Racial Bias Research Articles

The development of Tibetan children's racial bias in empathy: The mediating role of ethnic identity and wrongfulness of ethnic intergroup bias.

In Experiment 1 (N = 108, aged 7-12), ethnic identity was primed using Tibetan and Han names. Then negative and neutral events were applied to measure the RBEs of Tibetan children. In Experiment 2 (N = 148, aged 7-12), negative events were replaced by pain events. In Experiment 3 (N = 60, aged 7-12), Tibetan children's ethnic identity and the awareness of the wrongfulness of ethnic intergroup bias were added to examine the underlying mechanism. Results found that RBEs increased among Tibetan children aged 7-10 and decreased among those aged 11-12, Moreover, we analyzed age as a continuous variable and found that 10 years old was the inflection point in the development of RBEs in Tibetan children. Importantly, children aged 11-12 years old realized more wrongfulness of ethnic intergroup bias than children aged 7-10. The ethnic identity of Tibetan children aged 7-10 mediated the relation between age group and RBEs. And the wrongfulness of ethnic intergroup bias mediated the link between age group and RBEs in Tibetan children aged 9-12. Our study sheds light on the development of RBEs in Tibetan school-aged children and highlights the importance of identifying the appropriate timing for intervening in prejudice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Race/ethnicity and the measurement of cognition in NSHAP: Recommendations for robustness.

In this study, we examine the measurement of cognition in different racial/ethnic groups to move towards a less biased and more inclusive set of measures for capturing cognitive change and decline in older adulthood. We use data from Round 2 (N=3377) and Round 3 (N=4777) of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) and examine the study's Survey Adjusted version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-SA). We employ exploratory factor analyses to explore configural invariance by racial/ethnic group. Using modification indexes, two-parameter item response theory models, and split-sample testing, we identify items that seem robust to bias by race. We test the predictive validity of the full (18-item) and short (4-item) MoCA-SAs using self-reported dementia diagnosis, instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), proxy reports of dementia, proxy reports of dementia-related death, and National Death Index reports of dementia-related death. We found that four measures out of the 18 used in NSHAP's MoCA-SA formed a scale that was more robust to racial bias. The shortened form predicted consequential outcomes as well as NSHAP's full MoCA-SA. The short form was also moderately correlated with the full form. Although sophisticated structural equation modeling techniques would be preferrable for assuaging measurement invariance by race in NSHAP, the shortened form of the MoCA-SA provides a quick way for researchers to carry out robustness checks and to see if the disparities and associations by race they document are "real" or the product of artifactual bias.

Trends in the Use and Discussion of Race in Pediatrics Articles Over 75 Years.

Race-based medicine, which falsely assumes that race is biological, is common in the published medical literature. We analyzed trends in the use of race in Pediatrics articles over a 75-year period. We analyzed a random sample of 50 original research articles published each decade in Pediatrics from 1948 to 2022. Of 375 articles, 39% (n = 147) included race. Among articles, 85% (n = 116) used race only to describe study subjects, 7% (n = 9) described race as a social construct, and 11% (n = 15) described race as a biological construct. Only 7% (n = 10) of studies provided a reason for including race. Statements reflective of racial bias or discrimination were identified in 22% (n = 30) of the articles that mentioned race. Although statements concerning for explicit racial bias were uncommon, with none identified in the most recent decade, statements suggestive of implicit racial bias still occurred (22%, 5 of 23). Race was presented as a dichotomy, such as "white/nonwhite," in 9% of studies (n = 12). Regarding currently nonrecommended terminology, the term "minorities" was used in 13% of studies (n = 18); 25% of studies used the term "others" (n = 34), and among these, 91% (n = 31 of 34) did not provide any definition, an occurrence that increased over time at a rate of 0.9%/year. Although there has been improvement over the past 75 years in the reporting of race in published studies in Pediatrics, significant opportunities for further improvement remain.

Linguistic Analysis of Racial and Gender Biases in Letters of Recommendation of Neurology Residency Applicants (S33.003)

Linguistic Analysis of Racial and Gender Biases in Letters of Recommendation of Neurology Residency Applicants (S33.003)

Implementation of Cultural Awareness and Cognitive Bias Training Within Graduate Nursing Programs.

