Prejudice tests from Harvard

[serious crayons]

Here is an site sponsored by Harvard University with tests, designed by research psychologists, that claim to determine whether you are prejudiced, consciously or unconsciously, in matters of race, gender, sexuality, age, body size and so on. You are asked to sort terms and images into categories, and the test measures your speed and rate of errors. From that, the site calculates your level of prejudice.

For instance, my test results indicated a slight preference for young people over old people.  However, they showed no preference between straight people and gay people  or between thin people and fat people  . I'm not sure I totally trust the tests -- I think you get better at doing them as you go along, and that affects your results (I did the old/young one first). Still, it's an interesting exercise, and supposedly scientific.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

[Ellemeno]

I took one of the tests and it was fun.  I wonder if it skewed the score that once I put the word "nasty" in the Good category. 

[serious crayons]

I took one of the tests and it was fun.  I wonder if it skewed the score that once I put the word "nasty" in the Good category. 

 

They must not have sufficiently researched the Brokie demographic!

[Lynne]

I just am seeing this - I'm ambitiously trying to read 'All Unread Topics'!   

Anyhoo, the link is broken, I think...Katharine, do you know enough to browse to find it again?  This should have generated more interest IMO.

Thanks,
Lynne

[serious crayons]

That's strange, the link worked for me. Well, here's another one from the site you could try. Otherwise, google "implicit association test," which is the name of the test. When I did, the first link that came up was to the site's main page and the second was to the page below, which gets you started on the test.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

[ednbarby]

I think the site/server must go down, so to speak, periodically, because I just tried to get to it all three ways and the page could not be found every time.  I'll try again later.  Sounds interesting!

[serious crayons]

I think the site/server must go down, so to speak, periodically, because I just tried to get to it all three ways and the page could not be found every time.  I'll try again later.  Sounds interesting!

How strange! I just tried it again, clinking on the link in my post above, about 17 minutes after you sent your post, Barb, and it worked just fine!

I hope eventually you get to try it.

[Lynne]

I was just able to get there and took the Race(Black/White) test...not exactly pleased with the results:

"Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for European American compared to African American.
Thank you for your participation. Just below is a breakdown of the scores generated by others.
Most respondents find it easier to associate African American with Bad and European American with Good compared to the reverse."

Gonna try another one...

[Lynne]

A little happier about the gay/straight IAT results:

"Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between Gay People and Straight People.
Thank you for your participation. Just below is a breakdown of the scores generated by others. Most respondents find it easier to associate Gay people with Bad and Straight people with Good compared to the reverse."

Maybe it's evidence that spending time at BetterMost is good for counteracting those early associations that were foisted upon us by our environment.

[serious crayons]

Though I also think taking these tests are a skill that improves as you go along, perhaps improving your score -- or maybe more accurately reflecting your true beliefs! You would think those Harvard people would have taken that possibility into account, but you never know.