Influence of language on implicit association test scores in Indian population

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) has been used by psychologists to assess attitudes that can be biased while reporting due to social desirability factors or attitudes that are difficult to self report. It has been found sensitive to language of delivery for bilinguals. Here, we report a first study of IAT from India, specifically on the influence of language on IAT scores in Indian bilingual populations. Motivation for the study was to explore culture and language specific determinants that might influence IAT effects in Indian populations. The standard flower-insect IAT was administered in three modalities, native language, English, and picture. In contrast to earlier works, we found that IAT D scores were not influenced significantly between native and English languages. For further analysis, we then added two more determinates, frequency of usage of native language, and medium of instruction at school, in the model. Indian populations ’varied language and culture make these appropriate. Error rates were significantly higher and latencies longer for English IATs compared to native IATs, for those using their native language more frequently. The opposite was also true. We propose that, for bilingual Indian populations, less sensitive IATs can be administered in either English or native language. Our result suggest that, because their second language is used under natural conditions, the nature of bilinguals in India may be different, and require further study.