Cited by 703Social and Intergroup PsychologyPsychological Testing and AssessmentDeception detection and forensic psychology

A meta-analysis of procedures to change implicit measures

Open access
Forscher, Patrick S., Lai, Calvin K., Axt, Jordan R., Ebersole, Charles R., Herman, Michelle, Devine, Patricia G., Nosek, Brian A.·2019·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

s| < .30). Most studies focused on producing short-term changes with brief, single-session manipulations. Procedures that associate sets of concepts, invoke goals or motivations, or tax mental resources changed implicit measures the most, whereas procedures that induced threat, affirmation, or specific moods/emotions changed implicit measures the least. Bias tests suggested that implicit effects could be inflated relative to their true population values. Procedures changed explicit measures less consistently and to a smaller degree than implicit measures and generally produced trivial changes in behavior. Finally, changes in implicit measures did not mediate changes in explicit measures or behavior. Our findings suggest that changes in implicit measures are possible, but those changes do not necessarily translate into changes in explicit measures or behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1037/pspa0000160

Cites

462 of 462 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • There is a lack of evidence in the effectiveness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives (DEI).

    “especially given the lack of evidence in the effectiveness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives (DEI; Paluck et al., 2021;Forscher et al., 2019;Lai et al., 2016).”

    From The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A contemporary meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions (2023) · cites this paper as Forscher et al., 2019

    The Conclusion reports little evidence that changing implicit measures changes behavior, including in intergroup-bias interventions. But the paper assesses procedures aimed at implicit measures, not the effectiveness of DEI initiatives generally; the claim extends its finding beyond the interventions studied. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 464 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 42

