Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

by Jennifer L. Eberhardt

And the television viewers were affected by this: The more negative the nonverbal actions directed at the unseen black characters, the more antiblack bias the study participants revealed on an implicit association test following the showing. That is, there was evidence for a type of “bias contagion.” The researchers found this to be the case even though the study participants were unable to identify any consistent pattern in treatment of the white and black characters when asked to do so directly. While this study was going on, more than nine million viewers tuned in to each of these shows across the United States every week. Altogether, the shows were viewed more than five billion times in a single year. It’s easy to get absorbed in a story line and invest in characters. But even as we come to connect with the characters and their lives, we are absorbing their biases as well. Increasing positive representation of blacks in the media may be a step forward, but then again, it could wind up reflecting and spreading implicit bias rather than defusing it.