The Effects of Race on Implicit Perceptions of the Police
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Authors
Danica Crews
Issue Date
2026
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Language
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Abstract
There is implicit bias present in many aspects of life. Coined by psychologists Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald in 1995, implicit bias refers to the attitudes and stereotypes we hold towards things and people without being entirely conscious. Though these biases are non conscious, they manifest themselves explicitly because of things such as misattribution, ambiguity of a situation, automatic activation, and reliance on heuristics. Commonly referenced in terms of race, implicit bias can be present in other situations where stereotypes of a group might be formed. This study aims to identify implicit biases people might have toward law enforcement officers (LEO) by surveying undergraduate students at Alma College, and whether or not these biases present themselves in different ways based on race, gender, and whether or not one has had an adverse experience with a LEO. Participants will complete an Implicit Associations Test (IAT), where they will be asked to sort good and bad words; and words related to law enforcement and medicine. Response latency differences on the IAT will be used to determine whether or not there is an implicit association present.