Project Implicit Association Test

Into the Depths of the Subconscious Mind

Throughout present day society, there are many biases, some of them are subconscious decisions molded by a person’s society. In an attempt to identify these subconscious preferences researchers at Harvard created Project Implicit. Project Implicit uses images and words associated with a certain category and it locates biases based on the reaction time to matching the key details. For this paper, I took three Implicit Association Tests, IATs, each identifying three traits that my subconscious had to offer. The three IATs that I took were to determine my preference towards straight or gay people, young or old people, and dark or light-skinned people. In a paper I will identify and reflect on the results that I received from the tests, I will then discuss the level of cultural sensitivity I am currently operating on, and discuss the importance of intercultursal sensitivity as a leader of character.

The first IAT that I will evaluate is the one testing my preference of Straight to Gay people.

This IAT established that I have a moderate automatic preference for gay people compared to straight people. I am satisfied to say that these results did not actually surprise me. However, I was slightly off put that the test determined that I was more preferential to Gay people. While I am generally open-minded and I do not mind being around people of a different sexuality, it was a little strange to see that the test determined that I prefer to be around Gay people, especially when many of my close friends are straight. While the test were generally accurate, the results did not really hold much significance to me. It does however reflect that the society, which I was raised in, did not discriminate against

homosexuals.
The second IAT that I evaluated is the test that determined my preference of Young to Old people. This IAT established that I have a Strong preference for young to old people. The results that I received for this test did not necessarily surprise me because the subject was something that was not actually only on a subconscious level. I overtly have less of a tendency to being around older people. The results that I receive show that through my life, I have been around young people. Because I have been around mostly younger people, I hold a major preference and desire to be around what I am used to. I do however recognize that it is not necessarily acceptable for me to hold such a bias towards older people. I realize that age ranges vary throughout my current career, and I should attempt to integrate older people in my life to get comfortable with the idea.
The third IAT I took established that I had a moderate Automatic preference to dark skinned people over light skin people. I was slightly surprised by the results of this test. Though I am black, I generally align myself with people of a lighter color. While I consciously choose to be around people of a lighter skin color, I can understand why my subconscious actively associates myself with dark skinned people. The reason my subconscious automatically associates myself with dark skinned people is because I am dark skinned. Seeing myself on a daily basis makes my brain automatically associate with dark skinned people.
These IATs helped me to identify a little about my Cultural Sensitivity, relative to Bennett’s Model. I determined that I am in the Ethno Relative stage, more specifically Integration stage. In the Integration stage, I am currently in the Constructive Marginality, meaning, I tend to integrate my experiences and cultural differences while still maintaining my sense of self. More specifically, when I am subjugated to be in another culture that I am not used to I integrate and start to move and do as the general populace does. I have an intense desire to be like those around me, so I adapt to make myself more comfortable. Because the Army is such a diverse group, I believe that being Culturally Sensitive is extremely important. With there being so many different people all from different areas it is important that everyone, especially leadership, can accommodate all of the different ways of life, considering they do not hinder the mission. As a leader of character, it is required that you “click”, or fit in, with all of the members of your group, that is why a leader of character must be Ethno Relative.