ProjectImplicit
Perhaps now more than ever, we should all take the test.
People don’t always say what’s on their minds. One reason is that they
are unwilling. For example, someone might report smoking a pack of
cigarettes per day because they are embarrassed to admit that they smoke
two. Another reason is that they are unable. A smoker might truly
believe that she smokes a pack a day, or might not keep track at all.
The difference between being unwilling and unable is the difference
between purposely hiding something from someone and unknowingly hiding
something from yourself.
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures attitudes and beliefs
that people may be unwilling or unable to report. The IAT may be
especially interesting if it shows that you have an implicit attitude
that you did not know about. For example, you may believe that women and
men should be equally associated with science, but your automatic
associations could show that you (like many others) associate men with
science more than you associate women with science.
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