Implicit Association Test: Reflection Towards Implicit Bias

 
Growing up between a "slight to moderate" traditional family, whose walks are relatively slow
towards the breakage of stereotypes, I found myself conservatively free due to access in a global
community. Still, a little bit strained of biases, especially in my junior high school days. Having been a
target of some sexual prejudice and targeted others in the past, it never felt right to do and feel so.
Nonetheless, maturity hits in my mid-teens, along with some books, getting a better understanding and
stance towards sexual orientations. I still noticed some associations inflicted by cultural diversity towards
straight-gay people, which somehow affects my sexual preferences and how I associate them.
 

Trying Harvard's Implicit Association Test helps me detect some of these specific associations towards
sexual orientation, picking up implicit biases across various subjects. I took Sexuality IAT (Implicit
Association Test), which requires distinguishing words and symbols representing gay and straight people. It
is said that it often reveals an automatic preference for straight relative to gay people. It proposes a two-
choice discrimination task in which stimuli have to be categorized as belonging to the target
categories Heterosexuals and Homosexuals, or the attribute categories Good and Bad by pressing, as quickly
and accurately as possible, one of two response keys. Categorizing the stimuli more quickly
when Heterosexuals share the response key with Good – and Homosexuals with Bad – than when it shares
the response key with Bad – and Homosexuals with Good – is taken to indicate an implicit preference for
heterosexuals relative to homosexuals.
 
Based on my assessment, the result is quite blurry to my appraisal. Throughout the test, having some
negative associations towards Gay people, like disgust and failure, I am aware that it came from the
stereotypes in my environment, which became a prejudice. Contested against this, though, it is pretty blurry
because the fast-paced and swapping of category/choice are confusing, which I think is the sole reason for
the result, but not denying the result itself for it speaks truth based on my assessment towards sexual
orientations too. Also, I think the confusing part of the choices is the point of the test. It opened my eyes to
the slight bias even though I considered myself quite an open-minded person. Thus, I concluded that
whenever I encounter myself in anything that has something to do with sexual orientation, awareness is the
key towards ingrained biases from upbringing and environment, which takes time and effort and knowledge
and understanding to be free of it.
 
There was no framework to follow back then, alone self-reflection through journals and connection
to books and articles, which were my way of personal assessment. However, throughout the course subject,
Sorrel's six entry points for intercultural praxis is a great tool to add to individual assessment towards
various issues. There are billions of people worldwide; it is only natural to have diversity in different
contexts and cultures. Intercultural praxis proposes and deepens the evaluation of things. I realized that
though I am curious to learn, I lack the commitment to better understand each, specifically towards people
with different sexual orientations than myself. Back then, I caught myself acknowledging them without
understanding, even with the information in front, just because I sometimes think I have other things to do,
which is far more essential, and being contented with acknowledging them without knowing them. Though
prioritizing oneself is not a negative thing, prioritization and neglect could be the same side of the coin,
which could be handled very well. This changed when some of my friends began not to understand them
when they came out having different sexual orientations, which tugs me into understanding them because I
realized acknowledgment without understanding is insufficient and rude. Reflecting on the learnings in the
module and from this Implicit Association Test, being aware of the limitation of our perspective, and
positioning ourselves is a continuous process to understanding others. I am still in the process of
understanding this complex part of society, having a dialogue with people different from me, and reflecting
on them. This is a continuous process; one needs to unlearn to learn.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

References
Anselmi, P., & Michelangelo Vianello, A. V. (2013, November 18). Implicit Sexual Attitude of Heterosexual,
Gay and Bisexual Individuals: Disentangling the Contribution of Specific Associations to the Overall
Measure. Retrieved from PloS one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3832517/

Sorrells, K. (2021). Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice. SAGE Publications,
Inc.