Cognitive bias negatively affects patient outcomes, resulting in medical errors, sentinel events, and legal claims. The brunt of bias-induced inequities and disparities has fallen on Black and Brown people, women, and the LGBTQ+ communities. Faculty training programs have rapidly increased in number, whereas student training has lagged. A three-part curricular series was developed for students seeking nurse practitioner (NP) training. The series addressed racial bias, microaggression, and gender bias using vignettes and guided pre- and debriefing. The series was initially implemented to 70 students from four different specialty areas of study. Students resoundingly reported the content as valuable and challenging and the environment as a safe space to learn, be vulnerable, and be empathetic to the experiences of others. This three-part series has been implemented across eight NP majors and has become a required component of the NP on-campus intensive experience. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(X):XXX-XXX.].

Linguistic Genocide of Minority and Mother Tongue Languages: Unravelling International Implications on Indian Laws Through a Critical Discourse

Language is an inherent and intrinsic form of human communication, and India is renowned for its extensive range of languages. Nevertheless, the languages that are spoken in India, which play a crucial role in fostering this diverse cultural landscape, have encountered obstacles stemming from the forces of globalisation and domestic prejudice over an extended period of time. This paper underscores the concerning phenomenon of language attrition throughout history, wherein numerous languages have become extinct, resulting in fragmented remnants of cultural heritage. The majority of extinct languages were of Indigenous origin, suggesting a discernible racial bias in their eradication. Many linguists see the current situation as linguistic genocide, the intentional destruction of languages to achieve cultural unity. This study assesses the laws and policies pertaining to minority languages in India and examines their compatibility with international standards. This paper examines the difficulties associated with the implementation of language preservation legislation and explores the potential consequences of linguistic genocide on cultural identity, social cohesion and human rights within the context of India.

Racial Discrimination in Sourcing: Evidence From Controlled Experiments

Entrepreneurial activity is widely seen as an important tool for addressing the racial wealth gap. However, the survival of minority-owned businesses depends on their ability to win contracts from buyer firms—which might be impacted by buyers’ racial biases. Whether discrimination can exist in sourcing and affect this ability is an unexplored question, perhaps due to an implicit assumption that business-to-business settings are immune from discriminatory biases. In this paper, we use controlled experiments to study whether racial discrimination can affect sourcing decisions. We find that when a supplier's sales manager has a distinctively Black name, buyers are 6.5% less likely (statistically significant at 1% level) to select that supplier compared to a supplier with a sales manager with a distinctively white name. Our findings suggest that equal-opportunity legislation similar to that already in place in the labor market may be needed in the sourcing context. Our findings have implications for executives, suggesting that supplier diversity programs and procurement-bias training can boost corporate performance by expanding the supplier pool, and simultaneously enhance a firm's corporate social responsibility profile.

The Effect of Bias on Employee Suspicions of Coworker Guilt and Likelihood of Peer Reporting

ABSTRACT We explored the association between bias and the perception of a suspect’s guilt in alleged workplace theft. After presenting a case to participants, we asked them to assess the guilt of four possible suspects: two Black (male and female) and two White (male and female). We measured implicit and explicit racial and gender bias, leveraging two implicit association tests adapted from Levinson, Cai, and Young (2010) and two established explicit bias scales. We found that explicit racial bias is significantly associated with the overall perceived likelihood of guilt of the Black male suspect, and implicit racial bias is associated with the probability of selecting the Black male suspect from among the four. These associations disappeared after we provided additional facts about the case and the suspects. We further found that implicit and explicit racial biases are associated with the likelihood of peer reporting in an external investigation. Data Availability: Data are available upon request. JEL Classifications: M49.

228 Investigating the Transitionary Process from Pediatric to Adult Care and Improving Transitional Readiness for Youth with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) through Co-Designing an Intervention

