. 2023 May 18:1–15. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1038/s44159-023-00190-z

Table 1.

Systemic influences and associated intervention opportunities

Systemic influence	System → individual	Individual → system	Intervention opportunities
Power and privilege	Children and adults tend to conclude that the way things are (such as racial wealth disparities) is the way they should be^35–42 Increased exposure to structural racial inequalities is associated with increased racial bias^7,46 Racial progress that challenges inequalities can intensify individual-level racial bias^47–50	Racial biases seem to promote systemic disparities in power and privilege in a variety of domains⁵¹, including government representation^52,53, healthcare^53–57 and education⁵⁸	Parental racial socialization can help children to develop a critical understanding of the systemic biases in societal systems, undermining the tendency to perceive the way things are as the way they should be^239,242,243 Teaching children about the systemic and interpersonal racism faced by historical figures can reduce racial biases and increase the value placed on racial fairness²⁵⁹
Cultural narratives and values	The attitudes, values and perspectives of white people tend to be implicitly justified by dominant historical narratives^60,61, which probably contributes to individual biases favouring white people^{70,74,76–79} Cultural products of white people — such as art forms^83–87, dress and appearance^88–90,92, and styles of speech⁹⁴ — tend to be the most highly valued, resulting in individual-level biases against people who deviate from these styles^95–98 Colourblind ideologies and the message that people who deserve success achieve it implicitly convey that people of colour do not merit the same status and success as white people⁴⁵	Individual-level biases influence how historical events are represented in society^70,78,82 The impact of white-centric biases can be observed in the methods, standards, and knowledge bases used in the fields of psychology¹⁰⁵, mathematics^103,104 and written composition^94,106 Americans with stronger racial biases tend to report a stronger belief in meritocracy^123,124 and greater support for racially colourblind ideology^126,127	Parental racial socialization can facilitate children’s awareness and understanding of racial biases and systemic racism^{238,240–243} Racial-bias awareness might help people to identify the subtle racial biases embedded in historical narratives, cultural products, and cultural beliefs²⁵⁶ Increasing awareness of the systemic injustices of the past can increase empathy towards marginalized groups²⁶⁰
Segregation	Persistent racial segregation^133,134 limits opportunities for positive intergroup contact, which is known to reduce racial biases^138–142 Limited positive cross-race contact in racially diverse areas might be particularly likely to engender individual-level racial biases¹⁴⁴	Individual-level racial biases can lead to stereotypes about physical spaces^146–151 Biases against predominantly Black spaces can result in devaluation of these spaces through property appraisals, use of eminent domain, or placement of toxic waste disposal sites^152–159	Racial socialization can provide white children with extended contact with people of colour, even if their local community is largely homogeneous^{139,244–250} Education about the structural factors that led to current patterns of residential segregation can help to increase awareness of systemic racism and the policies that perpetuate it²⁵⁸
Shared stereotypes	Shared racial stereotypes are spread through word of mouth^183,184, linguistic biases^185–187, media biases^171–173 and propaganda^{23,165,166,168,169,176–178}, resulting in individual-level racial biases^{175,177,190–195}	Individual-level racial biases can lead to racially biased responses and behaviour (such as reporting a Black man as ‘suspicious’ to police) that further reinforces racial stereotypes, disparities and systemic racial inequalities^{209,212,213,215}	Educating children and adults about historical racial injustices can reduce racial stereotyping^258,259 Teaching people about the historical construction of racial stereotypes might help them to detect and reject racially biased messages^258,259
Nonverbal biases	Nonverbal biases that represent shared cultural biases and/or are transmitted through media can systematically impact racial attitudes^217,233	Individual-level implicit racial biases predict racially biased nonverbal signals^228–231 Biased attitudes can lead to biased nonverbal signals and behaviour^221,222,232	Historical education can frame nonverbal biases against people of colour as unjust²²⁷ Promoting racial bias awareness might increase awareness of subtle biases (such as nonverbal signals)