While conversations about implicit bias are flourishing in some arenas such as the social
justice field, the reality is that many people remain unfamiliar with the concept and its dynamics
The assumption that human behaviour is under conscious control has recently taken a battering
especially Freud's view of unconscious mechanisms
Most people have an implicit and unconscious bias against disadvantaged groups
a general strategy being suggested among the legal bien pensants is to debiase THIS through law
I hear you say....'..I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with 'implicit bias'. What are you talking about?
Implicit biases are attitudes or stereotypes that we carry around with us unconsciously. These mental associations influence our perceptions, actions, and decisions, yet because implicit biases are unconscious and involuntarily activated, we are not even aware that they exist
A quite sizable amount occurs in one's head without one;s knowledge?
You may believe that you are a relatively intelligent person, aware, you may even meditate and even mediate, be the arbitrator amongst dissenting groups etc
and you would doubt that there is little going on in your 'mind' that you are not aware of
Yet current. Research indicates that even the most self-aware people only have insights into a mere fraction of their brains because so much of our cognition is unconscious.
Some studies suggest that the brain is capable of processing approximately 11 million bits of information every second, but our conscious mind can handle only 40–50 of those bits.
Other research estimates that our conscious mind may only be capable of handling a mere 16 bits each second. That leaves the bulk of the mental processing to the unconscious.
Here the iceberg analogy is helpful
In this so so analogy, the conscious mind is represented by the part of the iceberg that exists above the surface of the water, while the unconscious mind corresponds to the much larger portion of the iceberg. This analogy applies to conscious/unconscious processing.
So Where do these implicit biases come from? Everyone has implicit biases. The implicit associations we harbor in our subconscious cause us to have feelings and attitudes about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance. Research suggests that these associations begin to develop very early in life as we’re exposed to both direct and indirect messages. Some studies have documented
Wait a moment I’m not biased. I have friends of all races and live in a very diverse community. I treat everyone equally...so you say....
However implicit biases in children as young as six years old who have little early life experiences, are exposed to media and news programming which are often regarded as influencing individuals’ implicit biases. Many media messages we’re talking about are not blatant but quite subtle.
Wait a minute, then everyone is biased? Oh no, that can’t be right.
After all, I know I’m not biased. I have friends of all races and live in a very diverse community. I treat everyone equally. Well, the reality is that everyone is susceptible to implicit biases.
It’s important to keep in mind that there are lots of different types of implicit bias. It is possible that while you may not have a bias with respect to certain attributes, such as perhaps gender, you may hold biases related to age, race, or other characteristics. No one is completely free of implicit biases.
Even the most egalitarian people, such as judges who devote their professional careers to fairness, possess these biases. One sees this in the US with the current legal contretemps
Society has come a long way in respect to explicit bias, discrimination, and prejudice in
However, the reality remains that even though overt, explicit biases are less common, implicit biases remain incredibly pervasive.
You have to realize that the implicit biases we’ve been discussing are different from explicit biases. T
If you are a woman and you implicity believe that men are more able in technology or math
although explicitly you would not aver that you are holding a bias against your own ingroup, women.
You don’t have to have negative intent in order to have discriminatory outcomes.
There are so many different versions available, including ones that address race, age, sexuality, religion, skin tone, and a couple related to gender, among others. The tests are very straightforward, do not take very long to finish, and are incredibly insightful.
The assumption that human behaviour is under conscious control has recently taken a battering
especially Freud's view of unconscious mechanisms
Most people have an implicit and unconscious bias against disadvantaged groups
a general strategy being suggested among the legal bien pensants is to debiase THIS through law
I hear you say....'..I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with 'implicit bias'. What are you talking about?
Implicit biases are attitudes or stereotypes that we carry around with us unconsciously. These mental associations influence our perceptions, actions, and decisions, yet because implicit biases are unconscious and involuntarily activated, we are not even aware that they exist
A quite sizable amount occurs in one's head without one;s knowledge?
You may believe that you are a relatively intelligent person, aware, you may even meditate and even mediate, be the arbitrator amongst dissenting groups etc
and you would doubt that there is little going on in your 'mind' that you are not aware of
Yet current. Research indicates that even the most self-aware people only have insights into a mere fraction of their brains because so much of our cognition is unconscious.
Some studies suggest that the brain is capable of processing approximately 11 million bits of information every second, but our conscious mind can handle only 40–50 of those bits.
Other research estimates that our conscious mind may only be capable of handling a mere 16 bits each second. That leaves the bulk of the mental processing to the unconscious.
Here the iceberg analogy is helpful
In this so so analogy, the conscious mind is represented by the part of the iceberg that exists above the surface of the water, while the unconscious mind corresponds to the much larger portion of the iceberg. This analogy applies to conscious/unconscious processing.
So Where do these implicit biases come from? Everyone has implicit biases. The implicit associations we harbor in our subconscious cause us to have feelings and attitudes about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance. Research suggests that these associations begin to develop very early in life as we’re exposed to both direct and indirect messages. Some studies have documented
Wait a moment I’m not biased. I have friends of all races and live in a very diverse community. I treat everyone equally...so you say....
However implicit biases in children as young as six years old who have little early life experiences, are exposed to media and news programming which are often regarded as influencing individuals’ implicit biases. Many media messages we’re talking about are not blatant but quite subtle.
Wait a minute, then everyone is biased? Oh no, that can’t be right.
After all, I know I’m not biased. I have friends of all races and live in a very diverse community. I treat everyone equally. Well, the reality is that everyone is susceptible to implicit biases.
It’s important to keep in mind that there are lots of different types of implicit bias. It is possible that while you may not have a bias with respect to certain attributes, such as perhaps gender, you may hold biases related to age, race, or other characteristics. No one is completely free of implicit biases.
Even the most egalitarian people, such as judges who devote their professional careers to fairness, possess these biases. One sees this in the US with the current legal contretemps
Society has come a long way in respect to explicit bias, discrimination, and prejudice in
However, the reality remains that even though overt, explicit biases are less common, implicit biases remain incredibly pervasive.
You have to realize that the implicit biases we’ve been discussing are different from explicit biases. T
If you are a woman and you implicity believe that men are more able in technology or math
although explicitly you would not aver that you are holding a bias against your own ingroup, women.
You don’t have to have negative intent in order to have discriminatory outcomes.
I have to admit, this is all kind of fascinating. How can I learn more?
You could if of that mind go online and take the IAT. You’ll find it at http://implicit.harvard.edu.
There are so many different versions available, including ones that address race, age, sexuality, religion, skin tone, and a couple related to gender, among others. The tests are very straightforward, do not take very long to finish, and are incredibly insightful.
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