bias to Young Black Boys: Automatic Stereotyping or Automatic Prejudice?

Abstract

Although children typically elicit benevolence and care from adults, these protections are not afforded equally to children of all races: Implicit racial biases commonly directed toward Black adults appear to generalize to young Black children. In two experiments, we tested whether such effects reflect biases in semantic associations (i.e., automatic stereotyping), evaluative associations (i.e., automatic prejudice), or both. White participants categorized objects and words that varied in racial stereotypicality and valence after brief presentations of male faces that varied in race (Black, White) and age (adults, children). Results revealed consistent support for a general-stereotyping account: Seeing Black male faces, regardless of age, facilitated the identification of both negative and positive stereotypic stimuli. We also found some support for a prejudice account, as these same faces facilitated the identification of negative stimuli more generally. Process-dissociation-procedure analyses further re...