Long, Karen (2/12) Impact of aversive racism on clinical impressions (Nicholas Papouchis, Ph.D.; Howard Mcguire, Ph.D.;Benjamin Saunders, Ph.D.)
This study aimed to determine the impact of aversive racism on initial clinical judgments and on a therapist's flexibility to readjust initial impressions. In particular, the study was interested on how psychotherapists rate an African American or a Caucasian client (from a vignette) on the client's likeability, likelihood to benefit from treatment, level of pathology, and level of personal adjustment, which was done once after an initial description of the client and after supplemental information was added. Aversive racism is defined as a subtle and often unconscious form of racism in which negative racial attitudes or reactions emerge mainly when those reactions can be attributed to other factors or circumstances prominence (Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami & Hodson, 2002). The study hypothesized that the therapist's aversive racism would cause the therapist to initially rate African American patients more severely and would also inhibit the therapist's ability to alter clinical judgments with the addition of new information. The study consisted of 186 Caucasian clinical psychologists who rated the appropriateness of Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood, and Other interpersonal problem on a scale from one to seven using seven items from the Diagnostic and Prognostic Rating Form. Furthermore. participants rated the client in the vignette on three attributes on a scale from one to five, including level of aggressiveness, personal initiative, and interpersonal ability. The results of this study suggested that the impact of aversive racism was not as widespread, as easily seen, or as measurable as initially hypothesized. While multiple distinct levels of aversive racism were ascertained within the population of psychologists studied, only a few variations related to these assessments of aversive racism were found. However, it is of interest that medium and low levels of racial aversive racism may have been employing compensatory strategies when dealing with African American clients. Therefore, demonstrating an ability to be constantly self-aware and guard against racist tendencies, as well as adaptation to the unexpected, may be essential for fostering optimal outcomes in the therapeutic environment.
