anti-Black Bias Research Articles

Perceptions of Anti-Black Bias in the Criminal Justice System Contribute to Pro-Black (Versus White) Bias in Criminal Justice Research

Black Americans experience more frequent guilty verdicts and harsher sentences in the criminal justice system. However, recent laboratory work often finds either trivial differences or a pro-Black bias where people provide more lenient verdicts for Black versus White defendants. Across five studies, we find a consistent pro-Black bias even after reducing social desirability concerns. Instead, the pro-Black bias results from a negative relationship between perceived anti-Black criminal justice bias and the Black suspect’s verdict. The current work shows the pro-Black bias as a consequence of the newly salient perception of racial bias in the criminal justice system. Consequently, as people’s perceptions of racial disparities in the criminal justice system increase, this in-lab effect may manifest in real-world criminal justice outcomes.

Longitudinal and Geographic Trends in Perceived Racial Discrimination Among Adolescents in the U.S.: The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

This study examines longitudinal and geographic trends in perceived racial discrimination among U.S. adolescents using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. A diverse sample of 11,868 children aged 9-10 at baseline from 22 sites across the U.S. was analyzed, assessing perceived discrimination at ages 10-11, 11-12, and 13-14 using items adapted from the Perceived Discrimination Scale. Binomial logistic regression models were used to evaluate longitudinal trends and geographic variation, adjusting for demographic factors such as race/ethnicity, parental education, and income. Results show that perceived racial discrimination increased significantly from ages 10-11 to 13-14, particularly among Black and Asian adolescents. By age 13-14, nearly half of Black adolescents and over a quarter of Asian adolescents reported discrimination. Geographic analysis revealed that Black adolescents in the Western U.S. and predominantly White affluent neighborhoods had the highest odds of perceived discrimination. Higher state-level anti-Black bias was associated with lower discrimination rates among Black adolescents but higher rates for Asian adolescents. These findings highlight the evolving nature of racial discrimination during adolescence and underscore the need for targeted interventions that address racism's mental health impacts on adolescents, particularly in high-risk geographic and socio-economic contexts.

Examining implicit and explicit anti-Black racial bias in children: A repeated measure design using the Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST)

ABSTRACT Anti-Black bias involves negative evaluations of individuals from African-descendent groups. Researchers use explicit and implicit measures to detect this bias and evaluate intervention effectiveness. However, few behavior analysis studies have focused on identifying and addressing racial bias in children, and none have explored the effects of test-retest on implicit measures in this context. This study aimed to identify implicit and explicit anti-Black racial bias in children and examine the test-retest reliability of these measures over three time points. Thirty-four children (average age 8.60 years, 24 females) rated images of Black and White faces on a five-point Likert scale. The Modified Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST), an implicit measure, assessed how fluently participants categorized Black and White faces with positive and negative images. Results showed no explicit racial bias in the sample. However, implicit measure results revealed an anti-Black bias, with 11 participants consistently displaying this bias across three repetitions. Regarding test-retest reliability, there were no significant performance differences on the implicit and explicit measures across the three repetitions. These findings suggest that the FAST is a sensitive tool for identifying racial bias in children, and the absence of test-retest effects supports its feasibility for repeated use.

“Will they assume I’m racist?” How racial ingroup members’ stereotypical behavior impacts White Americans’ interracial interaction experiences

Three studies ( N = 1,427) examine White Americans’ threat and stress appraisals and coping strategies in imagined inter- and intraracial interactions when a nearby White person does something racist. White individuals report heightened concern about being stereotyped as racist (i.e., metastereotyping) following an ingroup member’s stereotype-confirming (vs. neutral) behavior (Studies 1–3). Moreover, across studies, these heightened metastereotypes predict greater anxiety, which in turn predicts anticipated coping strategies (e.g., increased motivation to disprove the stereotype). Additionally, relative to imagined interactions with a White partner, these consequences of witnessing a White person’s anti-Black bias are significantly stronger with a Black or Latinx (Studies 1 and 2) but not an Asian (Study 3, preregistered) interaction partner. This work highlights how an ingroup member’s racist behavior is a situational stressor for White people during intergroup encounters, engendering coping strategies to protect the self and manage the ensuing interaction.

Cognitive Frameworks for Mitigating Antiblack Bias: Advancing Ethical AI Design and Development

This paper explores the utilization of cognitive modeling to address the influence of antiblackness and racism on the design and development of AI systems. Through the lens of the ACT-R/Φ cognitive architecture and ConceptNet, an existing knowledge graph system, we investigate this issue from cognitive, sociocultural, and physiological perspectives. We propose an approach that not only examines how antiblackness may permeate AI system design and development, particularly within the realm of software engineering, but also establishes links between antiblackness, human cognition, and computational cognitive modeling. We contend that overlooking sociocultural factors in cognitive architectures perpetuates a colorblind approach to modeling, obscuring the inherent sociocultural context that shapes human behavior and cognitive processes.

