You will complete a questionnaire as well as a reaction time (RT) computer based task.
The RT task involves you sorting pictures of African Americans, pictures of European Americans, positive words and negative words into categories.
During the experiment you may also be exposed to images you may find disturbing or unpleasant.
If you are not comfortable with these images you can terminate the experiment by closing the tab at any point.
If you decide at any point you do not wish to continue the experiment please close the tab.
You can email the above researcher to get a full debriefing if you decide to discontinue the experiment.
The experiment takes about 8 minutes and must be completed in one sitting.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Participation is totally anonymous and data will be stored on the password-protected computers of the researcher named above.
Your anonymized data may be shared with other researchers outside of the University of Warwick.
If you are over the age of 18 and happy to participate in this experiment, please check the box below before proceeding.When you check the box a pink "Start" button will appear. Click this to continue.
I am happy to participate in this study.
Loading images:
Demographic Information
Sex?
How old are you?
What is your race ?
What is your current country/region of residence?
If you are in the U.S. what state are you currently in?
Please indicate the highest level of education that you have completed
What is your political ideology?
How religious are you?
The continue button will only work when you answer all the questions. If you see "Please select one" in any of the drop down boxes you CANNOT continue
Quantity and quality of contact
We are interested in the amount and type of contact you have generally experienced with African Americans
Thinking of social contact - whether at home, or at work, or somewhere else - how much contact do you have with African Americans?
At meetings or events?
Just chatting to people?
Over all social situations?
In general, how frequently was this contact with African Americans POSITIVE/GOOD?
In general, how frequently was this contact with African Americans NEGATIVE/BAD?
In the media (newspaper, radio, TV) how do you think European Americans are portrayed?
In the media (newspaper, radio, TV) how do you think African Americans are portrayed?
On average how many African Americans do you physically encounter each day?
The continue button will only work when you answer all the questions. If you see "Please select one" in any of the drop down boxes you CANNOT continue
Intergroup Scale
If you are an African American you do not have to complete the questionnaire below
I would feel nervous if I had to sit alone in a room with an African American and start a conversation.
I just do not know what to expect from an African Americans.
Although I do not consider myself to be racist, I do not know how to present myself around African Americans.
My lack of knowledge about the African American culture prevents me from feeling completely comfortable around African Americans.
I can interact with African Americans without experiencing much anxiety.
If I were at a party, I would have no problem with starting a conversation with an African American.
It makes me uncomfortable to bring up the topic of racism around African Americans.
I experience little anxiety when I talk to African Americans.
The cultural differences between African Americans and European Americans makes interactions between African Americans and European Americans awkward.
I would experience some anxiety if I were the only person in a room full of African Americans.
I worry about coming across as a racist when I talk with African Americans.
Please ensure you have selected an option for each question. You should NOT see "Please Select one" in any of the drop down boxes
Please ensure you have carefully viewed all the pictures below as you will be asked about them later
Only after 30 seconds have lapsed will a continue button appear at the end of the page
A pink continue button will appear below here after 30 seconds of loading this page. Click on it to continue the experiment.
Please ensure you have carefully viewed all the pictures below as you will be asked about them later.
After 30 seconds of looking at the images a continue button will appear at the end of the page.
A pink continue button will appear below here after 30 seconds of loading this page. Click on it to continue the experiment.
Please ensure you have carefully viewed all the pictures below as you will be asked about them later.
After 30 seconds of looking at the images a continue button will appear at the end of the page.
Please ensure you have carefully viewed all the pictures below as you will be asked about them later.
Only after 30 seconds have lapsed will a continue button appear at the end of the page.
A pink continue button will appear below here after one minute of loading this page. Click on it to continue the experiment.
Please ensure you have carefully viewed all the pictures below as you will be asked about them later.
After 30 seconds of looking at the images a continue button will appear at the end of the page.
A pink continue button will appear below here after 30 seconds of loading this page. Click on it to continue the experiment.
Instructions
You will be presented with a set of words or images to classify into groups. Classify items as quickly as you can while making as few mistakes as possible. Going too slow or making too many mistakes will result in an uninterpretable score.
The following is a list of category labels and the items that belong to each of those categories.
Keep your index fingers on the E and I keys to enable rapid response.
If you are using a touch-screen device, you can just tap the labels instead.
Two labels at the top will tell you which words or images go with each key.
Each word or image has a correct classification. Most of these are easy.
The test gives no results if you go slow—please try to go as fast as possible.
Expect to make a few mistakes because of going fast. That's OK.
For best results, avoid distractions and stay focused.
X
Explicit Attitudes
Which statement best describes you?
Please rate how warm or cold you feel towards the following groups (0=coldest feelings, 5=neutral, 10=warmest feelings).
African Americans
European Americans
Please ensure you have selected an option for each question. You should NOT see "Please Select one" in any of the drop down boxes
You have completed the reaction time task. Please click the continue button to carry on with the experiment.
Please select what the main content was of the images you saw previously
The continue button will only work when you answer all the questions. If you see "Please select one" in any of the drop down boxes you CANNOT continue
Disease scale (This is the last page)
It really bothers me when people sneeze without covering their mouths.
If an illness is 'going around', I will get it.
I am comfortable sharing a water bottle with a friend.
I don't like to write with a pencil someone else has obviously chewed on.
My past experiences make me believe I am not likely to get sick even when my friends are sick.
I have a history of susceptibility to infectious diseases.
I prefer to wash my hands pretty soon after shaking someone's hand.
In general, I am very susceptible to colds, flu, and other infectious diseases.
I dislike wearing used clothes because you don't know what the past person who wore it was like.
I am more likely than the people around me to catch an infectious disease.
My hands do not feel dirty after touching money.
I am unlikely to catch a cold, flu, or other illness, even if it is going around.
It does not make me anxious to be around sick people.
My immune system protects me from most illnesses that other people get.
I avoid using public telephones because of the risk that I may catch something from the previous user.
Please ensure you have selected an option for each question. You should NOT see "Please Select one" in any of the drop down boxes
Your Results
We have calculated your reation time task score (Implicit Association Test score). Your score is based on how quick you were in the African American / Bad vs. European American / Good version (pro-white block) compared to the African American / Good vs. European American / Bad version (pro-black block). Some researchers regard differences in speed between these two versions/blocks as an indicators of a person's implicit attitude (e.g., If you respond faster on the pro-black block than on the pro-white block this could indicate you have a preference for black people relative to white people).
You were faster on the pro-white block.
You were faster on the pro-black block.
You responded with a similar speed on both the pro-white & the pro-black blocks.
This result is unreliable because you had too many fast responses. Press the reload button on your browser if you'd like another try.
This result is unreliable because you had too many slow responses. Press the reload button on your browser if you'd like another try.
This result is unreliable because you made too many errors. Press the reload button on your browser if you'd like another try.
Thank you!
The test is over. Thank you for taking part.
Debriefing
This experiment measured your attitudes towards African Americans and European Americans
Your conscious attitudes were measured using the questionnaires.The reaction time task (Implicit Association Test; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) had been claimed to measuring implicit attitudes.
If you saw the image slideshow that showed building & furniture, this was not expected to increase your prejudice towards outgroup members (e.g. Black people if you are White).
However, it was predicted that those who saw the diseass & infection images would have increased prejudice towards their outgroup compared with people who saw the building & furniture.
This increase in prejudice would be predicted based on parasite stress theory of values (see The parasite-stress theory of values and sociality: Infectious disease, history and human values worldwide by Thornhill & Fincher, 2014).
If you have any concerns or questions about the experiment please email me.
A formal complaint about this study can be made here.
Please close this tab/window to exit the experiement
