Ethan Magnlione
Staff Writer
UW has a host of research projects and is known for its undergraduate research programs. One of which is being headed by Psychology Professor Scott Freng.
“[Research is] extremely important. You find out if that’s the area you wanna do research in, and it is much better for learning when compared to large lectures as it allows you to take a hands-on approach,” said Freng.
Freng’s research program is being called the “Geographic distribution of prejudice toward African Americans.” The research revolves around four different types of prejudice which are based on the two-dimensional model.
The different kinds of prejudice are: aversive racism, which is described as a group or person that is not directly antagonistic towards a ethnicity but is instead condescending or ambivalent; modern racism, which does not involve race but focuses more on cultural compatibility and tradition; principled conservatism, which focuses on more traditional values and low prejudice and has more egalitarian beliefs-the idea that all people are equal.
The test involves using a program called the implicit association test, a measurement on how quickly a person can categorize concepts and objects, and then put them into categories based on those results.
The project is currently focusing on small regional areas for trial runs and initial studies; however, the ultimate vision is for the test to reach a state level and get a broader view of political leanings throughout the state.
Despite the project only being in the initial phases of research, they have already begun to find patterns correlating prejudice and communities. This showed that cities tend to consist of one political ideology and there tends to be very little diversity of thought among communities.
Since the project is in the initial stages of research, it has yet to publish any of their findings. However, Freng said his team is getting ready to publish papers with their initial results, which will give the public better insight to the findings of the research.
