Blog #3

Coming from a diverse background, I pride myself on being open-minded and accepting of all types of people. I have also taken multiple psychology classes that touched on prejudices and the implementation of the IAT. When I was taking the quizzes, I was aware of how the test was analyzing my answers. I think this prior knowledge may have impacted my results to a certain extent because I know how I want to perceive myself and be perceived by others. 

I started with the quiz on religion because I thought this was the most neutral theme for myself. I am not a very religious person, so I did not think that I would have many implicit associations when it came to others' personal beliefs. For the most part, my view were fairly neutral without any of the religions being extremely positive or negative. Judaism was separated from the others a bit as being a bit more negative. I honestly do not know many specific details about each religion, so I do not think I have a negative implicit association with Judaism. It is a bit embarrassing but I was not sure which terms were associated with the opposing religions and that resulted in some incorrect answers in some instances. 

Next, I took the sexuality quiz. I support individuals' choice to be with whomever they please and hoped that it would be reflected in my results. My answers resulted in a strong automatic preference for straight people compared to gay people. I received this result because I responded faster when straight people and good words were classified with the same key. I think the results have some merit in that, while I respect everyone's right to live life how they please some aspects of homosexuality make me feel uncomfortable in certain situations. 

Finally, I completed the weight quiz. Similarly to the other themes, I thought that I was very accepting of other people. While some body types are a result of predispositions and genetics, and others may be due to lifestyle choices I don't think that people should be judged based on their weight. My result was a slight automatic preference for thin people compared to fat people. I received my results because I responded slightly faster when thin people and good words were paired together. I don't think that I necessarily attribute better qualities to thin people, but somehow it may be easier to within the realm of the quizzes. I think there a lot of negative stigmas in our society surrounding fat people and that may influence how readily I can attribute bad words to them.

I think that this exercise is important in demonstrating that while you may not hold prejudices, it is possible to make implicit associations unknowingly. No one is perfect, but it is important to be aware of how those associations may affect how you treat others and the decisions you make.