Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: III. Meta-analysis of predictive validity

• Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology Vol. 97; no. 1; p. 17
• Main Authors: Greenwald, Anthony G, Poehlman, T Andrew, Uhlmann, Eric Luis, Banaji, Mahzarin R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2009
• Subjects: Association; Attitude; Humans; Judgment; Personality Tests - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Reaction Time; Reproducibility of Results; Social Behavior
• ISSN: 0022-3514
• DOI: 10.1037/a0015575

This review of 122 research reports (184 independent samples, 14,900 subjects) found average r = .274 for prediction of behavioral, judgment, and physiological measures by Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures. Parallel explicit (i.e., self-report) measures, available in 156 of these samples (13,068 subjects), also predicted effectively (average r = .361), but with much greater variability of effect size. Predictive validity of self-report was impaired for socially sensitive topics, for which impression management may distort self-report responses. For 32 samples with criterion measures involving Black-White interracial behavior, predictive validity of IAT measures significantly exceeded that of self-report measures. Both IAT and self-report measures displayed incremental validity, with each measure predicting criterion variance beyond that predicted by the other. The more highly IAT and self-report measures were intercorrelated, the greater was the predictive validity of each.