ARC Works-in-Progress: “I’m not racist like you!”: Exploring biases in self-evaluations and perceptions of racism

Abstract: For this works-in-progress talk, I will review the psychological science behind self-evaluations and how self-serving biases may lead people to erroneous judgments of prejudice. Then, I will share two studies that expands the theoretical discourse in the literature. Study 1 found that people exhibited better-than-average effects when rating their prejudices in comparison to others and the extent to which prejudices would improve over time. These ratings conflicted with subsequent self-judgments in that people failed to consistently rate their future self as less prejudiced than their present self. Study 2 demonstrated that people’s preferences for feedback about their own racism may depend on concerns for appearing less-racist-than-average, and their internal (i.e., value-based) or external (i.e., socially-constructed) motivations to respond without prejudice. Together, I aim to highlight our (in)abilities to detect and reduce prejudice, use this foundational work to develop anti-bias interventions, and better understand what people want to do when they are made aware of their prejudices.

LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED, FIRST COME BASIS