In the Privacy of Their Own Homes: Using the Internet to Assess Racial Bias

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that research participants show reduced distortion of their taboo attitudes and behaviors when they take part in Internet-based procedures from outside the laboratory. We explored whether such procedures would reduce distortion in the assessment of racial bias. In Study 1, White participants who completed the study in the laboratory evaluated Black targets more favorably than White targets. This unexpected “outgroup-favoring” pattern occurred in both pencil-and-paper and Internet versions of the study, showing that modality did not produce it; but when participants worked outside the laboratory via the Internet, this pattern disappeared. Study 2 replicated the above findings and further indicated that the reduced distortion in Internet-based studies was due to the removal of the experimenter rather than removing the participants from the laboratory environment. The implications of these findings for the study of controlled processes of prejudice and the nature of Internet-based social communication are discussed.

Disclosure of sensitive behaviors across self-administered survey modes: a meta-analysis

“…Thus, traditional web-based surveys seem particularly effective for the collection of sensitive behaviors because test takers can respond alone, without fearing that others might see their responses to sensitive items. Contrary to previous experiments on inter-racial bias (Evans et al, 2003), other features of the unproctored computer mode such as the absence of an interviewer did not emerge as an additional moderator. Third, in contrast to some previous findings (e.g., Couper et al, 2009;Langhaug et al, 2009; Note.…”

Subliminal exposure to faces and racial attitudes: Exposure to Whites makes Whites like Blacks less

“…However, many theories of modern prejudice (e.g., Dovidio & Gaertner, 1998) hypothesize that most Americans today avoid expressing prejudice when it would be obvious to themselves and others. Recent research comparing various experimental locations and setups indicates that in standard laboratory settings using explicit measures, American participants often express more positive attitudes toward Blacks than White targets (e.g., Evans, Garcia, Garcia, & Baron, 2003;Henderson-King & Nisbett, 1996;Ito, Thompson, & Cacioppo, 2004;Towles-Schwen & Fazio, 2003;Vanman, Paul, Ito, & Miller, 1997). We thus sought to replicate these initial findings with a new subject population, one that might be less concerned with appearing politically correct.…”

Racial microaggressions and perceptions of Internet memes

“…Despite the decrease in expressions of blatant prejudice in face-to-face interactions (Dovidio et al, 2002;Nadal, 2011;Sue et al, 2007), due to the anonymity offered by the internet which may reduce conformity to the social norm of egalitarianism (Evans, Garcia, Garcia, & Baron, 2003;Hewson, Laurent, & Vogel, 1996), some users post overtly racist content online. For example, comments to race-related…”