Defensive Responding to IAT Feedback

We investigated whether learning that one is biased predicts defensive reactions to feedback on Implicit Association Tests (IATs; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwarz, 1998). In an archival data set (Study 1, N = 219,426) and in an online experiment (Study 2, N = 1,225), people responded most defensively to feedback when: (a) their implicit and explicit attitudes were more discrepant than congruent, (b) their implicit attitudes aligned more with societal bias than did their explicit attitudes (e.g., a preference for Straight People relative to Gay People), and (c) they were majority group members (e.g., White participants in a race-relevant task) rather than minority group members. Next, in an online experiment (Study 3, N = 418), we demonstrated that receiving feedback indicating one is biased causes greater defensiveness. In turn, greater defensiveness, predicts lower intentions to engage in egalitarian behavior.