Bernstein, M., Young, S., Claypool,

Bernstein, M., Young, S., Claypool, H. (2010). Is Obama's Win a Gain for Blacks? Social Psychology. 41 (3): 147-51. The November, 2008 election of America's first African-American President was seminal in many ways. For some, a repudiation of the early 21st century, for others, strong proof that America had finally arrived with the ability to be color blind when seeking qualified political candidates.

However, despite the political fervor, many have asked the question: what does Obama's victory mean for the general view of racial diversity in the United States and was it a victory against racial prejudice? The goal of the study, Is Obama's Win a Gain for Blacks?, was to ascertain these issues, and what differences in both explicit and implicit prejudice against Blacks may have changed as a result of the election.

Rationale The election was quite important, and there is at least some evidence that Obama's success may have changed, or continue to change, attitudes. However, it is far more complex to probe covert and overt prejudice due to something being popularized in the media -- or out of fashion in some areas to be biased. Of greater relevance is how "Obama's victory may affect implicit associations with both Black and White targets" (p. 147).

Previous research showed that when individuals were exposed to positive examples of racial role models their attitudes changed, but only for a short period of time -- depending on the stimuli. Methodology- Forty undergraduates (23 female, 17 male) who were enrolled in an introductory psychology course participated in a two-session study group. They were given partial credit for their participation. 100% of those who began the study completed the study. The first study group was 7 days prior to the election.

Individuals were given the Attitudes Towards Blacks scale (Brigham, 1993) and responses recorded in a 1-7 scale (the higher the number, the more agreement on the phrases). Phrases included 20 items that were pro-race neutral or positive ("Black and white people are inherently equal," etc.). Following this, they completed a racial Implicit Association Task (Greenwald, McGhee & Schwartz, 1998) that instructed participants to categorize white and black faces with words such as good, bad, evil, kind, etc. As quickly as possible. Appropriate demographic and psychographic information was collected.

Results- Implicit prejudice was examined by subtracting each participant's average response latency on compatible results vs. On incompatible trials. Samples were statistically analyzed for correlation and only 3% found with enough errors to disqualify use. Paired T-Tests found that if the study scores were averaged to form a broader racial attitude profile the results between implicit and explicit prejudice before and after the election differed. Statistically, the pre-election summations and the post-election summations were analyzed using ANOVA methods.

The interaction between these factors proved statistically significant (M= 769.7, SD = 141 post; M= 892, SD 188 pre). Interpretations of this data showed that individuals were far faster after the election indicating a consistent exposure to positive group examples reduces short-term implicit bias. In other words, if the research subject is exposed to positive views about people of different races or ethnic backgrounds, the more likely they will be to remain positive about those individuals, at least in the short-term.

Implicit prejudice was examined by subtracting each participant's average response latency on compatible results vs. On incompatible trials. Results shows that exposure to positive exemplars does indeed reduce implicit bias, but explicit association did not appear to change due to the election results. Conclusions- Bias and prejudice, particularly innate views of race, are quite difficult to ascertain, even more so they are resistant to social change. It was politically "correct" and popular, especially among university students, to feel positive toward the Obama election.

Research also shows that "counter-stereotypic exemplars can easily be subtyped or fenced off from the superordinate group, thus protecting the original stereotype" (p. 150). Overall, the data strongly suggests that the Obama election will indeed have a positive impact on attitudes towards Blacks. The research showed that seeing a Black President changed the way most respondents viewed the idea of a racial minority in such a position of power.

It is not, however, clear whether the media effect was predominant since it was impossible to filter that amount of press in this particular experiment. Additionally, it was not clear how much exposure (both positive and negative) the research subjects were privy to in the months prior to the election, and in what for that exposure took place (e.g. venue, type, robustness, etc.) Justification of Conclusions For the type of study under consideration, this was professional, well presented, and statistically accurate.

The data collected was as robust as possible for the intended study group, length of time, and particular research question. The findings seemed logical and the follow up research questions regarding how perceptions of power may or may not affect the malleability of attitudes regarding race, perhaps gender, or other innate prejudice. Strengths, Weaknesses and Possible Limitations- The obvious limitation to this study was the relatively small sample size, the lack of a broad demographic spread, and the lack of longitudinal verification.

By using one class from one college and of college students, the prior knowledge and bias quotient is not as robust as the general population. Still, since the researchers essentially did both.