Racial Bias and Public Policy

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Glaser ◽  
Katherine Spencer ◽  
Amanda Charbonneau
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Race Bias ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Health Care Politics ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
And Control

This article explores psychological science on race bias and its implications in several domains of public policy, with special attention paid to biased policing as an illustrative example. Race bias arises from normal mental processes, many outside our conscious awareness and control. This research directly applies to public policy, especially where concerned with regulating behavior and managing uncertainty. Research links both implicit and explicit racial bias to behavior, and uncertainty exacerbates the influence of bias in decision-making. Sample policy domains—where psychological research, race bias, and public policy intersect—include education, employment, immigration, health care, politics/representation, and criminal justice. Psychological research informs policy by documenting causes and processes, by expert testimony in court, and by generating and evaluating interventions to reduce race bias.

scholarly journals Prejudice and Politics Re-Examined The Political Significance of Implicit Racial Bias

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. Kinder ◽  
Timothy J. Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Psychology ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Racial Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Explicit Prejudice ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

As part of a general inquiry into mental mechanisms that operate outside conscious awareness, experimental psychology has recently established the presence and importance of “implicit attitudes.” The purpose of our paper is to compare the roles played by implicit and explicit prejudice in politics. Relying on two national surveys of the American electorate that included standard measures of implicit and explicit prejudice, we provide a systematic comparison of prejudice’s political effects: for the candidates Americans choose, the policies they favor, the assessments they make of government performance, and the racialized information they absorb. We find that implicit and explicit prejudice provide radically different pictures of racial politics in America.

Whites’ Interpersonal Interactions Shape, and Are Shaped by, Implicit Prejudice

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Sinclair ◽  
Andreana C. Kenrick ◽  
Drew S. Jacoby-Senghor
Keyword(s):  
Racial Bias ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Shared Reality ◽  
Implicit Prejudice ◽  
The Right ◽  
And Control ◽  
Prevalent Form

Implicit racial prejudice is a prevalent form of racial bias less subject to conscious awareness and control, compared with self-reported bias. Implicit pro-White/anti-Black bias has documented negative implications for the lives of African Americans. Guided by a “shared-reality” approach, research shows how implicit prejudice shapes the lives of White Americans. Two basic principles emerge. First, under the right circumstances, Whites’ implicit prejudice decreases to correspond with the apparent egalitarianism of their contacts. Second, although individuals cannot introspect much on it, implicit prejudice predicts Whites’ desire to affiliate with fellow Whites. Specifically, greater implicit prejudice predicts liking other Whites who seem uncomfortable interacting with Blacks. This work has ramifications for policies to mitigate prejudice—such as including own-group strategies—as well as societal implications of social networks saturated with individuals who hold similar degrees of implicit prejudice.

Psychology Student as Advocate: Public Policy in the Classroom

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Position Paper ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Class Assignment

Students of psychology are often unaware of the contribution that psychology can make to the development of public policy. This class assignment encourages students to see themselves as developing social scientists with the ability and responsibility to use psychological science in the public interest. Students select a policy question relevant to the field of psychology, evaluate the psychological research on that issue, write a brief position paper incorporating pertinent references, and forward it to the appropriate government official. The assignment generates high levels of student interest and enhances understanding of the complex political, economic, and scientific issues in the policy-making process.

The Goldwater Rule: Perspectives From, and Implications for, Psychological Science

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
scott lilienfeld ◽  
Josh Miller ◽  
Donald Lynam
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Clinical Judgment ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Psychiatric Status ◽  
Public Figures ◽  
Duty To Inform

When, if ever, should psychological scientists be permitted to offer professional opinions concerning the mental health of public figures they have never directly examined? This contentious question, which attracted widespread public attention during the 1964 U.S. presidential election involving Barry Goldwater, received renewed scrutiny during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, when many mental health professionals raised pointed questions concerning the psychiatric status of Donald Trump. Although the Goldwater Rule prohibits psychiatrists from offering diagnostic opinions on individuals they have never examined, no comparable rule exists for psychologists. We contend that, owing largely to the Goldwater Rule’s origins in psychiatry, a substantial body of psychological research on assessment and clinical judgment, including work on the questionable validity of unstructured interviews, the psychology of cognitive biases, and the validity of informant reports and of L (lifetime) data, has been overlooked in discussions of its merits. We conclude that although the Goldwater Rule may have been defensible several decades ago, it is outdated and premised on dubious scientific assumptions. We further contend that there are select cases in which psychological scientists with suitable expertise may harbor a “duty to inform,” allowing them to offer informed opinions concerning public figures’ mental health with appropriate caveats.

