Butfirstthegoodnews.BarackObamareallyisapositiverolemodelforAfricanAmericans,andhewas
makinganimpactevenbeforehegottotheWhiteHouse.Indeed,theObamaeffectcanbesurprisingly
immediateandpowerful,asRayFriedmanofVanderbiltUniversityandhiscolleaguesdiscovered.
TheytestedfourseparategroupsatfourkeystagesofObama'spresidentialcampaign.Eachgroup
consistedofaround120adultsofsimilarageandeducation,andthetestassessedtheirlanguageskills.At
twoofthesestages,whenObama'ssuccesswaslessthancertain,thetestsshowedacleardifferencebetween
thescoresofthewhiteandblackparticipants—anaverageof12.1outof20,comparedto8.8,forexample.
WhentheObamafeverwasatitsheight,however,theblackparticipantsperformedmuchbetter.Thosewho
hadwatchedObama'sacceptancespeechastheDemocrats'presidentialcandidateperformedjustaswell,on
average,asthewhitesubjects.Afterhiselectionvictory,thiswastrueofalltheblackparticipants.
Dramaticshift
Whatcanexplainthisdramaticshift?Atthestartofthetest,theparticipantshadtodeclaretheirraceand
weretoldtheirresultswouldbeusedtoassesstheirstrengthsandweaknesses.Thisshouldhaveprimedthe
subjectswith"stereotypethreat"–ananxietythattheirresultswillconfirmnegativestereotypes,whichhas
beenshowntodamagetheperformanceofAfricanAmericans.
Obama'ssuccessesseemedtoactasashieldagainstthis."Wesuspecttheyfeltinspiredandenergisedby
hisvictory,sothestereotypethreatwouldn'tproveadistraction,"saysFriedman.
Lingeringracism
IftheObamaeffectispositiveforAfricanAmericans,howisitaffectingtheirwhitecompatriots(同胞)?
Istheexperienceofhavingacharismatic(有魅力的)blackpresidentmodifyinglingeringracistattitudes?
Thereisnoeasywaytomeasureracismdirectly;insteadpsychologistsassesswhatisknownas"implicit
bias",usingacomputer-basedtestthatmeasureshowquicklypeopleassociatepositiveandnegativewords—
suchas"love"or"evil"—withphotosofblackorwhitefaces.Asimilartestcanalsomeasurehowquickly
subjectsassociatestereotypicaltraits—suchasathleticskillsormentalability—withaparticulargroup.
InastudythatwillappearintheJournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology,Plant'steamtested229
studentsduringtheheightoftheObamafever.Theyfoundthatimplicitbiashasfallenbyasmuchas90%
comparedwiththelevelfoundinasimilarstudyin2006."That'sanunusuallylargedrop,"Plantsays.
Whiletheteamcan'tbesuretheirresultsareduesolelytoObama,theyalsoshowedthatthosewiththe
lowestbiaswerelikelytosubconsciouslyassociateblackskincolourwithpoliticalwordssuchas
"government"or"president".ThissuggeststhatObamawasstronglyontheirmind,saysPlant.
Dropinbias
BrianNosekoftheUniversityofVirginiainCharlottesville,whorunsawebsitethatmeasuresimplicit
biasusingsimilartest,hasalsoobservedasmalldropinbiasinthe700,000visitorstothesitesinceJanuary
2007,whichmightbeexplainedbyObama'srisetopopularity.However,hispreliminaryresultssuggestthat
changewillbemuchslowercomingthanPlant'sresultssuggest.
Talkinghonestly
"PeoplenowhavetheopportunityofexpressingsupportforObamaeveryday,"saysDanielEffronat
StanfordUniversityinCalifornia."Ourresearcharousestheconcernthatpeoplemaynowbemorelikelyto
raisenegativeviewsofAfricanAmericans."Ontheotherhand,hesays,itmayjustencouragepeopletotalk
morehonestlyabouttheirfeelingsregardingraceissues,whichmaynotbesuchabadthing.
Anotherpartofthestudysuggestsfarmoreisatstakethanthemereexpressionofviews.TheObama
effectmayhaveanegativeside.JustoneweekafterObamawaselectedpresident,participantswereless
readytosupportpoliciesdesignedtoaddressracialinequalitythantheyhadbeentwoweeksbeforethe
election.Hugeobstacles