Initial reactions to people.

[Jon885]

On an episode of 20/20 a couple weeks ago they had this racism test they put people through. You probably saw it before, and it got me to thinking.

When I see a young black guy walking down the street, wearing clothes that emulate those of gang bangers I get nervous. Now this person may very well be a decent person who contributes to society in a positive way, but I still have this reaction. Now when I see a white guy in this type of clothing I don't take him as seriously. But if I see a white guy wearing a sleeveless shirt, and a goatee I have the same reaction that I would to the black guy who's dressed like a thug. I would trust a black guy in a suit more than I would trust a white guy in a suit. But that might be racism in a way too, because my thinking would be the black guy had to try harder to get where he is.

When a woman commits a crime no matter how awful it may be I still have compassion for them. But if it's a man I have a different reaction. I can't explain these reactions I have towards people. Consciously I know they're wrong in most cases, but I have them anyway. Does anybody else here have any preconceived ideas that are usually wrong about people? Do share!

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/selectatest.jsp That's where the test is. Surprisingly enough I have a slight preference to black people..which surprised me, but i'm kind of tired, so i might not of taken it right.

[Nebosuke]

"Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between Feminism and Traditional Values."

I tried to get through a second study, but, unfortunately, it's just too boring.

[Roxie]

I didn't see the 20/20 thing. what was it about? what did they do?

[PopCulturePooka]

Had a slight automatic preference for black people over white people.


And just to test myself I did the weight one:

Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for Thin People compared to Fat People.

[Vic_Rattlehead]

"Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between the United Kingdom and the United States."

"Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for White People compared to Black People."

Apparently.

[Rear Admiral Grapefruit]

"Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American."

Are we all even doing the same test here?... i clicked on that race one, also did the age thing, came out as slight preff of younger to old, and some other one i did aswell.

I don't know how it gets a moderate prefferance to anything, i only hit 1 key wrong which was when something like "awful" came up and my hands spazzed out and hit wrong key. I think they have preference towards african americans, i put down white male and they got my score right from there!!!!

[PopCulturePooka]

It's something about the speeds at which you select items and put them in categories.

[Jetsetlemming]

Then dial up would absolutely ruin this test. >_>
*edit* ah, guess not, it preloaded. I took the weapons test, since it was on top.
Your data suggest a moderate association of European American with Harmless Objects and African American with Weapons compared to African American with Harmless Objects and European American with Weapons.
I don't get how I got these results, though. In the test with black people and weapons on the same side and white people and harmless objects, they switched which button was which group, so I went a lot slower and made a lot of mistakes. It threw off my groove.

[Kwiz]

Maybe it's just because it's early on a Sunday morning, but I just could not classify those things quickly or accurately enough.

[erised]

I had a slight preference for straight people vs gay people, a strong preference for thin vs fat, and a strong preference for light vs dark. Then I quit taking them b/c I knew what the other results would be. My results definately aren't PC (or even what I'd like to say about myself), but they don't surprise me considering I live in the South in a city that's over 75% white.

[Jon885]

I didn't see the 20/20 thing. what was it about? what did they do?

It was about race, and how people are steriotyped. John Stosel who usually has a different view from most people made the implication that African Amercans aren't type casted anymore, and said Italians are. One black guy took the test, and it showed he had a bias towards black people. This was a different test though, and I don't think it was online, but the same concept.

[h2orowe]

I just took the most fucking useless test ever.
Your data suggest little to no automatic identification with Organized Labor compared to Management.

[Roxie]

John Stosel who usually has a different view from most people made the implication that African Amercans aren't type casted anymore, and said Italians are.
Italians my ass.

[h2orowe]

Is it just me, or are these tests useless?
Seriously. The last part where you have the questionaire.. that's the only thing that proves things. And the LAST part of the questionaire, asking you DO YOU LIKE MESSY OR CLEAN. What the fuck? Seriously. How does THAT prove anything whatsoever?

[Jon885]

That section is probably not to prove anything h2o, but to determine what demographics prefer which groups. But I'm not sure.

[NERD]

Jon885, shouldn't it be 'Initial'?

It was something else to have a spelling error in the thread title.

[Masa the Masta]

Grammar nazis11!1!1!ioneuno1!1

We got the idea though. I don't want to take this test, I fear what might come out.

"Your data suggests you prefer martians over earthlings." :eyepop:

[Soli]

'There were too many errors to determine a result'

I'm no good at this. XD

[Nebosuke]

The test works by measuring your mind's ability to associate positive or negative terms with certain concepts. It also automatically allows for a higher error rate on the second and subsequent rounds, when the associations have been reversed, to compensate for any trained responses developed during the previous round.

Subconcious bias will influence your mind's ability to associate terms with the concepts, and, statistically, you are more likely to either make errors or take longer to respond when associating terms that go against your bias.

I don't get how I got these results, though. In the test with black people and weapons on the same side and white people and harmless objects, they switched which button was which group, so I went a lot slower and made a lot of mistakes. It threw off my groove.
They measure the change in the speed and accuracy of your responses. If you systematically take longer/have more difficulty with associating black people with harmless terms, and vice versa, it is likely caused by subconcious bias. That's why they swap the associations several times during the test. If you develop trained responses during the first round, that will likely give you some trouble during the second. When they swap associations again for the third round, you should have just as much trouble as you did with the second--if not, then you are beginning to show a bias for the associations shown in the first and third round. If the cause was simply that it 'threw off your groove', there should have been no systematic preference for one set of associations.

The final page with the drop-down questionnaire doesn't affect the results of the test at all. The purpose of that section is so that they can try to see if, say, all people with strong racial preferences towards group A also share other beliefs in common.

[Lateli]

"Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between Fat People and Thin People."

That test was actually kind of scary now that I think about it. Fat good fat bad thin good thin bad.

[Jon885]

Jon885, shouldn't it be 'Initial'?

It was something else to have a spelling error in the thread title.


I don't remember changing it but I must have. Did it say inicial before?

[Citizen]

I changed it. It was bugging me.

[Jon885]

oh..alright then

[jindojim]

I created an old thread about this.

http://www.outpostnine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2019

[Trump]

Well, to address the original poster, clothing matters tremendously. It matters far more than race. I mean someone can choose to dress like a ganster or they can choose to dress like a slightly more civilized person. If they choose ganster I would definately be biased against them no matter what race they are.

[erised]

Clothing is a big part of judging physical appearances (it wasn't in the tests I took tho). Tonight some show on VH1 was talking about the Least Hip Hop Moments Ever (like VH1 can really judge that), but they were complaining about rappers and hip hop singers who dress nicely. I couldn't believe that. If they want to wear a suit, or a button up shirt, or a sweater, more power to them. They have the $, why not dress to impress? I thought they looked snazzy.

[Psychochink]

"Your data suggests you prefer attractive women over ugly men."

Damn, they've got my number. No hiding my prejudices now...

[spaik]

man, the canadian tests got shafted. theres only 6 of them. i got some weird results though. nothin about race, weight or sexuality, but it seems that i slightly prefer young to old, and that i have a moderate bias towards men in sciences and women in liberal arts. what does that make me, a misogynistic ephebophiliac? i guess i need to chase more teenage boys like a certain politician...

[Alphonse v.2]

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."