Implicit Association Test

Wow. All I can say is wow. I just took an Implicit Association Test (IAT) online because I'm reading 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell and I was reading something on Oprah.com about his segment on her show.

I did a 'Light Skin - Dark Skin' test, which the website describes like this: 'Skin-tone ('Light Skin - Dark Skin' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize light and dark-skinned faces. It often reveals an automatic preference for light-skin relative to dark-skin'.

Here are my results:

I mean, I get teased for having more Indian friends than Chinese friends. For instance, this conversation excerpt:


Me : Hey, why are all your friends Chinese and Malay? Why don't you have any Indian friends?
Bro: Because you took them all.


I have to admit that I've always thought I had a preference towards lighter-skinned people. I mean, I use whitening products, for God's sake (more to lighten scars than to become fairer but still). Plus, I used to get teased for being tan when I was younger, so I figured I'd probably have a preference for fairer skin because of that, if nothing else.

Malcolm Gladwell said there is no way to cheat on the test because you're supposed to do it as fast as you can so that your response is automatic and reveals your subconscious thoughts.

However, test results can be affected in the short-term by positive or negative images of a certain group. For instance, before you take the skin tone test, I flash pictures of Martin Luther King, Oprah Winfrey, Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama. Then I also show you pictures of Adolf Hitler, Ted Bundy and George W. Bush.

Your positive association with darker-skinned people will increase and your negative association with lighter-skinned people will also increase, thus affecting the results of your second test to favour darker-skinned people. I say short term because this change will only be temporary and if you take the test again a year later, it would likely be similar to your original results.

Maybe my results have been affected by the Caucasian people I know, who are not exactly People of the Year material, on any planet known to man. I wish Asians would stop treating them like a gift from the heavens because it makes them feel superior and suddenly we're expected to kiss their feet (or a more socially-acceptable equivalent). So just because I expect more respect and basic courtesy, I'm suddenly a demanding, high-maintenance girl.

Are other girls are okay with you treating them like they're dumb second-class citizens from third-world countries? Okay with you throwing rubbish out of the window because it's not your country? Everyone should have a little more dignity than that. Malaysia is not the best, but it's my country and if you can respect me long enough to keep the insults to yourself, it'd be much appreciated, thanks.

So what if he is white? He is better than you? He is the best you will ever get? Haha, please read 'Stupid White Men' by Michael Moore.

(Note: It's not him I'm talking about. Just a general discussion, perhaps slightly biased against a certain unnamed ex)

On the other hand, I've always thought I'm very liberal when it comes to sexuality. For instance, I think homosexual people should be able to get married and have the same rights as heterosexual couples. I mean, how can you deprive others of a chance to be happy and secure just because you can't overcome your personal disgust? Get over yourself, man. To each their own. Judge not, lest ye be judged.

(Edit: How insensitive of me; I mean, taking religion out of the context. I'm agnostic, what do I know? I only meant people that are against homosexuals because they think it's gross, not people who cannot accept it due to religious beliefs; again, that is a 'to each their own' situation)

So imagine my surprise when I was told I strongly prefer straight people to gay people! That was the first time I've ever taken the test, though. I had no idea what I was supposed to do because I was too lazy to read the long instructions and kept mixing the keys up by pressing the spacebar instead. Once I took a couple more tests and got the hang of it, I retook the Sexuality IAT and here are my results (much to my relief):

Please click on the title of this post to take the tests; it might reveal some things you never knew about yourself.