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Project ImpEx: Applying Understanding of Implicit and Explicit Prejudice to Real-World Issues of Prejudice, Discrimination, and Egalitarianism.

1. Summary of the impact

Understanding how conscious and unconscious attitudes underpin subsequent behaviours

towards racial and cultural outgroups is of primary importance in modern society. The research in this case study has been utilised to increase awareness, suggest legislative and behavioural changes, and promote greater community understanding in how we tackle issues of prejudice in society. Dissemination of information to public audiences, and providing evidence bases to government and charity initiatives to reduce prejudice and improve the lives of refugees, asylum seekers and stigmatised outgroups have formed an ongoing impact of the research across Wales.

2. Underpinning research

Project ImpEx (a portmanteau of implicit and explicit prejudice) was first developed in 2016 to build upon the existing research expertise of Dr Paul Hutchings exploring the interaction between implicit and explicit prejudice (e.g., Hutchings & Haddock, 2008) [i]. This programme of research underpinned the development of the WTSF’s Social, Group, and Political Psychology research group, including postgraduate researchers and other academic researchers in the fields of social and political psychology. The specific aims of Project ImpEx, led by Hutchings, has two primary aims: firstly to carry out timely and responsive research into the prevalence of implicit and explicit prejudice across different groups within society, how it influences people in their interactions and behaviours in contemporary society, and whether these prejudices can be reduced; and secondly to disseminate these findings to a public audience and to engage with agencies within society who may benefit in their practice from increased knowledge and awareness.

Building upon the extant literature of others, research carried out under Project ImpEX has furthered our understanding of the role that individual differences in implicit and explicit prejudice play in the attitudes and behavioural responses to critical real-world issues directly relevant to UK society. For example, Hutchings and Sullivan (2019) [ii], and Sullivan and Hutchings (2018) [iii] have identified patterns of voting behaviour in the 2016 EU Referendum that link prejudice type categorisation to decisions to vote leave or remain in that referendum. The research also shows that prejudice type categorisations based upon implicit and explicit measurement (e.g., egalitarianism, aversive racism, principled conservatism and modern racism) is linked to patterns of attitudes towards legal and illegal migration and access to common societal resources. These findings suggest that attitudes towards migrants, both in terms of legal economic migratory behaviour, seeking sanctuary through refugee status, and illegal migration, are influenced by people’s prejudice types and may have profound societal impacts on the ways that migrants are treated within society. Expansion of this research into examination of the influence on prejudicial

attitudes of terrorist attacks by outgroup members has also shown that this may impact upon group cohesion and treatment within society (Sullivan & Hutchings, 2020) [iv].

Overall, this condensed period of research activity, being situationally responsive to highly sensitive real world issues being experienced in society during this time, has shown that people’s prejudices, at an implicit and explicit level, influence their interactions and attitudes to real-world events that are occurring across our nation. This has provided the research team with a strong evidence base that has been used to underpin subsequent impact activities, alongside publication of the findings in peer-reviewed journals. By applying the findings from their own research, alongside the research of others and the theoretical methodologies and explanations from a dynamic and well-established scientific field, Project ImpEx has sought to inform and impact upon current events within society with an empirical, evidence-based approach within Wales.

3. References to the research

  1. Hutchings, P. B., & Haddock, G. (2008). Look Black in anger: The role of implicit prejudice in the categorization and perceived emotional intensity of racially ambiguous faces. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1418 - 1420. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.05.002

  2. Hutchings, P. B., & Sullivan, K.E. (2019). Prejudice and the Brexit vote: a tangled web. Palgrave Communications, 5(1) DOI:10.1057/s41599-018-0214-5

  3. Sullivan, K.E., & Hutchings, P. B. (2018b, July) Prejudice and the Brexit vote. In: Andreouli, E. (Chair), The Politics of Prejudice and Social Change [Symposium]. International Society of Political Psychology, San Antonio, Texas.

  4. Sullivan, K. E., & Hutchings, P. B. (2020). Right-wing authoritarian and explicit prejudice attitude responses to the Paris terror attacks: A within-subjects analysis. Terrorism and Political Violence. DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2020.1785876

4. Details of the impact

Alongside academic talks and research papers, the Project ImpEx team have actively engaged in a range of public engagement and awareness raising initiatives with the British Psychological Society, Welsh Government, Education leaders, Public Services, and a number of other groups associated with campaigning for practical change in society, including Race Council Cymru (RCC) and 4TheRegion.

