Schaffer,
Michael (5/09) The effect of clinical experience on psychologists' and
physicians' perceptions of race (Howard Mcguire, Ph.D.; Joan Duncan, Ph.D.;
Nicholas Papouchis, Ph.D.)
Recent theory and research on racism and
prejudice has focused on two forms of attitudes: explicit attitudes, which are
conscious to the individual and implicit attitudes, which exist outside of the
individual's consciousness (Banaji, Nosek, & Greenwald, 2004; Gaertner
& Dovidio, 2005). Studies have demonstrated that most Caucasian Americans,
particularly those who are liberal, have higher levels of implicit racism than
explicit racism towards African Americans (Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald,
2002). These Caucasian Americans, termed "aversive racists,"
frequently act, unbeknownst to themselves, in subtly racist ways towards
African Americans. Studies performed in research settings have demonstrated
that individuals can decrease their level of implicit racism, and therefore act
in a less racist manner, by practicing empathy and a nonjudgmental attitude
towards an individual African American (Finlay & Stephan, 2000; Kawakami,
Dovidio, Moll, et al., 2000). The current study hypothesized that Caucasian
American clinical psychologists with more clinical experience would have lower
levels of implicit racism than less experienced clinical psychologists. This
hypothesis was based on the assumption that the more clinical experience
clinical psychologists had, the more they would practice empathy and a
nonjudgmental attitude towards their patients. The current study also
hypothesized that Caucasian American clinical psychologists with more clinical
experience would have less discrepancy between their implicit and explicit racism,
reflecting greater self- awareness concerning racist attitudes. The current
study--which used the Implicit Association Test to measure implicit racism, and
The Whites Attitude Towards Blacks Scale and a Feeling Thermometer to measure
explicit racism--did not yield significant results for these hypotheses.
However, results from the current study indicated that Caucasian American
clinical psychologists scored higher on explicit racism than implicit racism,
the opposite of aversive racists. The possible implications of these results
are discussed.