Cognitive Frameworks for Mitigating Antiblack Bias: Advancing Ethical AI Design and Development

This paper explores the utilization of cognitive modeling to address the influence of antiblackness and racism on the design and development of AI systems. Through the lens of the ACT-R/Φ cognitive architecture and ConceptNet, an existing knowledge graph system, we investigate this issue from cognitive, sociocultural, and physiological perspectives. We propose an approach that not only examines how antiblackness may permeate AI system design and development, particularly within the realm of software engineering, but also establishes links between antiblackness, human cognition, and computational cognitive modeling. We contend that overlooking sociocultural factors in cognitive architectures perpetuates a colorblind approach to modeling, obscuring the inherent sociocultural context that shapes human behavior and cognitive processes.

Target Weight and Gender Moderate Anti-Black Bias in Pain Perception

Perceivers recognize pain less readily on Black (vs. White) faces in the United States. The present work investigated whether this perceptual bias is moderated by target weight and gender across three experiments. Anti-Black bias in pain perception was mitigated within heavier-weight (vs. average-weight) male-appearing targets (Experiment 1) but was independent of female-appearing targets’ weight (Experiment 2). A well-powered, pre-registered Experiment 3 replicated these findings, confirming that target weight and gender interactively shaped anti-Black bias in pain perception: target weight moderated perceptual bias within male-appearing (but not female-appearing) faces. These findings help illuminate factors that interact to shape racial bias in pain perception and demonstrate the importance of intersectionality when studying social perceptual biases.

Following Prejudiced Behavior, Confrontation Restores Local Anti-Bias Social Norms.

Does confronting, or calling out prejudiced statements or behaviors, signal anti-bias norms? The current studies (N = 1,308) examined this question by assessing observers' perceptions of descriptive and injunctive anti-bias local norms after a prejudiced comment was confronted. Studies 1 and 2 revealed a restorative function of confrontation: Confrontation of bias expressed toward Mexican people strengthened non-Mexican participants' perceptions of descriptive anti-bias local norms compared to leaving bias unconfronted and restored the perception of injunctive anti-bias local norms to baseline level (i.e., when no bias had occurred). Study 3 demonstrated that the norm-signaling function of confrontation is applicable to anti-Black bias among both Black and White participants. Moreover, observing confrontation of anti-Black bias boosted participants' sense that their identity would be safe in the environment, mediated by their perceptions of anti-bias descriptive and injunctive norms. Together, these findings indicate that confrontation effectively transforms norms in the face of bias.

Carceral Justification: Scale Development and Initial Validation

Black-led social movements have demanded sweeping changes to the criminal legal system by advancing abolitionist goals. Public attitudes about the criminal legal system influence what policy agendas are developed, legitimated, and implemented. In order to assess influences on such attitudes, there is a need for research that examines the underlying carceral logics people use to inform their opinions toward anti-carceral policy proposals. Applying System Justification Theory and a framework of carceral logics, we developed the Carceral Justification Scale (CJS) using data collected from 1,394 Alameda County, California registered voters. Items were developed via literature review, qualitative analysis of canvasser conversations, and expert review. Exploratory (N = 461) and confirmatory (N = 463) factor analyses suggested an oblique 2-factor structure and produced 6 items with the following factors: (a) System Works, and (b) System Necessary. Internal consistency estimates were .71 and above and the scales accounted for 28% and 27% of variance, respectively. Initial construct validity was established as CJS scores were associated with racial resentment, system justification, political ideology, and anti-Black bias awareness in ways consistent with theory. This measure is useful for the evaluation of community practice political interventions that aim to increase support for abolitionist policies.

Does racial diversity affect White children's racial bias and reasoning? Depends on where they live and how their social world is structured.

