The limited promise of interracial friendship: political partisanship moderates the association between having Black friends and anti-Black implicit bias

Abstract

Some studies show that people with friends of different races also have lower levels of implicit racial bias. Yet, other studies do not replicate this finding. The omission of political parties from this research may explain its contradictory results, given the central role that race has played in the polarization of US society. Recent scholarship shows that political partisanship influences whether intergroup friendships improve explicit (i.e. conscious) attitudes. However, no studies have asked if friendships with African Americans have differing effects on white Democrats’ and Republicans’ anti-Black implicit bias. This paper examines this question by analyzing Race IAT and survey responses from 1,868 white Americans. Results reveal that white Democrats and Republicans maintain friendships with African Americans at similar rates. Yet, having Black friends only predicts weaker anti-Black implicit bias among white Democrats. This finding suggests that partisan differences in interracial friendship dynamics may shape implicit racial attitudes.