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Are Ideal Litigators White? Measuring the Myth of Colorblindness
Author(s) -
Kang Jerry,
Dasgupta Nilanjana,
Yogeeswaran Kumar,
Blasi Gary
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of empirical legal studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1740-1461
pISSN - 1740-1453
DOI - 10.1111/j.1740-1461.2010.01199.x
Subject(s) - implicit association test , derogation , ideal (ethics) , psychology , implicit attitude , white (mutation) , social psychology , association (psychology) , test (biology) , racial bias , implicit bias , mythology , racism , gender studies , political science , sociology , law , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , theology , biology , psychotherapist , gene
This study examined whether explicit and implicit biases in favor of Whites and against Asian Americans would alter evaluation of a litigator's deposition. We found evidence of both explicit bias as measured by self‐reports, and implicit bias as measured by two Implicit Association Tests. In particular, explicit stereotypes that the ideal litigator was White predicted worse evaluation of the Asian American litigator (out group derogation); by contrast, implicit stereotypes predicted preferential evaluation of the White litigator (in group favoritism). In sum, participants were not colorblind, at least implicitly, toward even a “model minority,” and these biases produced racial discrimination. This study provides further evidence of the predictive and ecological validity of the Implicit Association Test in a legal domain.