By 4 years of age, White children from across the United States begin to exhibit an awareness of racial inequalities, along with in-group preferences for other White children. The present study explored how the size and racial diversity of White children's social network (e.g., friends, family, and classmates) and neighborhood (zip code) are related to variation in their explanations for racial disparities and anti-Black bias among a sample of 395 White children (ages = 4-11 years old; Mage = 6.6 years) from 263 unique zip codes across the United States. White children in neighborhoods with low diversity were more likely to endorse an extrinsic explanation for racial inequality as their network diversity increased, whereas network diversity did not relate to children's choices for those who lived in neighborhoods with high diversity. These findings held even after controlling for parents' beliefs about diversity, which were themselves positively correlated with children's network and neighborhood diversity. An exploratory analysis revealed that for White children in small networks only, as the number of children of color in their network increased, they were more likely to choose to play with a Black child. Results demonstrate how the diversity of children's social networks and neighborhoods relates to children's developing racial beliefs in contextually dependent ways. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Experiences of racial Trauma among perinatal women of color in seeking healthcare services

ObjectiveTo describe the experiences of perinatal Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) women in healthcare interactions. MethodsWe conducted eight virtual focus groups with perinatal BIPOC women across the USA from November 2021 to March 2022. A semi-structured interview protocol was used, and focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Our team used reflexive thematic analysis to analyze the qualitative data and describe our findings. ResultsThree latent themes emerged related to racial trauma in healthcare interactions: (1) observations and experiences of anti-Black bias, (2) experiences of dismissal of pain and withholding of care, particularly among Black and Latinx patients, and (3) common race-based traumatic experiences across all BIPOC women, including a consistent lack of bodily autonomy and deferral to White people for decision-making. Recommendations from participants included more transparent communication and greater empathic care for all patients, with calls to specifically address anti-Black bias in healthcare treatment. ConclusionThe study's findings suggest that perinatal healthcare needs to reduce mental stress and exposure to racial trauma for perinatal BIPOC women. This study offers a discussion of implications for future training for healthcare providers and implications for addressing systemic racial disparities in perinatal mental health.

Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality

Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality

How Latino anti-Blackness upholds racism in the United States: A counterstory book review of Tanya Katerí Hernández’s Racial Innocence

In this piece, the author uses counterstorytelling as a research method to write a book review of Tanya Katerí Hernández’s recently published book, Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality. Specifically, in this counterstory, the author created two composite characters, Alberto and his mother, Lola, made up of arguments from the book to engage in a real and critical dialogue about the anti-Blackness amongst Latinos in the United States. Drawing on Hernández’s argument that Latino anti-Blackness upholds racism, the author uses this counterstory to illustrate the various ways Latinos enact anti-Black ideologies and practices to deny Black people good experiences in public spaces, a quality education, work opportunities, housing, and physical and psychological safety. The author argues that counterstorytelling allows him to make research accessible—digestible and understandable— to his community and other Communities of Color who continue to be systematically excluded from academia and knowledge production in higher education.

Teachers' anti-black biases in disciplinary decisions: The role of mindfulness

Research suggests that disparities in exclusionary discipline can be explained, in part, by teachers' anti-Black biases in disciplinary decision-making. An emerging body of literature also speaks to the benefits of cultivating mindfulness for bias reduction. The present study adds to the literature by assessing whether mindfulness is associated with differences in teachers' responses to student disciplinary infractions as a function of student signaled race, which was manipulated as a between-subjects factor. We predicted that teachers with lower levels of mindfulness, as measured via self-report, would demonstrate greater anti-Black bias in response to students' disciplinary files than teachers with higher levels of mindfulness. Teachers (N = 179) completed the study via an online research participant platform. Consistent with hypothesis, we found that participants' self-reported mindfulness in teaching moderated their responses to a disciplinary file as a function of student signaled race, b = −1.05, F(1, 175) = 4.50, p = 0.035, ηp2 = 0.03, 95% CI [−2.03, −0.07]. Specifically, participants with lower levels of mindfulness rated the disciplinary infraction as more severe if it was enacted by a Black boy compared to a White boy. At higher levels of mindfulness, however, the opposite pattern emerged; participants demonstrated more leniency if the infraction was perpetrated by a Black boy, relative to a White boy. Our research adds to the literature and suggests that improving teachers' ability to remain present in the classroom may improve their ability to make more equitable decisions in managing students' misbehavior.

Perceiving a Danger Within: Black Americans Associate Black Men With Physical Threat

Recent work suggests that good/bad out-group favoritism of Blacks for Whites may reflect positive associations with White rather than negative associations with Black. The Dual Implicit Process Model suggests that Blacks may come to associate their own group with threat, even absent a concurrent Black-negative association. This work tests this idea among Black Americans. Three studies tested this possibility using mouse-tracking (Study 1) and evaluative priming tasks (Studies 2 and 3) to assess how quickly participants make judgments involving Black versus White male faces and names. All studies found that that Black Americans hold automatic Black-threat associations absent automatic Black-negative associations. This supports the Dual Implicit Process Model’s threat versus negativity distinction within the realm of anti-Black bias and supplements recent work by showing that the presence of out-group favoritism on one dimension (i.e., threat) can occur even in the absence of out-group favoritism on a seemingly related dimension (i.e., negativity).

