Does Implicit Color Bias Reduce Giving? Learnings from Fundraising Survey Using Implicit Association Test (IAT)
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RESEARCH PAPERS
Does Implicit Color Bias Reduce Giving? Learnings from Fundraising Survey Using Implicit Association Test (IAT) Abhishek Bhati1
Accepted: 19 September 2020 Ó International Society for Third-Sector Research 2020
Abstract This article explores the relationship between implicit (unconscious) color bias and giving by answering the research question: How does a donor’s implicit color biases affect giving to beneficiaries living in developing countries? The study draws from a fundraising survey consisting of 750 participants measuring their implicit biases using the Skin-tone Implicit Association Test (IAT) and their willingness to give along with their sociodemographic data. The findings show higher implicit color biases reduce the probability of giving a higher donation (more than $10). The results provide important new evidence about the negative relationship between implicit color bias and giving and highlight ethical concerns regarding the portrayal of beneficiaries in fundraising advertisements. Keywords Fundraising Charitable contribution Giving Implicit bias Colorism Beneficiaries
Introduction The USA has a long history of racial tensions and systematic discrimination of minorities and people of color (Omi and Winant 1994). However, some may argue that racial attitudes in the USA have slowly become egalitarian (Triplett 2012, p. 86; Pager and Shepherd 2008, p. 193). For instance, 17% of all new marriages in 2015 had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity leading to a fivefold & Abhishek Bhati [email protected] 1
Department of Political Science, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, USA
increase since the US Supreme Court legalized interracial marriages across 50 states in 1967 (Livingston and Brown 2017). Further, Americans were willing to vote for AfricanAmerican president leading to winning of the Barack Obama in 2008. Also, gaps between whites and other races on several socioeconomic indicators such as income, education, housing, and health are narrowing (Triplett 2012, p. 86). These positive changes have not occurred in a vacuum. For several decades there has been significant effort by nongovernmental institutions such as the United Nations and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to raise voices against racial injustice and at the same time bridge racial differences both domestic and internationally. Despite several efforts of these organizations and individuals toward racial equity, the world is far from it. Recently, Special Rapporteur to United Nations Human Rights stressed that ‘‘globally, racial equality is under attack’’ and called for greater global solidarity against cases such as ‘‘young man overlooked in a job interview because of the colour of his skin; for the girl excluded from society or suffering violence only because of her race’’ (UN 2018, para. 5). Scholars argue literature in racial bias overlooks the issue of colorism. Colorism is the process of discrimination based on the skin-tone of a person (Hunter 2013). Hunt
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