Implicit Association Test — A Reflection
At first, I thought the Implicit Association Test was a large test that would assess bias with religion, race, gender/sexuality, and other such elements but I was quite intrigued to see it have several different tests on very specific topics. I ended up choosing the test on light-skinned to dark-skinned preference. Taking the test was interesting because I felt like it really only mattered to click the right buttons until the buttons had different meanings in the middle of the test. This showed that the more we associate something with the predefined ideas or definitions, our actions might imply the same — which is essentially the gist of the test too.
At the end of the test, my results were “Your responses suggested a slight automatic preference for Dark Skinned People over Light Skinned People.” I have had a very diverse upbringing because I grew up in countries like China, Vietnam, India and now, the United States. And I feel like this varied experience really helped me open my eyes to various skin-tones and remove all internal biases. But at the same time, being a brown person and having spent almost half of my life in India, I have also spent most of my life with people the same color as me. This test was definitely interesting and I am looking to take the rest of them soon.