Intersectionality as a Framework for Theory and Research in Feminist Psychology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah R. Warner ◽  
Stephanie A. Shields
Keyword(s):  
Social Activism ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Science Practices ◽  
Intersectionality Theory ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
History Of

Intersectionality theory concerns the interdependence of systems of inequality and implications for psychological research. Social identities cannot be studied independently of one another nor separately from the societal processes that maintain inequality. In this chapter we provide a brief overview of the history of intersectionality theory and then address how intersectionality theory challenges the way psychological theories typically conceive of the person, as well as the methods of data gathering and analysis customarily used by many psychologists. We specifically address two concerns often expressed by feminist researchers. First, how to reconcile the use of an intersectionality framework with currently-valued psychological science practices. Second, how intersectionality transforms psychology’s concern with individual experience by shifting the focus to the individual’s position within sociostructural frameworks and their social and political underpinnings. In a concluding section we identify two future directions for intersectionality theory: how psychological research on intersectionality can facilitate social activism, and current developments in intersectionality theory.

Inside insights: A phenomenology of interoception

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Leder
Keyword(s):  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Lived Body ◽  
The West ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Outer World ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Rational Thought ◽  
And Control

This chapter undertakes a phenomenology of inner-body experience, starting with a focus on visceral interoception. While highly personal, such experience also reveals a level of the lived body that is pre-personal, beyond our understanding and control. In contrast to exteroception, elements of the visceral field can be inaccessible, or surface only indistinctly and intermittently to conscious awareness. Nonetheless, interoception is more than just a series of such sensations. This chapter argues for the “exterior interior”—that is, we interpret inner body experiences through models drawn from the outer world, and interoception itself is bound up with emotion, purpose, and projects. In the West, we tend to valorize the interiority of rational thought; by contrast, experience of the inner body is a kind of “inferior interior,” often overlooked or overridden, yet inside insights—gained from attending to messages from the inner body—may preserve our health and wellbeing.

History of Sexual Orientation and Mental Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-24
Author(s):  
Kristin A. Hancock ◽  
Douglas C. Haldeman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
The Impact

Psychology’s understanding of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people has evolved, become more refined, and impacted the lives of LGB people in profound ways. This chapter traces the history of LGB psychology from the nineteenth century to the present and focuses on major events and the intersections of theory, psychological science, politics, and activism in the history of this field. It explores various facets of cultural and psychological history that include the pathologizing of homosexuality, the rise of psychological science and the political movements in the mid-twentieth century, and the major shifts in policy that ensued. The toll of the AIDS epidemic on the field is discussed as is the impact of psychological research on national and international policy and legislation.

Animal Pain Scales in Public Policy

1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (1_part_1) ◽  
pp. 41-50
Author(s):  
F. Barbara Orlans
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pain Scale ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Animal Pain ◽  
Pain Scales ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Control

Pain scales classify the severity of pain inflicted on laboratory animals from little or none up to severe. A pain scale as part of public policy serves beneficial purposes that promote animal welfare. It can be used to educate people about the two alternatives of refinement and replacement, and the need to reduce animal pain. Furthermore, a pain scale has practical applications: 1) in review procedures for animal welfare concerns; 2) in developing policies on the use of animals in education; and 3) as a basis for collecting national data on animal experimentation, so that meaningful data can be collected on trends in reduction and control in animal pain. So far, only a few countries (including Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand) have adopted pain scales as part of their public policy. Most countries, including the United States, have not yet done so. The history of the development and adoption of pain scales by various countries is described and the case is presented for wider adoption of a pain scale in countries not currently using one.

Engaging public policy with psychological science.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Siegel ◽  
Melanie Arenson ◽  
Alyssa Mikytuck ◽  
Jennifer Woolard
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Psychological Science

scholarly journals Aggressors and resilient youths in Medellin, Colombia: the need for a paradigm shift in order to overcome violence

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 2208-2216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis F. Duque ◽  
Nilton E. Montoya ◽  
Alexandra Restrepo
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
High Ratio ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Sexually Risky ◽  
And Control ◽  
Resilient Behavior

The objective of this study was to estimate the ratio of resilient youth and compare this to youth with aggressive behavior, and to youth who also exhibit sexually risky behavior and drug use. A cross-section study of a representative sample of people between aged between 12 and 60 who are residents of Medellin, Colombia, and its metropolitan area (N = 4,654) was employed using probabilistic multi-stage sampling. Youth between 14 and 26 years old were selected for the present analysis (n = 1,780). The proportion of resilient youth is 22.9%, of aggressors is 11.3%, and that of youth with other risky conduct is 65.8%. The high ratio of resilient youth calls for a reorientation of public policy toward prevention and control of violence, prioritizing the promotion of resilient behavior instead of continuing with tertiary prevention actions.

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