Can mindfulness meditation reduce implicit racial bias?: body scan and lovingkindness practices

Abstract

Seventy to 80% of White Americans exhibit a strong implicit racial bias favoring. White versus Blacks as measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Individual differences in this bias sometimes predict discriminatory decision-making by polic, judges, juries, and medical doctors. These undesirable biases are typically robust and resist modification. Three recent studies of college undergraduates found that body scan (BSM) and loving kindness (LKM) meditation can reduce implicit black/white racial bias compared to control conditions. The current study attempted to replicate and extend the results of the three prior studies by diversifying the sample of Whites and by attempting to match audio mindfulness interventions for voice quality, interestingness, and pace, across all experimental conditions. In an online study, 82 white, non-Hispanic adults were randomized to one of six conditions including two meditation conditions and one control condition, each with 2 stimulus-ordering conditions (3x2 between-subjects factorial design). Conditions contained 6-minute audio interventions of either a lecture without meditation (control group), BSM, or LKM. In addition to completing the race IAT, participants reported their explicit racial bias using the Internal and External Motivation to Respond without Prejudice Scales (IMS & EMS). As with previous studies, this one found that most white participants exhibit implicit racial bias, with 70% exhibiting a slight to moderate pro-white preference. A 3x2 ANOVA revealed that BSM and LKM did not reduce implicit bias, contrary to previous studies and this study's main hypotheses. However, a different pattern emerged from a specific comparison that examined absolute values of implicit bias (/D/ the amount of bias regardless of white or black preference). This second analysis indicated that LKM participants' total IAT scores were significantly closer to zero bias than the control conditions. This study provides mixed results regarding the influence of mindfulness practices on implicit racial bias. Previous results were not replicated, however, a significant reduction of both pro-white and pro-black implicit bias was exhibited in the LKM condition compared to controls. To make strong claims about mindfulness meditation's ability to reduce bias, future studies must better control potentially confounding variables.