Introduction

Racism is considered a form of prejudice, based on stereotypes held of certain ethnic groups (Shiao & Woody, 2020) and a belief of superiority over other groups believed to be inferior. This can be enacted via thoughts, words, or actions. Racist actions may include institutional discrimination and the perpetuation of racial attitudes (Shiao & Woody, 2020), which has shown to lead to wider systemic inequality. In some cases, such attitudes have even led to violence. This was evident in the George Floyd murder case, in which a black male was a victim of police brutality based on an assumption that he was breaking the law, which eventually led to his death. This is quite different to the phenomena of aversive racism, which is a more subtle, unconscious version of racism (Dovidio et. al, 2016). Researchers have often described this as implicit bias, with individuals potentially rationalising their actions by externalising their discriminatory beliefs to other issues so as not to appear racist (Salter et. al, 2017). Implicit bias can often be measured via the Implicit Association Test (IAT) (Greenwald et al., 1998), which is commonly used to measure specifically implicit beliefs and attitudes that may be unconscious or do not want to report. The IAT compares the association between cognitive representations of various concepts, including genders, age groups and racial groups, with negative or positive wording such as bad/good or unpleasant/pleasant (Schimmack, 2019). Though it is still a rather new topic within the literature - with its existence being debated by academics, policymakers, and government alike - it has existed in society throughout history. This essay will discuss the existence of aversive racism in contemporary society by assessing its development throughout history - from direct and aggressive, to indirect and subtle (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2005) - as well as theories that contribute to its existence, and its influence on a plethora of subjects, such as culture, healthcare and law. 
Jones and Sigall (1971) criticised the Bogus Pipeline paradigm which was used to measure affect and attitude in studies, arguing that the Bogus Pipeline functions similarly to a lie detector. This then means that the results can be skewed as individuals could be dishonest when questioned about sensitive subjects, especially when the answer given would be seen as immoral or socially unacceptable. This is when the Hawthorne effect can be found which is when an individual would change their behaviour to suit what they believe the researcher is looking for or what would make them seem to fit the social norms. 

History and culture

Racism has a long reputation within history, specifically in eras of segregation, slavery, and apartheid. The transatlantic slave trade - occurring throughout the 18th century - transported millions of people from Africa across the world and forced them to work in extreme and inhumane conditions, and endure human rights violations (Rossum, 2021). These actions, as committed by White Europeans, reflected outwardly racist and discriminatory beliefs (Curran, 2011) about the perceived inferiority of Africans, and served as justification of their treatment. Antonio Gramsci (1930) believed that cultural hegemony involves creating and disseminating a dominant ideology or worldview that justifies the existing power relations in society. This dominant ideology is often communicated through cultural institutions, such as schools, media, and religion, and is supported by the participation and approval of the population. Marcuse (1964) found that the dominant group uses its authority over cultural institutions to shape the population's worldview. This explains how it makes it challenging for alternative views to gain traction, leading to social unrest (Lears, 1985). Though the abusive treatment of Africans was brought to an end when slavery was abolished in the mid 1860’s, the discriminatory attitudes that began the slave trade in the first place largely remained (Rossum, 2021). These attitudes continued into the post-segregation era of the 20th century, wherein black individuals across the globe were treated differently to their white counterparts, often via policy, access to housing and healthcare, and outward discrimination. Dovidio et al. (2016) explained how the Civil Rights Movement brought to light the racism endured by Black Americans. Though governments attempted to disassemble direct racism via legislation such as the 1965 Civil Rights Act, protests and sit-ins during this era were often blocked or prevented, implying that negative racial beliefs still remained prominent; a component of aversive racism. The development of racism from direct forms of abuse and human rights violations to thought-based aversive racism is an ongoing transition. Gross and Vostroknutov (2022) found that within Western society, a culture of acceptance has been formed, where individuals are welcomed regardless of their race, with non-acceptance and intolerant attitudes being seen as socially deviant. Hence, there may be a wider pressure for individuals to conform, with attitudes that go against the societal norms appearing bigoted. Aversive racists often present as non-prejudiced to prevent being outcasted within society (Pearson et. al, 2009). Despite these substantial changes in society and the shift in social norms throughout history, individuals can still harbour negative personal beliefs and views on a specific group (Hall, 2007; Gaertner & Dovidio, 2005), which may present in ways that even those individuals themselves are unaware of. In a study carried out by Heitland and Bohner (2010), it was found that amongst 202 German adults, a majority of the participants showed high prejudice towards Turkish individuals. 