  1. Agustin AA, & Francisco VGJ (2008). Analysing the effects of mortality salience on prejudice and decision-taking In Olson FM (Ed.), New Developments in the Psychology of Motivation (pp. 53– 65). Nova Science Publishers. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  2. Asgari S (2004). The malleability of stereotypic beliefs: Combating implicit stereotypes about ingroups and the self. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  3. Axt JR, Nguyen H, & Nosek BA (2018). The Judgment Bias Task: A flexible method for assessing individual differences in social judgment biases. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 337– 355.
  4. Brown RD (2004). Lateral inhibition goes social: Reducing the expression of the attractiveness stereotype. Unpublished Dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  5. Cain TR (2012). Fear bias: The impact of incidental fear on explicit and implicit risk perception. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  6. Canadas E, Lupianez J, Rodriguez R, Bayliss AP, & Tipper SP (2007). I like you more if you look where I should: Gaze cueing and implicit prejudice change. Unpublished thesis. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  7. Carpenter SJ (2001). Implicit gender attitudes. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  8. Cicchirillo VJ (2009). The effects of priming racial stereotypes through violent video games Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  9. Cooper J (2007). Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  10. Correll J (2005). Context, race and danger: The relationship between threat perception and the decision to shoot. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  11. Covin R (2008). Beyond the Emotion-Congruent Effect. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  12. Culhane EN (2012). The trainability of cross-cultural competence and the examination of the affective component. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  13. Curl LS (2002). Can we reduce our latent prejudice? An examination of the Asian Cultural Assimilator with the use of the Implicit Association Test. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  14. Dasgupta N (2009). 13 mechanisms underlying the malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes: The role of automaticity and cognitive control In Nelson TD (Ed.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination (pp. 267– 284). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
  15. Duff KJ (1999). Controlling unwanted prejudice: Does practice make perfect? Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  16. Felix KJ (2014). Inter-religious relationships and anxiety in the regulation of automatic inter-religious prejudice. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  17. Ferguson MJ, Zhang Y, & Fishbach A (2015). How motivation shapes meaning: The effects of implicit object construal. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  18. Franklin JC (2014). The nature, development, and reversal of positive attitudes toward nonsuicidal self-injury: Implications for prediction and treatment. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  19. Galinsky AD (1999). Perspective-taking: Debiasing social thought. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  20. Goodall CE (2010). Automatic attitude activation: Studies on processing and effects of alcohol advertisements and public service announcements. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  21. Harper JC (2010). Modification of weight bias: Examining the effects of social influence on the expression of anti-fat attitudes. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  22. Harris SE (1998). The linguistic intergroup bias: are differential expectations moderated by social identity concerns? Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  23. Hetts JJ (1999). Self-evaluations under fire: Implicit self-regard and explicit self-esteem in the face of failure. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  24. Janis IB (2009). Approach/avoidance training to reduce health risk behaviors. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  25. Lambert AE (2011). On attentional control and the elderly driving stereotype. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  26. Martijn C, Sheeran P, Wesseldijk LW, Merrick H, Webb TL, Roefs A & Jansen A (2013). Evaluative conditioning makes slim models less desirable as standards for comparison and increases body satisfaction. Health Psychology, 32, 433– 438. 22612560 * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  27. Matheus CC (2010). Assessing interventions for reducing gender-based occupational stereotypes: A multi-method study comparing the implicit association test to indirect and explicit measures of stereotypes, and an examination of sex roles and entity versus incremental lay theories of social perception. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  28. Mellott DS (2003). Measuring implicit attitudes and stereotypes: Increasing internal consistency reveals the convergent validity of IAT and priming measures. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  29. Mendoza SA (2010). Planning Careful Responses to Racial Cues: The Effects of Implementation Intentions on Intergroup Bias. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  30. Miramontez DR (2010). Examining implicit acculturation and bicultural identity integration. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  31. Perugini M, Richetin J, & Zogmaister C (2010). Prediction of behavior In Gawronski B & Payne BK (Eds.), Handbook of implicit social cognition: Measurement, theory, and applications (pp. 255– 277). New York, NY: Guilford.
  32. Rabbitt SM (2012). The role of stress in parental perceptions of child noncompliance. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  33. Rosenthal R (1979). The file drawer problem and tolerance for null results. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 638– 641.
  34. Schlenkermann RS (2007). Negative evaluative conditioning of implicit smoking attitudes as an avenue toward cessation. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  35. Scott-Sheldon LA (2006). Implicit-explicit ambivalent attitudes and health behaviors. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  36. Seger CR (2010). Literal intergroup contact: Embodied relational cues and the reduction of intergroup bias. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  37. Soderberg CK, & Sherman JW (2011). The hidden costs of multiculturalism: Can celebrating our differences lead to greater discrimination? Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  38. Spalding LR (1998). The hidden costs of attributional ambiguity: How experiencing discrimination affects implicit self-esteem. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  39. Stephan WG, & Stephan CW (2000). An integrated threat theory of prejudice In Oskamp S (Ed.), Reduce prejudice and discrimination (pp. 23– 46). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  40. Sumner MD (2003). Nonconscious routes for avoiding stereotypic rebound: A focus on chronic egalitarian motivation and implementation intentions. Unpublished dissertation.
  41. Taylor A (2011). The influence of target race on split-second shooting decisions in simulated scenarios: a Canadian perspective. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.
  42. Wagar BM (2006). The good and the bad of affective guidance: Insights from the influence of automatic racial prejudice on complex decisions under uncertainty. Unpublished dissertation. * Contains data used in the meta-analysis.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Forscher, P. S., Lai, C. K., Axt, J. R., Ebersole, C. R., Herman, M., Devine, P. G., & Nosek, B. A.
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Published
2019-09
Volume
117
Issue
3
Pages
522-559
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
OpenAlex
W2779953302
Cited by
700
References
464
Citations by year
2026: 96 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 121 · 2023: 106 · 2022: 98 · 2021: 91 · 2020: 71 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
18.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (5R01GM111002-02)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
Keywords
implicit measures, explicit measures, implicit bias, mood induction, behavior change
MeSH terms
Network Meta-Analysis, Humans, Psychological Tests, Psychology, Social, Social Perception

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review