What's Bias Got To Do With It?
We've all been told that it's important to be fair, but what does that really mean? Bias is so complicated, it wouldn't seem like something worth powering through. Let's take a moment to understand what bias is and why it isn't as easy as being "fair".
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Bias is the prejudiced or prejudicial opinion or attitude toward a person or group of people based on their race, gender, language, religion, or other distinctions. It can be either unintentional or intentional — which means there are two types of bias: implicit and explicit. Implicit bias refers to the automatic associations we make when encountering a person; these are judgments made without even thinking about them. It's why we might describe a woman as pleasant, yet a man the same exact way is seen as boring.
Explicit bias is when people decide to make judgments based on these associations and is more obvious because they're out in the open. But bias can also be unintentional because it's hard to turn off our automatic reactions and be fair. For example, it's hard not to associate women with domestic chores, so when asked which parent cooks more often, most people assume it's the mom and not the dad (even though they probably don't know who does most of the cooking). This implicit stereotype can affect how we treat men and women, even if we think we're being unbiased.
It's not just in social interactions where bias shows up, but also in the workplace. For example, hiring managers who think people with a degree from a prestigious college are better at their jobs than others may choose those candidates over candidates with less-known degree programs. This kind of bias is often referred to as status quo bias — when people hold on to the current state of things and are reluctant to change. It can be frustrating when you're not given an equal chance because of biases against you that have nothing to do with your job performance.
Prejudice vs. discrimination vs. stereotyping
Bias isn't the same thing as prejudice. While prejudice is negative attitudes, bias is simply an opinion. Prejudice can result in discrimination — for example, a prejudice against people of color that results in outright racism or a belief that a particular ethnic group is inherently inferior. Bias on the other hand, often occurs without prejudice and can be unintentional — for example, when people think it's easier to hire someone from their own race or gender than someone from another one. Or an employer might believe that women are more likely to become pregnant and need maternity benefits (which are offered to women), which results in biased practices in hiring and promotions (for instance, not giving maternity leaves).
The way around bias
So what can we do if we're biased and don't realize it? When it comes to our automatic associations, the best thing to do is simply recognize them. For example, you might notice yourself thinking that men are naturally better at mechanics than women. This might be because your father was excellent at fixing cars and he taught you everything he knew; this doesn't mean women can't be equally good at fixing automobiles — it's just that you've never met a female mechanic.
If we are biased, it will always affect our interactions with others. For example, if you automatically assume that women aren't as good as men at math, you will always be less inclined to hire or promote them. In order to not be biased, we must stop taking our own opinions so seriously and start paying attention to what everyone else is thinking. You might consider being more aware of exceptions to stereotypes — for example, don't assume that women don't make as much money as a man because they're the ones who are home raising the children and don't get the same amount of pay for it; this happens all too often in everyday life.
This post was written by Louise Hawley and adapted from her book, Words That Hurt. She is a writer, editor, and consultant specializing in non-fiction. You can reach Louise at lhawley@awfulchicken.com or follow her on Twitter at @LouiseHawley.
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SOME ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR AND VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE:
How to be a better person by teaching others how to be better people than you are and using it as a model for your own behavior; http://bit.ly/htZDYa
How to make the world a better place by gaining perspective on how it is already a better place for most people and improving your own behavior; http://bit.ly/jHNlT0
How to be a happier person by thinking about the source of happiness and how it can be created in our lives through our own efforts. http://bit.ly/hvApeI
How being aware of your bias can be used to overcome bias in our society, so that we can all live together peacefully; http://bit.ly/fnW8Ig
How to talk to our children about race, avoiding racist behavior and thinking, and teaching them self-respect and respect for others. http://bit.ly/hDrZKs
How to be a better person by not allowing yourself to be too afraid of failure or success, but just going out there and learning how to do what you want anyway; http://bit.ly/fPbJQQ
The life cycle of bigotry: http://bit.ly/hJZLkp How to talk about women's rights as human rights: http://bit.ly/hKDkOa How to be a better person by not being afraid of the little things:
http://bit.ly/itWbqo How to overcome bias in our society, how we can all strive for equality and be fair and stringent with each other: http://bit.ly/fnW8Ig
How to be a better person by understanding that you'll never know everything , rather than being so afraid of failure that you avoid doing anything at all; http://bit.ly/fPbJQQ How to be a happier person by thinking about how you can use your strengths to make the world a better place for yourself and for others (i.e., using strengths for good): http://bit.ly/jHNlT0 The importance of the unconscious and how your conscious mind influences it: http://bit.ly/eYqX9e
How to become a happier person by learning about how we learn and what helps us learn more effectively, as well as how we can teach ourselves new things; http://bit.ly/hvApeI
We are all connected, so think about that before getting angry at something or someone: http://bit.
Conclusion: The idea is not to wait for everyone else to become ignorant in order for you to advocate for your own ignorance, but advocate for your own knowledge and understanding instead. That's how we all grow as individuals and as a society.
Louise Hawley; http://awfulchicken.com/
The four most important things to remember about judgment:
1) Judgments always contain an opinion and therefore are never objective; 2) Opinions are opinions; 3) Everyone can be wrong; 4) Evaluating the truth of a judgment is not the same thing as evaluating its accuracy or effectiveness.