Implicit Bias

We use the term “implicit bias” to describe when we have attitudes toward people, or associate stereotypes with them, without our conscious knowledge.

Thoughts and feelings are “implicit” if we are unaware of them or mistaken about their nature. We have a bias when, rather than being neutral, we have a preference for (or aversion to) a person or group of people. So, we use the term “implicit bias” to describe when we have attitudes toward people, or associate stereotypes with them, without our conscious knowledge. A common example is when white people associate criminality with black people without even realizing they’re doing it.

WHY IT MATTERS

Studies have found that most of our actions occur without our conscious thoughts, allowing us to function in our extraordinarily complex world. This means, however, that our implicit biases often predict how we’ll behave more accurately than our conscious values. One example is that people with higher implicit bias levels against black people are more likely to categorize non-weapons as weapons (such as a phone for gun, or a comb for a knife), and in computer simulations are more likely to shoot an unarmed person. Similarly, white physicians who implicitly associate black patients with being “less cooperative” are less likely to refer black patients with acute coronary symptoms for specific medical care.

LET’S LOOK AT TWO EXAMPLES

The first example is from the music world. Historically, professional orchestras had major challenges with gender diversity in their ranks. Indeed, as late as 1970, the top five orchestras in the U.S. had fewer than five percent women. By 2015 those numbers were now well into the mid 30 percent. What is the source of this change – blind auditions. Researchers found that even in the provisional screening alone, blind auditions removed the implicit bias towards men, making it 50 percent more likely that a woman will advance to the finals.

The second example shows how implicit bias creates barriers to employment. A research study created identical resumes for Black and Asian applicants for over 1,000 entry-level jobs posted on job search websites across the United States. Some of the resumes included information that included the applicants’ racial background, while others were whitened, or scrubbed of racial clues. The researchers then created contact details for the applicants and observed how many were invited for interviews.

Employer callbacks for resumes that were whitened fared much better than those that included racial background information, even though the qualifications listed were identical. 25 percent of black candidates received callbacks from their whitened resumes, while only 10 percent got calls when they left their details intact. Among Asians, 21 percent got calls if they used whitened resumes, whereas only 11.5 percent heard back if they sent resumes with racial references.

WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IMPLICIT BIAS

It is clear that media and culture makers have a role to play by ceasing to perpetuate stereotypes in news and popular culture. In the meantime, institutions and individuals can identify risk areas where our implicit biases may affect our behaviors and judgements.

 It is clear that media and culture makers have a role to play by ceasing to perpetuate stereotypes in news and popular culture.

Instituting specific procedures of decision making and training people to be mindful of the risks of implicit bias can help us avoid acting according to biases that are contrary to our conscious values and beliefs.

Implicit bias is a universal phenomenon, not limited by race, gender, or even country of origin.