Public Engagement

In 2015 Dr Hutchings became the first psychologist in Wales to give a TedX talk, discussing issues of implicit and explicit prejudice and their affect upon diversity [2]. This was followed in 2016 with an invitation from the British Psychological Society (BPS) to deliver the Ernest Jones Celebration Lecture, the highest profile public lecture in Wales run by the BPS [3]. In both cases the explanation of implicit and explicit prejudice and how they impact upon people’s behaviours towards others was delivered to large and diverse public audiences (100+). From these initial engagement events a key relationship with Race Council Cymru was formed (discussed further below) [1]. In 2018 Hutchings and Sullivan were invited to contribute to events across Wales celebrating Black History Month 2018, where they discussed implicit and explicit prejudice in forum events with the general public and civic leaders. The dissemination, discussion and awareness raising at these events culminated in Hutchings and Sullivan being invited to give keynote addresses at the two Race Equality Conferences in 2018, one in Swansea and the other at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, with both attended by around 200 delegates, including members of community groups, local council members, and Welsh Government ministers [4]. In 2020 Dr Hutchings was invited to contribute to the United Nations Annual Psychology Day, which focused this year on migration across borders. This contribution was produced as a freely

available podcast via the UWTSD ‘Perspectives’ Education initiative [5] and was also produced as a full-page article in the South Wales Evening Post to a readership of over 13,000 people [6].

Work with Race Council Cymru and 4TheRegion

As a consequence of our research, for the last three years (2017-2020) the Project ImpEx team have worked closely with Race Council Cymru (RCC) [1], the umbrella organisation that brings together communities, governing bodies, and local authorities to promote integration and equality in Wales. Statistics show 73% of hate crimes and incidents in Wales relate to race and/or religion, meaning BAME and minority faith communities are disproportionately affected with often devastating impacts on victims, their families and the wider community. The Home Office 2018/2019 Hate Crime Statistics for England and Wales show a 17% increase in recorded hate crimes across Wales compared to 2017/2018. This compares to an overall 10% increase across the whole of England and Wales. There were 3,932 recorded hate crimes across the four Welsh Police Force Areas of which: 2,676 (68%) were race hate crimes and 206 (5%) were religion hate crimes. As announced by Jane Hutt AM, Deputy Minister and Chief Whip, the statistics illustrate the need for concerted effort on the part of public authorities, including the Welsh Government, to counter negative perceptions of minority communities, tackle hate crime where it occurs, and support victims.

Since 2017 we have worked alongside Race Council Cymru to help inform policy makers of the need to address this continued, rising and prevalent social problem in the Welsh national context. Additional work in this area has been progressed in collaboration with 4TheRegion, an organisation that represents community groups and businesses in the South West Wales region with an aim of making positive changes in Welsh communities. Through our work with RCC and 4TheRegion the research team has carried out four workshop engagements across the country, in North and South Wales, delivering awareness-raising workshops and CPD training to over 100 attendees including charity and community workers, local government officials, police officers and PCSOs. This was based on the underpinning research on implicit and explicit prejudice and the impacts upon people’s perceptions of racial and religious outgroups, immigration, and terrorism (e.g., Hutchings & Sullivan, 2019; Sullivan & Hutchings, 2020). For example, in North Wales our workshop brought together representatives from all of the above organisations to discuss how police, local authorities, and community support workers could identify evidence-based intervention strategies within their local community to reduce prejudice and discrimination by recognising different types of prejudice relating to asylum seekers and refugees [7]. Feedback from these workshops indicated that these educational workshops had stimulated a greater understanding not only of the issues facing asylum seekers and refuges but of potential mechanisms to tackle this problem.

In 2019 the Project ImpEx team supported Race Council Cymru in providing empirical evidence relating to the impact of prejudice and discrimination in Wales, particularly in regard to hate crime and targeting of asylum seekers and refugees, in order to support a successful bid for funding from Welsh Government to establish community support in the South Wales area under the Hate Crime Minority Communities Scheme [8]. The Hate Crime project started on the 1st December 2019 and is a two-year project funded by Welsh Government’s Hate Crime Minority Communities Grant scheme working in partnership with Victim Support Cymru and Hate Crime Officers within South Wales Police and Dyfed Powys Police forces. The hate Crime community support officer for South and West Wales covers Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and parts of Powys County Boroughs, and also works alongside a number of Primary Schools across the area delivering a workshop around Unity and hate crime with year 5 or year 6 pupils. The research data we were able to provide has helped to inform initiatives within this project in relation to educating and supporting ethnic minority groups, religious organisations and individuals across South and West Wales around hate crime, how to recognise it, report it and speak up for others who are victims of hate crime and will support the engagement of Community champions who will work as a local contact within their communities.

The project team continues to collaborate with RCC and other community groups through workshops and other evidence-based initiatives through 2020 and beyond, and is currently working with RCC to consider ways of delivering events and research support under Covid-19-related restrictions. This includes evaluating the success of the project after its first year of service in order to seek additional funding for this service in the future from Welsh Government.