Law

Subtle forms of discrimination such as aversive racism still exist even in institutions that are supposed to represent fairness as paramount and uphold it too (Dovidio, Smith, Donnella, & Gaertner, 1997a; Knight, Guiliano, & Sanchez-Ross, 2001). Aversive racism has also shown some prominence within the law, such as within the George Floyd case, as aforementioned. 
Furthermore, there have been several experiments and studies where aversive racism has been evident, such as through legal proceedings (Pearson et al., 2009). Kassin and Sommers (1997) conducted a study investigating how the presentation of evidence during a criminal trial can influence the perceptions of jurors and the probability of a guilty verdict. The study comprised a mock trial in which participants were asked to serve as jurors and decide on a defendant's guilt or innocence after being shown a video recording of a simulated crime, witness testimony and physical evidence. In some cases, the evidence was presented straightforwardly and objectively, while in other cases, the evidence was shown more ambiguously and suggestively, implying the defendant's guilt. Ambiguous and suggestive evidence was more likely to lead to a guilty verdict, even when the evidence itself was weak or circumstantial. This suggests that jurors can be influenced by the presentation of evidence and that the use of suggestive techniques can lead to wrongful convictions. Johnson et. al (1995) found that the effect of inadmissible information was higher when the defendant was Black. This was shown when the participants who acted as jurors were exposed to potentially incriminating evidence, and it was immediately made clear that such evidence was inadmissible by the courts. This exposure resulted in the perception that the Black defendant was guilty of said crime, to a higher degree than their White counterpart. It has been suggested that this, too, can be impacted by aversive racism and implicit bias. Hodson et al. (2005) put forward how aversive racism in legal decisions is essential to raise awareness about how implicit biases can influence decision-making and to provide training and education for judges, lawyers, and other legal professionals on how to recognise and evade such biases. It is also essential to enforce policies and procedures that guarantee that inadmissible evidence is not utilised to support biased assumptions or stereotypes and to hold legal professionals liable when such evidence is utilised.

Healthcare

A key component of society wherein aversive racism is maintained is the healthcare system. Research has shown how beliefs held about certain racial groups can affect the quality of healthcare they are provided with due to the implicit and explicit attitudes physicians may hold about race. In some studies, it has been shown to impact interactions with patients, including their diagnoses, treatment recommendations, and overall quality of care (Sabin et al., 2009). In an investigation into racial bias in healthcare, Hoffman et. al (2016) uncovered how white medical students were less likely to recommend pain medications for black patients than for their white counterparts, even when the patients had the same symptoms and medical history. The study also found that white medical providers were more likely to rate black patients' pain as lower than white patients' pain, even when the patients reported the same level of pain. This observation supported a correlation between incorrect beliefs about biological differences between whites and black individuals, including a belief that black individuals could endure surgeries with little to no pain (Pernick, 1988). Such beliefs, particularly about the physiology of black individuals, have been held throughout time, and are largely supported by the beginning of research into eugenics. Chen et. al (2021) further pointed out how aversive racism can impact the medical training of ethnic minority groups by examining the difficulty with which Asian and other minority groups described as Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) found it difficult to obtain residencies. Teherani et. al (2018) found that URM students received lower grades and were less likely to receive honours or membership in honour societies compared to their non-URM peers, even when they had similar objective performance measures, such as standardised test scores. Lower grades and fewer awards can limit opportunities for URM students, making it more difficult for them to secure competitive residency positions and pursue successful careers in medicine. This may discourage students from pursuing such careers, thus contributing to a lack of diversity within the medical field (Teherani et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2021). Overall, studies suggest that aversive racism may contribute to racial disparities in healthcare outcomes. Even healthcare providers who consciously reject racist beliefs and intentions may unconsciously act in ways that negatively affect the health outcomes of Black patients. This highlights the importance of addressing implicit biases among healthcare providers and developing strategies to reduce the impact of aversive racism on health outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Aversive racism has shown a detailed transition from the beginning of the slave trade, where individuals from Africa were brutally exploited for the resources they could bring to white Europeans, right through to the modern day, where racism remains an implicit and subtle phenomena often enacted in secretive ways. These ways may include its ever felt presence within institutions such as the healthcare and law industries. Both implicit and explicit racial bias can have significant impacts on our interactions with people of different races or ethnicities, including our judgments, attitudes, and behaviours towards them. It highlights the requirements for social change beyond individual attitudes and behaviours, and addresses the more critical problem of systemic racism. This can affect changes in policy, education, and cultural representation, as well as individual steps to challenge and oppose everyday forms of racism (Trawalter et al., 2022). It is important to recognise and address these biases in order to promote greater understanding, inclusion, and equality among different racial and ethnic groups (Hall et al., 2015). Contemporary research should aim to examine the maintaining factors of aversive racism and affect social policy to emphasise society wide equality. 



























Dasgupta and Greenwald (2001) produced two experiments with two aims; the first was to find if exposure to images of disliked and admired exemplars had the potential to decrease preference for White over Black Americans automatically. The second was to find if there was a preference for younger over older individuals. The first experiment began the exposure to either admirable Black individuals and disliked White individuals, admirable White individuals and disliked Black individuals or nonracial exemplars. Within 24 hours, the participants then completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT). The results of these tests led to finding how exposure to admirable Black individuals and disliked White exemplars decreased the automatic pro-White attitudes for 24 hours and did not affect direct racial attitudes. Thus, showing how individuals can have implicit negative attitudes towards minority groups even when they report explicit positive attitudes towards them (Aberson & Ettlin, 2004; Dasgupta & Greenwald, 2001).