Applied racial/ethnic healthcare disparities research using implicit measures

Nao Hagiwara, John F. Dovidio, Jeff Stone, Louis A. Penner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Many healthcare disparities studies use the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess bias. Despite ongoing controversy around the IAT, its use has enabled researchers to reliably document an association between provider implicit prejudice and provider-to-patient communication (provider communication behaviors and patient reactions to them). Success in documenting such associations is likely due to the outcomes studied, study settings, and data structure unique to racial/ethnic healthcare disparities research. In contrast, there has been little evidence supporting the role of providers' implicit bias in treatment recommendations. Researchers are encouraged to use multiple implicit measures to further investigate how, why, and under what circumstances providers' implicit bias predicts provider-to-patient communication and treatment recommendations. Such efforts will contribute to the advancement of both basic social psychology/social cognition research and applied health disparities research: a better understanding of implicit social cognition and a more comprehensive identification of the sources of widespread racial/ethnic healthcare disparities, respectively.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)S68-S97
JournalSocial Cognition
Volume38
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Healthcare disparities
  • Implicit prejudice
  • Implicit stereotyping
  • Provider treatment recommendations
  • Provider-to-patient communication

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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