Informing Discourse and Policy on Refugees and Asylum Seekers

The National Assembly for Wales is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people, makes laws for Wales, agrees Welsh taxes and holds the Welsh Government to account. While asylum policy is the responsibility of the UK Government, and thus was outside the remit of the Committee, the experience of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales, and the degree to which they are able to settle and pay a full part in Welsh communities, depends largely upon the accessibility and quality of the devolved services for which the Welsh Government is responsible. Based upon the above public engagement, research, and role within the British Psychological Society (BPS) Dr Hutchings, as Chair of the Welsh Branch of the British Psychological Society was asked in 2016 to lead the BPS response to The National Assembly for Wales (Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee) inquiry into refugees and asylum seekers in Wales [9]. The terms of reference for the inquiry were to consider: a) the pace and effectiveness of the Welsh Government approach to resettling refugees through the UK Government’s Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Programme (SVPRP); b) the effectiveness of the Refugee and Asylum Seeker Delivery Plan; c) the support and advocacy available to unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Wales; and d) the role and effectiveness of the Welsh Government’s Community Cohesion Delivery Plan in ensuring the integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Welsh communities. This is in a context where the world is experiencing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. In 2015, one in every 113 humans was either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. In 2016, with an intensifying conflict in Syria and huge uncertainty across countries in the region, there were more displaced people in the world than at any other time in our history. By the end of 2016, Wales had provided sanctuary to 397 Syrian refugees, and nearly 3,000 asylum seekers of other nationalities (including some Syrians) were awaiting the outcome of their applications while living in Wales – mainly in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham. The number of refugees settled in Wales is not known, but estimated to be between 6,000 and 10,000.

From the written response to the initial inquiry paper, led by Dr Hutchings and recorded as RAS 03 in the National Assembly for Wales document, the BPS were invited to present oral evidence to the Welsh Government (carried out by Professor Bill Yule of UCL) and a number of recommendations made by Dr Hutchings and other psychology colleagues were accepted in principle by the Welsh Government [10]. These included:

  • Recommendation 16. The Welsh Government should establish a Guardianship service for Wales, supported by peer networks, as part of reaffirming Wales’ commitment to welcome unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

  • Recommendation 17. The Welsh Government should ensure that there is a designated and suitably trained person in each local authority to undertake age assessments of asylum-seeking children.

  • Recommendation 18. The Welsh Government should ensure minimum standards of mental health support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with trauma, in line with the British Psychological Society’s recommendations.

Whilst the impact of Covid19 restrictions over the last 12 months has hindered some of the ongoing impact initiatives such as the work with RCC on the hate crime project and engagement with civic leaders and politicians regarding the impact of prejudiced attitudes on attitudes towards racial and cultural outgroups, we remain committed to the project aims of disseminating empirically based research evidence and supporting initiatives across Wales based upon the empirical evidence.

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

  1. Chair, Race Council Cymru

  2. Hutchings, P. B. (2015). Developing the diversity habit. TedX Swansea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjccHJfJeY

  3. British Psychological Society (2016, Nov 23). Implicit prejudice in a time of Brexit. The Ernest Jones Celebration Lecture [Public lecture]. Council Chamber, Cardiff City Hall, Cardiff. https://www.bps.org.uk/node/402

  4. Race Council Cymru (2018, October 25). Wales Race Equality Conference 2018: Fifty years of the race relations act: So what? Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay https://racecouncilcymru.org.uk/category/black-history-month-wales/page/4/

  5. Perspectives (2020). Psychological impacts on refugees migrating to the United Kingdom. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LHq0jspUS4faFwdwONOBo?si=6vMvic6GRZ67icT6XvP1Ew&nd=1

  6. University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2020). Psychological impacts on refugees migrating to the United Kingdom.

  7. University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2019). UWTSD researchers share their findings with North Wales BAME community programme.

https://uwtsd.ac.uk/news/press-releases/press-2019/uwtsd-researchers-share-their-findings-with-north-wales-bame-community-programme.html

  1. Race Council Cymru (2020). Welsh Government’s hate crime minority communities. https://racecouncilcymru.org.uk/Welsh-Government%E2%80%99s-Hate-Crime-Minority-Communities/

  2. National Assembly for Wales (2017). Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee: “I used to be someone”: Refugees and asylum seekers in Wales. RAS 03. https://senedd.wales/laid%20documents/cr-ld11012/cr-ld11012-e.pdf

  3. Senedd Cymru (2017). Written Response by the Welsh Government to the report of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee entitled “I used to be someone”: Refugees and asylum seekers in Wales.

Additional contextual information