Revisiting the Policy Implications of Implicit Social Cognition

Research on implicit social cognition explores how associations outside of conscious awareness or control can influence beliefs and behaviors, and the field has been one of the most popular areas of psychological research over the past 30 years. The relevance of implicit social cognition to policy was previously explored by Nosek and Riskind (2012). Here, we revisit this earlier discussion given that the field has made numerous – and in some cases pessimistic – advances regarding basic research questions on the construct and measures of implicit social cognition as well as the broader policy implications of such work. Specifically, we provide an updated review of available evidence concerning how implicit associations shift over time, relate to behavior, and change in response to interventions. Finally, we discuss how better understanding the strengths and limitations of research in implicit social cognition can productively inform ongoing policy and educational efforts.