Unconscious racial stereotyping among physicians may be occurring in medical diagnoses and treatment of African American patients, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Through a two-part study, researchers investigated whether stereotypes unconsciously influence the thinking and behavior of physicians. The first study assessed what diseases and treatments doctors associate with African Americans; the second study presented these medical stereotypes as well as control terms to physicians as part of a simulation, in which subliminal images of African American and white men appeared prior to each work and reaction times to words were recorded.
The researchers found that when primed with an African American face, physicians reacted more quickly for stereotypical diseases, including an implicit association of certain diseases with African Americans. These stereotypes comprised not only diseases African American are genetically predisposed to but also conditions and social behaviors with no biological association such as obesity and drug use.
"Our ultimate goal is to find effective ways to teach competency to medical professionals so that both explicit and implicit bias will be reduced, along with the undesirable effects of stereotypes," the researchers said.
Through a two-part study, researchers investigated whether stereotypes unconsciously influence the thinking and behavior of physicians. The first study assessed what diseases and treatments doctors associate with African Americans; the second study presented these medical stereotypes as well as control terms to physicians as part of a simulation, in which subliminal images of African American and white men appeared prior to each work and reaction times to words were recorded.
The researchers found that when primed with an African American face, physicians reacted more quickly for stereotypical diseases, including an implicit association of certain diseases with African Americans. These stereotypes comprised not only diseases African American are genetically predisposed to but also conditions and social behaviors with no biological association such as obesity and drug use.
"Our ultimate goal is to find effective ways to teach competency to medical professionals so that both explicit and implicit bias will be reduced, along with the undesirable effects of stereotypes," the researchers said.
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