Assessment of implicit bias and self-reported multicultural counseling competencies among counseling trainees

Research has shown that multicultural training increases competency among counselor trainees. However, these results have been obtained using self-report measures affected by social desirability. In contrast, implicit measures of bias have the advantage of being less susceptible to social desirability. Study 1 explored the reliability and validity of a measure of implicit bias. Study 2 examined self-reported multicultural counseling competency and implicit bias toward lesbian and gay men and African Americans at the start and end of a semester in a sample of counselor trainees (n = 124) enrolled in multicultural counseling or unrelated comparison courses. Results indicated that multicultural competency increased as a factor of time and that significant implicit bias was present at all assessments. Discovering implicit bias among counselor trainees who have completed multicultural training indicates that the topic of implicit bias should be included in multicultural course work