Implicit Association
Advanced
Skill Level:
Draw attention to stereotypes and unconscious biases, by having participants make immediate preference-based selections between two or more people, ideas, or orientations, thereby limiting the ability to strategically construct socially desirable responses.



This technique is part of the Shifting phase of SERA, which requires facilitating an experience or psychological stimulus that triggers, jolts, or firmly guides a conscious shift in one’s orientation to present-moment experience. The word sera itself translates in Spanish to mean “it will be,” which resembles a conscious orientation to whatever may show up in our awareness. This orientation, which is known as beginner’s mind, is necessary because human attention has a tendency toward automatic preoccupation with active thinking (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).
The purpose of using this technique is to help triggering or guide a conscious Shift in one’s orientation to present-moment experience, from conceptualization to intuition.
Gawronski, B., & Hahn, A. (2019). Implicit measures: Procedures, use, and interpretation. In H. Blanton, J. M. LaCroix, & G. D. Webster (Eds.), Frontiers of social psychology. Measurement in social psychology (pp. 29–55). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
