Individual Differences in Implicit Bias Can Be Measured Reliably by Administering the Same Implicit Association Test Multiple Times

The use of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of individual differences is stymied by insufficient test–retest reliability for assessing trait-level constructs. We assess the degree to which the IAT measures individual differences and test a method to improve its validity as a “trait”...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality & social psychology bulletin 2023-09, Vol.49 (9), p.1363-1378
Main Authors: Carpenter, Thomas P., Goedderz, Alexandra, Lai, Calvin K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
Implicit beliefs
Individual differences
Reliability
Tests
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Summary:The use of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of individual differences is stymied by insufficient test–retest reliability for assessing trait-level constructs. We assess the degree to which the IAT measures individual differences and test a method to improve its validity as a “trait” measure: aggregating across IATs. Across three studies, participants (total n = 960) completed multiple IATs in the same session or across multiple sessions. Using latent-variable models, we found that half of the variance in IAT scores reflects individual differences. Aggregating across multiple IATs approximately doubled the variance explained with explicit measures compared with a single IAT D-score. These findings show that IAT scores contain considerable noise and that a single IAT is inadequate to estimate trait bias. However, aggregation across multiple administrations can correct this and better estimate individual differences in implicit attitudes.
ISSN:0146-1672
1552-7433
DOI:10.1177/01461672221099372