Beliefs About Jesus’s Race, Implicit Bias, and Cultural Correlates Among Asian American College Students

Abstract

Limited research examines how people of color view Jesus’s race and the influence of culture on such a view. We investigated the relationship between views of Jesus’s race and implicit bias when viewing images of Jesus (e.g., positive words associated with White Jesus, negative words associated with non-White Jesus) among Asian American students (N = 103) from a Christian university. We predicted that (a) a small percentage of participants would view Jesus as White; (b) participants would demonstrate implicit bias; and (c) beliefs about Jesus’s race, racial colorblindness, ethnic identity, and internalized model minority stereotype would predict implicit bias. Participants were more likely to view Jesus as non-White but favor images of White Jesus over images of non-White Jesus, especially participants who endorsed White Jesus. Racial colorblindness was associated with beliefs about Jesus’s race and implicit bias. These findings highlight how inaccurately portraying prominent figures’ race as White perpetuates White standards such that race is obliviated and biases are internalized.