Implicit bias, intersectionality, compositionality

Abstract

Recent empirical work attempts to investigate how implicit biases target those facing intersectional oppression. This is welcome, since early work on implicit biases focused on single axes of discrimination, such as race, gender, or age. However, the success of such empirical work on how biases target those facing intersectional oppressions depends on adequate conceptualizations of intersectionality and empiri cal measures that are responsive to these conceptualizations. Surveying prominent recent empirical work, we identify fail ures in conceptualizations of intersectionality that inform the design of empirical measures. These failures generate unsup ported conclusions about the kinds of biases that those experiencing multiple oppressions face, and render pro posed interventions to combat biases useless at best, harmful at worst. We also diagnose unwarranted assumptions about how stereotypes combine in complex concepts: first, that when “simple” social concepts combine the complex con cepts inherit the associated stereotypes of their simpler con stituent concepts; second that studies which focus on cognition about single social categories are investigating “simple” social concepts (cf. Goff and Khan 2013). We tease out recommendations to guide future investigations into biases that target those who experience multiple oppressions.