Are Ideal Litigators White? Measuring the Myth of Colorblindness

Abstract:     
This study examined whether explicit and implicit biases in favor of Whites and against Asian Americans would alter mock jurors' evaluation of a litigator's deposition. We found evidence of both explicit bias as measured by self-reports, and implicit bias as measured by two Implicit Association Tests. In particular, explicit stereotypes that the ideal litigator was White predicted worse evaluation of the Asian American litigator (outgroup derogation); by contrast, implicit stereotypes predicted preferential evaluation of the White litigator (ingroup favoritism). In sum, participants were not colorblind, at least implicitly, towards even a "model minority," and these biases produced racial discrimination. This study provides further evidence of the predictive and ecological validity of the Implicit Association Test.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 37

Keywords: implicit bias, IAT, Asian Americans, implicit association test, predictive validity, lawyers, litigators, depositions, colorblindness, discrimination, jurors

working papers series