Implicit Bias Study

Implicit bias is bias in one’s judgment or behavior that results from one’s unconscious associations. In order to thoroughly discuss implicit bias, implicit associations must first be examined. Implicit associations refer to one’s unconscious associations between a group and how one feels about said group. For example, a person may subconsciously associate straight people as “normal” and homosexuals as “wrong”. They may have this unconscious association even if they do not express this opinion

We as a society, assume that certain groups of individuals have different characterises compared to others. This is called ‘stereotyping’. When something is out of our conscious and control, this is called ‘implicit stereotype’. Implicit stereotype is when we unknowingly stereotype; for example unintentionally believing that men are stronger than women. When working as a therapist, in order to monitor non- discriminatory practice it’s important that we are all self- aware of our own prejudices and stereotypes. The ‘Harvard Implicit Association Test’ was created to help people be aware of their unconscious drive that influences their day to day decisions. This test was developed by researchers from Harvard University that shows individuals what their prejudices are, which may not be known to self. (Implicit preferences) It would be important for a counsellor to use immediacy when in the counselling room with their clients, to acknowledge any implicit stereotypes that may affect

Implicit bias plays a significant role in today’s society, whether the members realize it or not. The online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says,” ‘Implicit bias’ is a term of art referring to a relatively unconscious and relatively automatic features of prejudiced judgement and social behavior” (Brownstein 2015). Implicit biases are often based on stereotypes. Stereotypes, as defined by OpenStax, are “oversimplified ideas about groups of people” (OpenStax College 2015:248). Implicit biases can be problematic for many reasons. One way implicit biases are troublesome is due to the fact that it is unconscious, so it is usually out of a person’s control. People are often unaware of their own and how they use it. A very common way implicit biases are seen in society is through discrimination. Discrimination is defined as “prejudiced action against a group of people” (OpenStax College 2015:248). If a man and a woman are considered as potentials for being hired, the employer may have an implicit bias either towards or against men or women influencing them to hire one over the other based on their gender. This exemplifies a modern concern of gender discrimination as well. Implicit biases can come in many forms from gender, race, weight, sexuality, and many more. These factors can influence an individual’s treatment of others if they have significant bias. In society, these implicit biases can negatively influence minority and other groups and lead to inequality.

The Implicit Association Test or IAT is a valuable tool that those in the criminal justice system use; often times during the hiring process candidates will be required to complete the IAT so that hiring officials can see if they have any unconscious bias. The IAT is still relatively new in terms of psychological research only being created in the 1990’s by psychologist Anthony Greenwald (Kaufman, 2011). Individuals who take the race portion of the test are shown pictures of Caucasian and African-American males or females, then are given positive or negative words that they associate with each race as fast as possible. After taking the test it measures the unconscious bias that everyone has deep down (Kaufman, 2011).

A substantial amount of educational and psychological research has consistently demonstrated that African American students underperform academically relative to White students. For example, they tend to receive lower grades in school (e.g., Demo & Parker, 1987; Simmons, Brown, Bush, & Blyth, 1978), score lower on standardized tests of intellectual ability (e.g., Bachman, 1970; Herring, 1989; Reyes & Stanic, 1988; Simmons et al., 1978), drop out at higher rates (e.g., American Council on Education, 1990; Steele, 1992), and graduate from college with substantially lower grades than White students (e.g., Nettles, 1988). Such performance gaps can be attributed to

Our state and federal legislatures, executive bodies, and our courts have been involved in many aspects of testing assessment. Courts have been grappling with the role of diversity in criteria for admission to colleges, universities, and professional schools (Cohen, 2013).

