I watched an interesting special on public television over the weekend, affiliated with the magazine Scientific American. It talked about how our decisions are influenced by our unconscious mind, and how we are less logical than we believe ourselves to be.
One of the things they looked at was the Implicit Association Tests being done at Harvard University. They've developed a series of tests where they test your automatic associations between different things. For example, do you have an automatic preference that favors Caucasian people over African American people?
I took that test, and this is what it said:
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Your Result Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for European American compared to African American. |
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The interpretation is described as 'automatic preference for European American' if you responded faster when European American faces and Good words were classified with the same key than when African American faces and Good words were classified with the same key. Depending on the magnitude of your result, your automatic preference may be described as 'slight', 'moderate', 'strong', or 'little to no preference'. |
The tests are designed to go quickly, to capture your automatic responses. You can take some of the association tests here.
Most of us have biases of one kind or another, and they are often unconscious, borne of our experiences, culture, and social groups. But will we be helpless to abide by them? I don't think we need to be. The trick is to be as aware of them as you can be, so you can "check" your thoughts and actions when you realize a bias may be at work.
I like to learn about my biases so I can examine them, and (like in the example of the bias listed above) work to challenge my thinking. When I see a bias (however slight and unconscious) towards a particular group, it just reinforces that I have more work to do to bring my thinking in line with my values.
Curious about your biases? Check it out.
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