Preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes toward racial minority students: Evidence from three implicit measures

• Implicit attitudes are suggested to guide behavior in highly demanding situations.
• Preservice teachers’ implicit racial attitudes were assessed.
• Three different implicit measures were employed to assess implicit attitudes.
• The IAT and the AMP showed implicit negativity toward racial minority students.
• The affective priming showed implicit positivity toward racial majority students.

Implicit attitudes can be activated by the mere presence of the attitude object. They are assumed to guide behavior in demanding situations, including the educational context. Implicit attitudes toward racial minority students could be important in contributing to the disadvantages those students experience in school. This study employed three different measures to investigate implicit attitudes toward racial minority students among preservice teachers. The IAT and the AMP showed more negative implicit attitudes toward racial minority than toward racial majority students; the affective priming task revealed that implicit attitudes toward racial majority students were positive, while those toward racial minority students were neutral. Results are discussed in their implications for preservice teachers’ judgments and behaviors.