After taking two race tests, I received a strong preference towards European American people for both times. I could definitely tell that it was harder for me to associate good with African American, but it's not like I didn't want to. But it showed me how much of an influence the media has on us, and how quickly it effects us. By 8 years old, you are brainwashed. Your subconscious can no longer associate good with African American. The only thing that comes up is bad. My results definitely made me feel almost embarassed because I don't want to have a strong preference towards European American. I would love to be neutral towards both races. But, unfortunately, due to the society that I have grown up in, this is not possible for me. It would be really interesting to see a person who would have a strong preference to African Americans, and see their reactions to the results.
I believe that the results are partly accurate, but I almost felt that it was unfair at parts. During the test, I would make mistakes if it gave a series of pictures that all went in the same category, and then suddenly switched it. I would be so used to pressing one key for so long, that I would make a mistake when I had to switch keys. But I found it very interesting because I would try and go fast, and I could do it very efficiently when European American was associated with good, but I would have to really concentrate when it was associated with bad.
One question that I have is how accurate the test truly is. Because I feel that so many people could find a way to have fixed results, which would in turn make the overall statistics inaccurate. I was a part of 27% of the total population that took the test, but I don't know if that is completely accurate.
Because the test has been around for over 10 years, and has been taken thousands and thousands of times, probably only a few hundred people have been able to trick it.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, you can start to change your subconscious by surrounding yourself with more African-American culture or people. You might do this at University (since it's hard to do at ASL), or at a job you take. Over time, you will indeed change your results. So don't feel guilty, but instead work at it.