Basic personality traits as correlates of implicit prejudice

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between "Big Five" personality dimensions and implicit prejudice towards two groups: (1) homosexuals and (2) elderly people. We employed the NEO Pl-R personality inventory to register basic personality dimensions, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure implicit prejudice, and a semantic differential and the Fraboni scale to assess explicit prejudice. Results of the correlation and multiple regression analyses indicated that implicit prejudice toward homosexuals was related to Openness to Experience, while implicit ageism was related to Agreeableness. More precisely, people who obtained lower scores on these personality dimensions were more likely to hold implicit prejudice towards members of these stigmatized groups. We demonstrated that the relationship between personality and implicit prejudice could not be reduced to the relationship of personality traits with the explicit measures of prejudice. We compared these findings with the previously obtained pattern of results for explicit prejudice measures and discussed their implications for a theoretical distinction between implicit and explicit prejudice constructs.