The proposed study aims to investigate the relationship between implicit prejudices and their effect on perception and judgment of others. Individuals generally hold specific prejudices towards their ingroups and outgroups and these can be deliberately or subconsciously expressed through explicit or implicit attitudes, respectively. Learning more about the relationship between the subconscious prejudicial attitudes people hold and how these affect perceptions of others is important if a better understanding of intergroup relations is to be made. More specifically, and relevant to the study at hand, investigating implicit prejudices White individuals have and how these affect their

Knowing, understanding, and being aware of personal biases is the first step in the development of plans or strategies overcoming biases. As nurses we must recognize and be more sensitive to the care provided to patients and understand that differences do exist in and between the differing races, cultures, and ethnic groups (Giger, 2013, p. 3). The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to identify and provide an awareness to biases that are consciously or unconsciously present in an individuals actions and beliefs (Project Implicit, 2011). After completing the Race IAT, Gender-Career IAT and Religion IAT, I will discuss the prejudices, biases, and stereotypical thinking present in my life and share what steps can be taken to reduce or eliminate

For this assignment, I chose the Race Bias Implicit Association Test. I was surprised because I have taken this same assessment for another class years ago and my results changed. The first time I took the test, I received a result that did show a slightly biased preference for European American’s over African Americans. However, this time, I took my time to read and select the answer that I thought was best. However, this time around, the data suggested no automatic preference between African Americans and European Americans. I was honestly shocked at these results after conditioning myself to believe that slight implicit bias was normal after reading my results on my first attempt a few semesters back. The first time I took this test, I was devastated by the thought of even the slightest bit of bias as I’ve always been a bit of a social justice warrior when it comes to race issues. Initially I attributed the results to poorly worded questions and then attempted to rationalize by

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) was done again in relation to race by Project Implicit or PI which supports a collaborative network of researchers interested in basic and applied research concerning implicit social cognition and hosts data collection for many online research projects worldwide, in addition to providing demonstration IATs, such as the Race IAT, for racial implicit biases for educational uses (Xu, et. al.). This test was taken online by 2 million people nationally and researchers suggest they are more liberal and younger demographic, indicating that if the older and more right wing Americans took the test at higher rates the results would differ. “The Project Implicit test takers trend younger than average, as well as towards liberal political beliefs and higher levels of education. But other research has suggested that older Americans past the age of 65, in particular, tend to have higher IAT (D) scores” (Xu). For unknown reasons the rate of racial bias was the highest in the southeast and eastern portion of the country, which could possibly come from the historical racial issues that occurred in these areas for decades, such as civil war history. The bottom line is that research suggests that white Americans including police officers have a high possibility of subconscious negative feelings towards minorities supported by a chart from The Reverse Racism Effect article by Lois James depicting the negative connotations felt by 96% of white participants in the IAT

The environment in which one is born in has a way of embedded certain ideas into one’s head. Through socialization and personal experience, these ideas are formed and many people are never consciously aware of where these ideas stemmed from. Implicit bias is an unconscious thought process that many individuals are never aware of due to its intrinsic nature. The United States of America, which may be a country rich in diversity and culture, is also a place that is struggling to overcome a history of racism, oppression, and prejudice that has been prevalent since its founding. Over time, we have experienced less explicit racial discrimination and bias but implicit racial biases seems to be a vast concern worth exploring in the

For the Race Implicit Bias Test, my results were that I have a moderate automatic preference for White people over Black people. When receiving those results, they really didn’t surprise me. I was adopted by white parents when I was a baby and all my relatives, except my brother, are also white. Growing up with white parents and an all-white extended family, I never really had opportunities to associate with black adults. I did have black and white friends when I was little, but when your little you don’t think about your friend’s race or identify them as a race. The reason I have a moderate automatic preference for White people over Black people is probably because with having an all-white family

First I will go over the three strategies. In his paper “Context and the Ethics of Implicit Bias,” Michael Brownstein lists three approaches used to battle implicit bias. The three ‘ethics of

There are various tests related to race within the Implicit-Association Test (IAT) like Skin-tone IAT, Native IAT, Race IAT, Asian IAT, etc. The test I took was related to Race IAT opted to complete the African American – European American IAT. In the study, there were three questionnaires and a sorting task involving words and pictures. There was the time limit of 10 minutes. Before starting the test, demographics about my basic information were reported. There were various categories that I had to keep in mind before starting the test. The categories were Good, Bad, African American and European American. The test result helped me identify as colorblindness and also, slightly altered my identity.

The article also discusses the protentional faults of the Implicit Association Test and the potential dangers of businesses relaying on the test for screen and training purposes; one such concern is its lack of replicability which is the ability to take the test multiple times and maintain the same results (Edmonds, 2017). For example, a person who had just eating may have more favourable results because they are simply paying more attention when compared to someone who may have not eating at