Diversity and Implicit Race Bias in the United States

Abstract

The world is becoming more ethnically diverse. Research from psychology and other disciplines, primarily examining explicit attitudes among majority-group members, has suggested that greater diversity may be associated both with more positive and more negative intergroup attitudes. In the United States (U.S.), given that states are often at the center of debate concerning diversity-related public policy, the present research examined how diversity is associated with state-level implicit race-based bias among White and Black Americans. Findings suggest that greater diversity across U.S. states and counties was associated with stronger implicit ingroup bias among both White and Black respondents. Furthermore, the present research investigated alternative explanations proposed by previous research, concluding that diversity, rather than factors proposed by alternative explanations, best explained the obtained results. The findings convey the importance of investigating why diversity may not always have the positive impact on intergroup relations that one might expect or hope.