Everyone is Bias
As hard as it is to admit, everyone is bias. The good news is that identifying your biases can help you overcome them. The more you notice things that don't match your perceptions, the less impact your biases will have. The bad news is that overcoming bias can be very hard because:
- Most people associate bias as a shameful thing, making it very difficult for one to accept and admit that they have bias.
- Most of our biases are implicit, or unconscious. It takes purposeful effort to learn about what bias(es) one holds.
- Overcoming bias is an active, ongoing process that can take a great deal of emotional and mental energy.
Implicit Association Tests
The best way to overcome your biases is to learn what your biases are. One way to do this is to take one of the 14 Implicit Association Tests at Project Implicit from Harvard University. Test topics include race, gender, weight, age, sexuality, disability, and religion.
Example Results
To give you an idea of what you might discover, here are three of my results:
So, why do these results matter? First, I could be treating people differently without realizing it even if. Knowing my biases allows me to keep myself "in check" or accountable. For example if I have a negative interaction with someone, I can make sure I'm not perceiving the interaction more negatively than I should. Second, knowing one's biases is an important tool against false news and misinformation. Most fake news articles are purposefully written to stir people's unconscious biases and get them angry. The more angry we are, the more likely we are to share the story without fact checking.
