Implicit Bias and Public Policy Recommendations

Implicit Bias and Public Policy Recommendations

We intend to measure implicit (as opposed to self-reported) attitudes towards gay people, specifically in the context of adoption rights. Opponents of gay adoption rights persist in arguing that having gay parents is harmful to the children and for this reason should be opposed. However, if the position is based exclusively on concern for the welfare of the children rather than (entirely or partially) on the parents’ sexual orientation per se, it should follow that any individual who acts out of this concern would be equally concerned with the welfare of the children adopted by heterosexual parents. Whatever restrictions the individual would support imposing upon adoptive parents should then be determined only by what he or she believes is in the children’s interest. We suspect that, even among those who publicly espouse tolerance of and support for equal rights for gay parents, there is substantial “modern prejudice” (Dovidio and Gaertner, 1996), such that if placed in a situation that removes the concern of being judged and bigoted, the bias can be revealed. It may indeed be the case that such individuals do not perceive themselves as prejudiced but that their implicit attitudes (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995; Fazio & Olson, 2003) are such that they are more prepared to discriminate against homosexuals than against heterosexuals. If, as we hypothesize, such implicit bias is widespread, drawing attention to it may be one of the most important steps in reducing it.