Implicit Racial Shame

This study provides support for the theory that individual shame preventsindividuals from recognizing their implicit racial biases. Participants across two studies inmultiple conditions took the Race IAT, received feedback about their implicit racial bias,and then completed the Shame IAT. Various conditions were created to either attributetheir implicit racial bias to the self or create an alternative explanation. Resultsdemonstrate that when individuals attributed their implicit racial bias to themselves vs. analternative attribution, they subsequently expressed higher levels of interpersonal shame,through increased associations between self-referential and shameful words. The need forpositive self-esteem or the avoidance of a negative emotion such as shame may leadparticipants to avoid examining their own implicit racial biases.