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The goal is to use a participatory design approach involving patients and healthcare providers to create an intervention aiming to improve the transition readiness of youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) when going from pediatric to adult care in Ontario. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The study employed a participatory design approach, utilizing co-design and community-consulted design practices. The co-design process involved three design sessions with 7 adult participants (3 with SCD, 3 with SCD working in healthcare, and 1 without SCD but working in healthcare) to actively involve them in designing an intervention that addressed their unmet needs. A thematic analysis of the first design session was conducted to gain insight into their experiences. The community-consulted design included three internal research team sessions to synthesize the participants' insights. Zoom was used for all sessions, and Miro as the online collaboration tool for participatory design activities, resulting in a prototype that reflected the collective input of the target users and the broader community. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: With the thematic analysis, one prominent theme emerged, labeled as 'Barriers to Successful Transition,' which consisted of four subthemes: 1) Lack of Education and Awareness; 2) Constraints in Healthcare Delivery, 3) Managing Multiple Transitions; and 4) Racial Bias in Healthcare. The word 'hospital' emerged as the most frequently mentioned word, following closely were the terms 'school,' 'person,' 'sickle cell disease,' and 'education.' This analysis underscores the crucial involvement of hospitals and healthcare providers in facilitating the transition of youth with SCD. Following the design sessions, the most desirable/feasible intervention was to create an accredited digital educational module for adult healthcare providers specifically focusing on youth transitioning with SCD. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: 3,500 people in Ontario have SCD, with an average age of 24 years, where one-third are aged 14 or younger. Youth with SCD face unique challenges, so effective communication and comprehensive care coordination are needed from healthcare providers. The digital module will increase awareness and ultimately improve transition readiness.

White parents' racial socialization during a guided discussion predicts declines in white children's pro-white biases.

Although parent-child conversations about race are recommended to curb White U.S. children's racial biases, little work has tested their influence. We designed a guided racism discussion task for U.S. White parents and their 8-12-year-old White children. We explored whether children's and parents' (a) pro-White implicit biases changed pre to postconversation, (b) racial socialization messages (color conscious, external attributions for prejudiced behavior and colorblind racial ideology [CBRI]) predicted changes in each other's implicit biases, and (c) associations varied by the type of racism (subtle vs. blatant) discussed. Children's and parents' biases significantly declined, pre to postdiscussion. Parents' color conscious messages predicted greater declines and messages reflecting CBRI and external attributions predicted smaller declines in children's bias. These patterns were observed during discussions of subtle, but not blatant bias. Effects of children's messages on parents' bias were mixed. Our findings suggest that color conscious parent-child discussions may effectively reduce implicit pro-White bias in White children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who Is the Whitest of All? Racial Biases in Social Media Beauty Filters

Digital beauty filters are pervasive in social media platforms. Despite their popularity and relevance in the selfies culture, there is little research on their characteristics and potential biases. In this article, we study the existence of racial biases on the set of aesthetic canons embedded in social media beauty filters, which we refer to as the Beautyverse. First, we provide a historic contextualization of racial biases in beauty practices, followed by an extensive empirical study of racial biases in beauty filters through state-of-the-art face processing algorithms. We show that beauty filters embed Eurocentric or white canons of beauty, not only by brightening the skin color, but also by modifying facial features.

242 Beyond the Stereotypes: Nurturing Success and Retaining Black Women Neurosurgeons

INTRODUCTION: The underrepresentation of African American women in clinical neurosurgery, with fewer than 50 practicing neurosurgeons in the United States, highlights the significant barriers they face due to the intersection of race and gender. These challenges underscore the need for targeted efforts to recruit, retain, and support Black women in neurosurgery. METHODS: The study employed a comprehensive identification process to recruit Black women who identified as neurosurgical trainees or clinical neurosurgeons. Virtual interviews were conducted from January 2021 to May 2021, using structured questions to explore various aspects of the participants' experiences navigating neurosurgery as Black women. A thematic analysis was performed on the recorded and transcribed interviews to identify overarching themes. RESULTS: The thematic analysis identified key findings regarding Black women in neurosurgery. Mentorship was crucial, with mentors shaping career paths and fostering confidence. Residency program culture, encompassing faculty diversity, family-oriented values, and gender-specific challenges, significantly influenced experiences. Positive and negative experiences underscored the importance of representation, challenges related to racial biases, and the need for a supportive network. Building an equitable and diverse workplace was deemed vital, requiring actions to improve retention, promote Black women to leadership roles, and reduce hierarchical boundaries. Recommendations included diverse leadership, educational initiatives, and programs supporting aspiring neurosurgeons to enhance Black women's representation. CONCLUSIONS: The achievements of trailblazing Black women in neurosurgery showcase progress, yet significant disparities persist due to the intersection of race and gender. By addressing these challenges, support can be provided to enhance representation. The study highlights the importance of diverse leadership, comprehensive initiatives, and recognizing the impact of intersectionality in promoting Black women to leadership roles in neurosurgery.

Justice involvement prediction as individuals age: An age-graded evaluation of the public safety assessment.

