Effects of Perspective Taking and Values Consistency in Reducing Implicit Racial Bias

Abstract

The current study explored the effect of perspective taking and values consistency tasks on reducing implicit racial bias. Using a repeated measures design with a control group, 39 participants, 20 female and 19 males aged from 18-54 years, who identified as White were administered the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure. All participants in the experimental group (n = 19) and control group (n = 20) completed the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, Modified Modern Racism Scale, Valuing Questionnaire, and a Likert scale. Experimental group participants completed brief values consistency and perspective taking tasks, whereas the control group completed a guided task. A 2 x 4 mixed repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to determine if there was interaction effect between group and trial types and a MANOVA to identify differences in the explicit measures between both groups. Results showed that after the values work and perspective taking exercises, participants in the experimental group recorded shorter mean responses for Inconsistent-Black trial blocks versus Consistent-Black trial blocks compared to the control group. Additionally, a statistically significant impact for interaction between condition and trial type was found for the Consistent-White trial type in the experimental group. Recommendations for future research are presented.