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The case against implicit bias fatalism

The standard associative account of implicit bias posits that the mind unavoidably mirrors the biased co-occurrences that are present in the environment. The resulting fatalistic view of implicit bias as inevitable and immutable is both scientifically unwarranted and societally counterproductive.

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Correspondence to Benedek Kurdi.

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B.K. is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Project Implicit, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and international collaborative of researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition. E.M. declares no competing interests.

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Kurdi, B., Mandelbaum, E. The case against implicit bias fatalism. Nat Rev Psychol 2, 656–657 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00248-y

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