The Implicit Association Test

Source: Julian Wills & Jay Van Bavel—New York University

One of the core constructs in social psychology is the notion of an attitude toward an object or person. Traditionally, psychologists measured attitudes by simply asking people to self-report their beliefs, opinions, or feelings. This approa...

Asking someone to say what?s on their mind can be disconnected from the beliefs that they are willing to discuss or are even knowingly aware of.

While traditional methods often ask individuals to report on their own attitudes?say to evaluate personal feelings about members of a stigmatized group?their opinion is explicit, involving delibe...