Stanford Psychologist Wins MacArthur Genius Grant For Her Studies on Unconscious Racial Bias.

Jennifer L. Eberhardt Psychologist


Jennifer L. Eberhardt is a psychology professor at Stanford University. She recently earned a $625,000 grant for her work on how unconscious racial biases factor into social interactions. Eberhardt’s work is even being used by police forces to improve how they work with communities.

According to Business Insider,

Her research has found that people are more likely to spot guns, knives, and other objects associated with crime after seeing black faces.

“When you expose people briefly to black faces before they see these crime objects, they’re able to tell what those crime objects are with a blurrier picture,” she said an interview with the MacArthur Foundation.


Here are some examples of the array of images that a study participant would view.

(Videos via Business Insider)


The study found that after viewing a series of images of black men, study participants are more likely to be able to make out a weapon even after seeing images of weapons that appear more blurry, than after seeing images of different races.

Here’s a brief video featuring Jennifer L. Eberhardt talking about her study with the MacArthur Foundation.