Some scholars have criticized pretrial assessments for perpetuating racial bias in the criminal legal system by offering biased predictions of future legal system outcomes. Although these critiques have some empirical support, the scholarship has yet to examine the predictive validity and differential prediction of pretrial assessments across individuals by their age. Following the guidance of the life-course literature, the present study serves as the first age-graded evaluation of the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) focused on assessing whether the predictive validity and scoring predictions of the tool vary across the lifespan. We expected that the predictive validity of the PSA scores would vary across the lifespan, such that the PSA underpredicts for younger individuals and overpredicts for older individuals. The present study relied on pretrial information collected from 31,527 individuals during the Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research project. Logistic regression models were estimated to evaluate the differential prediction of the PSA for individuals ranging from 18 to 68 years of age. The results of bivariate models were used to produce area under the curve estimates at each year of age. The results of the present study provided some evidence that the PSA differentially predicted pretrial outcomes for individuals from 18 to 68 years of age. Specifically, the predictive validity of the New Criminal Arrest and the New Violent Criminal Arrest scales appears to improve as individuals become older, suggesting that these instruments are better able to predict pretrial outcomes for older individuals relative to younger individuals. The results suggest that the PSA is a valid predictor of pretrial outcomes and that the predictive validity of some PSA scores is impacted by age. These findings suggest that the age of the defendant should be accounted for when interpreting the new criminal arrest and new violent criminal arrest scores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Early intergroup coalition: Toddlers attribute fair distributions to Black rather than White distributors

AbstractRacial concepts emerge in preschool age, and affect children's evaluations of others’ actions. This research investigated whether 2.5‐year‐old and 7‐year‐old children's (N = 160; 100% White) evaluations may be influenced by an initial racial bias when both out‐group and in‐group protagonists were evaluated directly by attributing the responsibility of negative or positive outcomes (i.e., fair or unfair distributions of resources). After seeing each of two familiarization events, displaying fair and unfair distributions performed by a hidden distributor, toddlers were asked to assign positive and negative outcomes to two distributors that were portrayed on drawings (Experiment 1) or photographs (Experiments 2–3) of White or Black faces. Seven‐year‐old children were assessed with the same forced‐choice character task by using photographs (Experiment 4). Toddlers showed a significant tendency to attribute a fair distribution of resources to Black faces only when these were shown by photographs. Conversely, 7‐year‐olds manifested a pro‐White/anti‐Black racial bias. These findings support prior literature on the age‐related development of race prejudice starting not before the three years of life, and shed light on an initial state that is aimed at intergroup coalitions.

Does Racial Bias Explain the Black-White Sentencing Gap across U.S. Courts?

Abstract It is widely speculated that prejudicial attitudes and implicit biases are fundamental to understanding racial disparities in criminal punishment. Yet surprisingly little research links measures of racial bias to data on criminal court decision-making. This article fills this gap by combining multiple aggregate measures of implicit and explicit racial bias with data from U.S. federal courts to examine whether racial disparities in sentencing are associated with prejudicial attitudes within the surrounding court context. We find no evidence that racial biases, whether implicit or explicit, significantly influence racial sentencing disparities across U.S. district courts. Nor do we find evidence that racial biases yield greater sentencing disparities in supplementary analyses using county-level court data. We do, however, find suggestive evidence that the prosecutorial application of mandatory minimums is sensitive to the level of racial bias within a court’s jurisdiction. Specifically, we find that Black defendants are disproportionately charged in districts with greater explicit racial animus.

“A Wound That Was Already Festering”: The Burdens of a Racial Justice Program on Teachers of Color

Background: Research that documents the influence of anti-racism programs on teacher practice shows some desired outcomes, including developing critical consciousness to support students of color and educate others about stereotyping; understanding how racial bias affects one’s teaching and relationships with students; and implementing anti-racist approaches in schoolwide policies and practice. At the same time, research on anti-racist professional development (PD) also highlights the challenges of engaging in this work when white teachers, in particular, respond defensively or dismissively. Studies have shown how these responses can reinforce stereotyping behavior among white participants and reinscribe unequal social relationships. Research Questions: This article aims to answer the following questions: (1) How do white educators, if they do at all, display resistance to racial justice work? (2) How does resistance among white educators, if it does so at all, shape the experiences of educators of color? (3) How can schools reduce the potential burden of racial justice work on educators of color? Research Design: This article draws on data from a case study of a New York City elementary school that participated in a yearlong racial justice program. Data sources include semi-structured interviews with school and program leaders; focus groups with members of the racial equity committee and other teachers; observations of professional development sessions, racial equity committee meetings, and other program activities; and artifacts related to the implementation of the program to deepen our understanding of the program’s implementation and responses from multiple stakeholders. Recommendations: Grounded in critical race theory (CRT), the findings from this study paint a complex picture of the behaviors that white teachers may employ that derail racial justice work, the emotional and professional burden of that resistance on educators of color, and promising approaches for confronting resistance in order to advance racial equity. Beyond identifying the potential costs of engaging in racial justice work, our findings also offer schools and educators promising approaches for challenging white resistance while not perpetuating racial harm. We propose an implementation model that intentionally shields educators of color from the remonstrations of white resistors and the additional toll they can take on their time and well-being. Moreover, given what we know about the outsized role school leaders play in shaping school environments and professional cultures, it is essential that school leaders show commitment to organizational transformation, while developing the skills required to confront varying degrees of white resistance.

