Implicit Racial Bias and Perceptions: The Effect of Physicians’ Race on the Perceived Effectiveness of Physicians’ Communication

Data was collected through a survey in which respondents believed they were judging the effectiveness of two physician statements; however, the true purpose was to study the effects that background images had on respondents’ judgments. The pictures shown were of two physicians who resembled each other but differed by race. Each image was presented with one of two physician statements and subjects were more likely to judge the first statement as more effective than the second whenever the former was presented alongside the image of the white physician, suggesting that implicit racial bias may affect perceived effectiveness of physician communication