What is it in simple terms?

Automatic associations you may not know you hold.

Does the IAT predict discrimination?

Only weakly, per meta-analyses.

Implicit Bias

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Implicit bias refers to attitudes and stereotypes about social groups that are activated automatically without awareness or control, even among people who consciously endorse fairness.

Contents

1. Automatic attitudes
2. The IAT
3. Debates
4. FAQ
5. References

Automatic attitudes

Devine (1989) and Greenwald and Banaji (1995); compare dual-process theory.

The IAT

Greenwald et al. (1998); popularised by Banaji and Greenwald (2013); alongside stereotype threat.

Debates

Oswald et al. (2013) and Forscher et al. (2019) find weak links to behaviour; Payne et al. (2017) offer the bias of crowds; contact is an alternative.

FAQ

What is it in simple terms?: Automatic associations you may not know you hold.
Does the IAT predict discrimination?: Only weakly, per meta-analyses.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102(1), 4–27. The theoretical paper establishing implicit social cognition.
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1464–1480. Introduces the Implicit Association Test.
Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(1), 5–18. Separates automatic stereotypes from controlled beliefs.
Oswald, F. L., Mitchell, G., Blanton, H., Jaccard, J., & Tetlock, P. E. (2013). Predicting ethnic and racial discrimination: A meta-analysis of IAT criterion studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(2), 171–192. A meta-analysis finding weak prediction of discrimination by the IAT.
Forscher, P. S., Lai, C. K., Axt, J. R., Ebersole, C. R., Herman, M., Devine, P. G., & Nosek, B. A. (2019). A meta-analysis of procedures to change implicit measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117(3), 522–559. Synthesises interventions to change implicit measures and their limits.
Payne, B. K., Vuletich, H. A., & Lundberg, K. B. (2017). The bias of crowds: How implicit bias bridges personal and systemic prejudice. Psychological Inquiry, 28(4), 233–248. Reframes implicit bias as a property of contexts rather than individuals.
Banaji, M. R., & Greenwald, A. G. (2013). Blindspot: Hidden biases of good people. Delacorte Press. A general-audience book by the IAT's creators.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.