Low-Acuity Pediatric Emergency Department Utilization: Caregiver Motivations.

Proper emergency department (ED) utilization is a hallmark of population health. Emergency department overcrowding due to nonurgent visits causes increased stress to healthcare staff, higher costs, and longer wait times for more urgent cases. This study sought to better understand post pandemic reasons caregivers have when bringing in their children for nonurgent visits and devise effective interventions to improve caregiver choice for non-ED care for nonurgent conditions. Surveys were conducted at an urban pediatric hospital for Emergency Severity Index (ESI) level 3 to 5 visits. A total of 602 surveys were completed with 8 being excluded from analysis. Survey responses and anonymized demographic information were collected. Responses were compared between surveys grouped by respondent age category, relation to child, child's race, insurance type, and ESI levels. Primary reasons given for nonurgent ED visits were perceived urgency (74.2%, n = 441), ED superiority to other locations (23.9%, n = 142), and referral to the ED by a third party (17.7%, n = 105). Of those who cited perceived urgency as a reason, 80.5% (n = 355) wanted to lessen their child's pain/discomfort as soon as possible, but only 13.6% said that their child was too ill to be seen anywhere else (n = 60). Demographic differences occurred in the proportions of respondents citing some of the primary and secondary reasons for bringing their child to the ED. This study highlights 3 key findings. An immediate desire for care plays a key role in caregiver decision making for low-acuity visits. There is potential socioeconomic and racial bias in where care is recommended that needs to be further explored in this region. Cross community interventions that target key reasons for seeking low-acuity care have the highest likelihood of impacting the use of the ED for low-acuity conditions.

Critical Race Theory: How Policy Language Differentially Engages Symbolic Racism and Partisanship

Recent years have seen a marked shift in the salience and politicization of any incorporation of race into teaching at the elementary and secondary levels. “Critical race theory” (CRT) has become a prominent feature of the current debate, even as there is a good deal of misunderstanding about what CRT actually is. Drawing on a pre-registered survey experiment, we consider the impact of the phrase “critical race theory” in activating both racial biases and partisan identity. Our expectation was that CRT would tend to activate partisanship independent of symbolic racism. Results suggest otherwise: where support for culturally relevant pedagogy is concerned, CRT appears to engage partisanship particularly amongst those who exhibit high levels of symbolic racism.

What my bias meant for my embodiment: an investigation on virtual embodiment in desktop-based virtual reality

The immersion of virtual reality (VR) can impact user perceptions in numerous forms, even racial bias and embodied experiences. These effects are often limited to head-mounted displays (HMDs) and other immersive technologies that may not be inclusive to the general population. This paper investigates racial bias and embodiment on a less immersive but more accessible medium: desktop VR. A population of participants (n = 158) participated in a desktop simulation where they embodied a virtual avatar and interacted with virtual humans to determine if desktop embodiment is induced and if there is a resulting effect on racial bias. Our results indicate that desktop embodiment can be induced at low levels, as measured by an embodiment questionnaire. Furthermore, one’s implicit bias may actually influence embodiment, and the experience and perceptions of a desktop VR simulation can be improved through embodied avatars. We discuss these findings and their implications in the context of stereotype activation and existing literature in embodiment.

Supplemental Material for The Development of Tibetan Children’s Racial Bias in Empathy: The Mediating Role of Ethnic Identity and Wrongfulness of Ethnic Intergroup Bias

Supplemental Material for The Development of Tibetan Children’s Racial Bias in Empathy: The Mediating Role of Ethnic Identity and Wrongfulness of Ethnic Intergroup Bias