One of the themes of my articles is to discuss topics that increase awareness of your internal thought processes. With awareness you have the possibility of making changes if your current circumstances are not working and  / or causing you distress. Or if you  wish to grow.  Whilst this article is focused on one aspect in our society of the impacts of implicit biases, there are many more. 

What Are They?

Unconscious (or implicit) biases are learned stereotypes that are automatic, unintentional,  and able to influence behavior. They relate to how we classify people who belong to a particular social group. These groups are often based on race, gender or ability and disability. The purpose of implicit biases is to allow very fast threat detection and assessment. Based on our evolutionary roots, our survival was based on how quickly we could determine if something we have noticed in our immediate environment was a threat, and then take evasive action.  What we sometimes refer to as “the fight or flight” response.

The Problem 

As many of these biases operate below our conscious level we may not be aware of them. Often when asked our opinion on subjects relating to sensitive topics such as race or gender, we may offer  what we think would be an desirable or acceptable opinion to have. The problem is this may not reflect what our implicit bias is. We may say we have no issues with people of a particular race, but when walking down the street, without thinking, we may tense up when passing someone of that race.  When we see someone of a particular gender we may change our gaze or body language. If asked why we did we can’t offer a rational reason, In fact our reaction might go against what we consider to be our strongly held beliefs.  

One Example of the Effect of Implicit Biases

The topic of under-representation of women and minority groups in specific parts of society was in the media again today. In particular in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Australia’s Women in STEM Ambassador, Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, was commenting on the key issues regarding women’s under-representation in STEM. She mentioned implicit biases as one of them. This article from the MIT News discussed this problem in STEM in more detail, and tables some of the research behind it.

How Do We Find Them ?

These biases are held often at an unconscious level and therefore the normal psychometric testing tools such as self-reporting test will not uncover these. This is because people will often answer as to how they think they would respond, as opposed to how they actually do. For those who are willing, I suggest taking the Harvard Implicit Association Test. This will enable you to become more aware of your own biases.

More Information

My article on cognitive biases also discusses this topic more broadly. It includes  some strategies on how to counter the effect of biases, including implicit ones. 

In Finishing

Implicit biases are unavoidable as they are an in-built part of our threat detection and assessment system. What is changeable, with awareness, is their activation, and our response to them. In particular how we think and act. 

Enjoy, and as always if you know someone who would benefit from this article, please share it. Thanks Scott