Black and white: The role of color bias in implicit race bias

Research using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) has consistently shown that White participants demonstrate an implicit preference for White, race-related stimuli over similar Black stimuli. Scholars in many domains have also documented that people generally have more positive associations with the color white and more negative associations with the color black. The present research, consisting of three studies, examined the potential contribution of general implicit evaluative associations with the colors white and black to implicit race preferences as measured by the IAT. Across three studies, evaluative associations with the colors white and black were significantly related to evaluative racial associations. Nevertheless, implicit preferences for Whites relative to Blacks remained significant after controlling for the effect of implicit color preferences. Results support the position that racial IAT responses substantially reflect racial evaluative associations. Theoretical and methodological issues related to the assessment of implicit racial biases are discussed.