society (Greenwald et al., 2022). The term implicit hints at something being indirect, while bias is a prejudice for or against something or someone. Regardless of who we are, for example, our gender, ethnicity, or educational level, we have all experienced the repercussions of implicit bias at some point in our life. Implicit Bias: A bias you are unaware of that leads to unintentional outcomes such as disparities and inequalities in treatment Explicit Bias: A bias of which you are aware, and the outcomes are intentional in causing disparities and inequalities in treatment. (Witter, 2022)
Video: Conscious Mind
While our implicit biases may be muted in their effects on our awareness and behavior, the unconscious associations are attributed to unequal treatment of people based on the abovementioned factors. Other terms that may be used synonymously with implicit bias are unconscious bias and hidden bias. With implicit bias, unconscious connections may support learned biases in processing information rather than allowing a conscious appraisal of a person, situation, or environment (Greenwald et al., 2022; Sellaro et al., 2015). Through self-reflection and psychological testing, we can find our hidden biases and usually feel ashamed and desire to change the behavior caused by the previously unknown bias. Evidence-Based Consideration While implicit bias is not a realized bias in guiding judgment and action, it can be measured indirectly. Explicit bias is a known, straightforward bias that can be measured directly. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a tool used by researchers to detect unconscious biases. There are specific IAT tests for known implicit biases such as weight, skin tone, race, sexuality, and religion. You can take an IAT at https:// implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html
To see an example of how implicit bias can affect career progression, take a few minutes to view this video.
Video: How Implicit Bias Affects Career Progression
Biases are preconceptions in acceptance of or against, for example, a person, race, gender, weight, or nationality (Norwood, 2022). Most personal biases are subconscious, learned behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and stereotypes. These unconscious biases significantly affect our decision making in daily interactions. About 90% of the brain’s processing is done unconsciously (i.e., implicit thinking), meaning the brain processes only a relatively small portion of the information it receives consciously, which powers our long-term memory and critical thinking (i.e., explicit thinking). While implicit bias is not a realized bias, explicit bias is a known, straightforward bias. Explicit biases, positive or negative, and the consequences of the biases being intentional. A neurological perspective The environments we interact with are so busy that the brain does not have time to interpret everything happening around us (Agarwal, 2020). Our brain filters out information that may be important in determining how we react to someone. Our first instincts, or decisions in how we act, are made without fully processing or interpreting the entirety of the environment. These initial decisions are based on previous social interactions, memories, and experiences, where the original biases formed. This is considered emotional thought, which processes much more quickly than the analytical thought process within the brain. We are filling in the details of the experience through our assumptions, meaning that without realizing it, we are writing the story and experiencing a meaning that may not be factual. Our brain automatically categorizes information obtained through our senses and extrapolates information about an individual based on observable traits, factors, and characteristics. The information gathered can be categorized as cultural stereotypes that include ethnicity, gender, age, weight, clothing, hobbies, grooming, and speech and are related to learned cultural stereotypes about
Video: Dr. Reese
this information. When the brain categorizes the information gathered about someone, it automatically activates the unconscious attitudes/biases that guide the person-to- person interaction (Reihl et al., 2015; Sellaro et al., 2015). This is an essential defense mechanism used to help us make prompt decisions about the environment and social interactions. The prompt decision is linked to the amygdala, which works to protect us; therefore, most unconscious biases are safety related (Cardiology, 2020). Cultural stereotyping is classified as person-specific knowledge or semantic knowledge. In studies using imaging such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), different brain areas light up in response to cultural stereotypes. Neural activation is seen in the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, temporoparietal junction, and anterior temporal lobes. These are also the areas used for understanding semantic knowledge specific to language (Reihl et al., 2015). See Table 1 for more information on the main roles of the areas of the brain.
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