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There is a well-established link between peer victimization and social anxiety disorder (SAD). Additionally, rates of bullying are significantly higher in obese compared to normal-weight individuals. However, social anxiety (SA) has not yet been examined in the context of weight, weight bias, and social rejection. This study examined the relationship between SA and weight in undergraduate women (N = 186). It aimed to determine whether implicit weight bias moderated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and SA. In addition, it explored the interactive effects of SA, BMI, and body image salience on emotional response to exclusion in a social ostracism paradigm (Cyberball). Participants answered questions pertaining to SA and stigmatizing attitudes toward overweight/obesity and completed an implicit association test about weight. One week later, they played Cyberball, completing state measures of affect before and after the game. Although rates of clinically elevated SA did not differ significantly across normal-weight, overweight, and obese women, implicit weight bias did moderate the relationship between BMI and SA. The 3-way interaction of BMI, SA, and body image salience did not significantly predict post-exclusion state measures. However, body image salience moderated the relationship between SA and post-exclusion anxiety as well as between BMI and post-exclusion anxiety. Findings from this study shed light on the role of body weight in the experience of SA. Results suggest that higher BMI is associated with higher SA for those with high, but not low implicit weight bias. In addition, individuals with elevated SA are particularly reactive to exclusion if their bodies are visible to others. / Psychology

Low health literacy in the United States has numerous negative impacts on health outcomes. Efforts to equip physicians with the ability to better identify patients with low health literacy have consistently shown lackluster and transient results. The transient nature of these results closely mirror those seen in the implicit bias literature, implying that health literacy may be better addressed if considered a type of coded bias among clinicians. In this paper, a review of the literature is presented which includes the impact of health literacy on patient outcomes, physician understanding and ability to screen for low health literacy, past interventions aimed at improving physician ability to identify and assist low health literacy patients, and the existing literature involving implicit bias among physicians. This review allows for the argument that interventions aimed at helping physicians better identify low health literacy patients would be more effective if designed to address unconscious biases rather than a knowledge deficit. Finally, the ethical imperative to address these biases in the healthcare setting is described. / Urban Bioethics

Most efforts to identify juror bias rely on explicit measures, which have been subject to criticisms concerning validity. The following studies attempt to better understand juror bias through the use of an indirect measure, the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT). The goal of these studies was to investigate whether jurors have implicit biases regarding the guilt or innocence of a defendant, even before trial begins. Also, to investigate whether this bias varies as a result of extra-legal factors, such as defendant race and juror race. A final goal was to investigate the predictive validity of the indirect measure of guilt bias, with regard to juror decision-making and verdicts. Results from the following studies demonstrate that participants do have significant implicit guilt biases before a trial, and these biases vary based on participant race and defendant race. Furthermore, pre-trial implicit bias is a good predictor of juror decision-making. The implications of implicit biases on the legal system and ideas for future research are discussed. / Psychology

Are implicit biases something we can rightly be held responsible for, and if so, how? A variety of social and cognitive psychological studies have documented the existence of wide-ranging implicit biases for over 30 years. These implicit biases can best be described as negative mental attitudes that operate immediately and unconsciously in response to specific stimuli. The first chapter of this thesis surveys the psychological literature, as well as presents findings of real-world experiments into racial biases. I then present the dominant model of implicit attitudes as mere associations, followed by evidence that at least some implicit attitudes take on a propositional form and involve making inferences based on evidence. I then reject adopting either of these two rigid models in favor of a dispositional approach that treats implicit biases as on the same spectrum of, but adjacent to, beliefs. I then evaluate the moral wrongdoing associated with holding explicitly prejudicial beliefs, appealing first to Kantian notions of respecting individuals as agents, then appealing to Strawson’s argument that we are responsible for expressions of our will. Our status as human agents involves participating in complex and sustained interactions with others, which necessarily implies that we take part in the social practice of holding each other responsible for the quality of their will. The reactive attitudes we display in our everyday interactions indicate which features and circumstances are most important when investigating this practice. After applying this approach to implicit attitudes, I then pose the objection that their unconscious and unendorsed nature disqualifies implicit attitudes as proper expressions of our will. I develop this objection using Scanlon’s account of moral responsibility, which requires the capacity to self-govern in light of principles that are generally agreed upon as good reasons for guiding interactions with one another. Finally, I critique Real Self theories that seek to arbitrarily privilege one part of ourselves in favor of the Whole Self, which privileges those features that are most integrated into our overall character.

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