Examining Relationships Among Regional Economic Conditions, Cognitive Control, and Intergroup Bias in the Implicit Association Test: A Regional Modeling Approach

• Both Black and White populations have worse cognitive control in states with more adverse economic conditions • Both Black and White populations have more intergroup bias in states with more adverse economic conditions • Regional cognitive control and bias reflect structural and contextual inequalities Individuals experiencing economic stress demonstrate lower cognitive control and higher intergroup bias. The present research extends beyond individuals to investigate relationships among regional economic conditions, regional cognitive control, and intergroup bias. We aggregated 2.9 million US-based participants’ geolocated responses on the Black/White Implicit Association Test, then applied the Process Dissociation Procedure to estimate state-level cognitive control and racial evaluations across the years 2005 to 2019. Black populations’ cognitive control was weaker in states where Black residents faced more adverse economic conditions, but stronger in states where White residents faced more adverse economic conditions. White populations’ cognitive control was weaker in states where more Black residents faced unemployment. Black populations’ outgroup biases were more negative in states where more White people lived in poverty, and White populations’ ingroup biases were more positive in states where more White residents were unemployed. By understanding how economic conditions relate to regional cognition, this research can inform policies to better support economically-vulnerable populations.