A longitudinal test of the effectiveness of four interventions to reduce discrimination

Prior research documents several strategies for producing short-term reductions in discriminatory judgment, but much less is known about the long-term efficacy of these interventions. Three studies (N = 822) tested whether four interventions previously shown to reduce discrimination immediately after administration would retain their effectiveness when tested 2-4 days later. Using the context of biases favoring more over less physically attractive people, results found that each intervention was able to reduce some component of discriminatory judgment, and with effects that were similar in magnitude to prior work that tested each strategy within a single study session. These findings demonstrate the potential for such interventions to yield long-term reductions in biased judgements and provide insight into the processes that may create more effective bias-reducing strategies.