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Intoxicated prejudice: The impact of alcohol consumption on implicitly and explicitly measured racial attitudes
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Intoxicated prejudice: The impact of alcohol consumption on implicitly and explicitly measured racial attitudes

Chris Loersch, Bruce D. Bartholow, Mark Manning, Jimmy Calanchini and Jeffrey W. Sherman
Group processes & intergroup relations, Vol.18(2), pp.256-268
03/01/2015
DOI: 10.1177/1368430214561693
PMCID: PMC4553242
PMID: 26330762

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Abstract

Recent research has shown that alcohol consumption can exacerbate expressions of racial bias by increasing reliance on stereotypes. However, little work has investigated how alcohol affects intergroup evaluations. The current work sought to address the issue in the context of the correspondence between implicit and explicit measures of anti-black attitudes. Participants were randomly assigned to consume an alcoholic (target BAC of 0.08%), placebo, or control beverage prior to completing implicit and explicit measures of racial attitudes. Although beverage condition did not affect prejudice levels on either measure, it did change the correlation between them. Implicitly measured attitudes significantly predicted explicit reports of prejudice and discrimination only for participants who consumed alcohol. We discuss the implications of our findings for debates regarding dissociations between implicit and explicit measures and the cultural phenomenon of intoxicated individuals attributing prejudiced statements to alcohol consumption rather than personal attitudes.
alcohol attitudes implicit measures prejudice race bias

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