Developmental origins of anti-Black bias in White children in the United States: Exposure to and beliefs about racial inequality

Anti-Black racism remains a pervasive crisis in the United States. Racist social systems reinforce racial inequalities and perpetuate prejudicial beliefs. These beliefs emerge in childhood, are difficult to change once entrenched in adolescence and adulthood, and lead people to support policies that further reinforce racist systems. Therefore, it is important to identify what leads children to form prejudicial beliefs and biases and what steps can be taken to preempt their development. This study examined how children's exposure to and beliefs about racial inequalities predicted anti-Black biases in a sample of 646 White children (4 to 8 years) living across the United States. We found that for children with more exposure to racial inequality in their daily lives, those who believed that racial inequalities were caused by intrinsic differences between people were more likely to hold racial biases, whereas those who recognized the extrinsic factors underlying racial inequalities held more egalitarian attitudes. Grounded in constructivist theories in developmental science, these results are consistent with the possibility that racial biases emerge in part from the explanatory beliefs that children construct to understand the racial inequalities they see in the world around them.

Implicit Racial and Gender Bias About Handguns: A New Implicit Association Test.

This study measured implicit and explicit racial bias about women and handguns and addressed important perceptions and stereotypes about gun competence and victimization that vary based on race and gender. We administered a national survey to 1,000 US adults using a new Race-Women-Handguns Implicit Association Test (IAT). Survey weighting was used to generate nationally representative estimates on the prevalence of implicit racial bias about women with handguns. The majority of participants (62.5%) associated Black women with handguns and White women with smartphones (weighted-mean IAT = 0.252; 95% CI [0.227, 0.276]) reflecting an anti-Black bias among US adults that is stereotype consistent associating Black women with handguns and White women with smartphones. The proportion that indicated Black and White women were competent with handguns was low (21.6% and 22.4%, respectively), and the proportion of US adults who indicated Black women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence (range: 19.4%-22.9%) and sexual harassment/assault (range: 11.4%-20.4%) was low compared to the prevalence of both forms of violence US among Black women that may impact the decision to possess a handgun. These findings suggest there is an anti-Black implicit bias about women with handguns (associating Black women with handguns) among US adults and support the need for further research measuring racism in systems and structures that intersect with gun possession.

White (but Not Black) Americans Continue to See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game; White Conservatives (but Not Moderates or Liberals) See Themselves as Losing

In a 2011 article in this journal entitled “Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing” (Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 215–218), Norton and Sommers assessed Black and White Americans’ perceptions of anti-Black and anti-White bias across the previous 6 decades—from the 1950s to the 2000s. They presented two key findings: White (but not Black) respondents perceived decreases in anti-Black bias to be associated with increases in anti-White bias, signaling the perception that racism is a zero-sum game; White respondents rated anti-White bias as more pronounced than anti-Black bias in the 2000s, signaling the perception that they were losing the zero-sum game. We collected new data to examine whether the key findings would be evident nearly a decade later and whether political ideology would moderate perceptions. Liberal, moderate, and conservative White (but not Black) Americans alike believed that racism is a zero-sum game. Liberal White Americans saw racism as a zero-sum game they were winning by a lot, moderate White Americans saw it as a game they were winning by only a little, and conservative White Americans saw it as a game they were losing. This work has clear implications for public policy and behavioral science and lays the groundwork for future research that examines to what extent racial differences in perceptions of racism by political ideology are changing over time.

The Influence of Social Norms on the Expression of Anti-Black Bias

The Influence of Social Norms on the Expression of Anti-Black Bias

Negative Associations in Word Embeddings Predict Anti-black Bias across Regions-but Only via Name Frequency.

The word embedding association test (WEAT) is an important method for measuring linguistic biases against social groups such as ethnic minorities in large text corpora. It does so by comparing the semantic relatedness of words prototypical of the groups (e.g., names unique to those groups) and attribute words (e.g., 'pleasant' and 'unpleasant' words). We show that anti-Black WEAT estimates from geo-tagged social media data at the level of metropolitan statistical areas strongly correlate with several measures of racial animus-even when controlling for sociodemographic covariates. However, we also show that every one of these correlations is explained by a third variable: the frequency of Black names in the underlying corpora relative to White names. This occurs because word embeddings tend to group positive (negative) words and frequent (rare) words together in the estimated semantic space. As the frequency of Black names on social media is strongly correlated with Black Americans' prevalence in the population, this results in spuriously high anti-Black WEAT estimates wherever few Black Americans live. This suggests that research using the WEAT to measure bias should consider term frequency, and also demonstrates the potential consequences of using black-box models like word embeddings to study human cognition and behavior.