The Impact Of Colorblind Racial Attitudes And Implicit Bias In Evaluations Of Student Behavior

Racism is a deep-rooted, systemically prevalent structure of social divide evident in various aspects of the American society, including schools. Previous researches have focused on racism occurring in classrooms, its effects on teacher behavior, as well as negative outcomes for students of color. However discriminatory and prejudiced behaviors towards students of color have become more implicit due to shift in the course of racist attitudes to what is now known as modern racism. The current study focused on the effects of race, colorblind racial attitudes, and implicit racial bias on problem behavior and punishment severity ratings. Data collected online from 198 White undergraduate students were analyzed. Additionally, data were analyzed for 55 teacher education majors. Results indicated that condition, colorblind attitudes and implicit bias did not significantly predict problem behavior ratings but did predict punishment severity ratings. Condition did not surface as moderator for the relation between colorblind racial attitudes and implicit bias on problem and punishment severity ratings. Implication, limitations, and future directions are discussed. KEYWORDS: colorblind racial attitudes, implicit racial bias, student behavio