Bias, Police Shootings and What You Should Do

Bias, Police Shootings and What You Should Do

IMPLICIT BIAS: Most of us would like to think we’re not biased. Yet it is almost impossible to grow up in our culture without absorbing unconscious attitudes that – like the air we breathe – may play out in our actions. In order to measure your own level of unconscious (or implicit) bias, you may want to take the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Developed by a group of Harvard researchers, the test is free and anonymous — Project Implicit. Also, in my experience, it’s hard to “game” the test. For an useful explanation of the test and the follow-up studies, go to: NPR’s Hidden Brain Podcast: The Air We Breathe: Implicit Bias And Police Shootings 

ARE PEOPLE “BAD” OR UNCONSCIOUS? While in the past we may have focused on labeling people as racist, sexist and so on, we now know, that — even those of us with the best intentions — may act in unconscious ways that exhibit bias. I was shocked to discover, for example, the first time I took the IAT, that I exhibited a bias toward men as family breadwinners, even though I had worked since my children were six months old and was a single mother for ten years.

CAN A TEST REVEAL BIAS? Follow-up studies to the IAT have found that there is indeed a strong correlation between unconscious bias and actions in the real world. Yet while recognizing our own unconscious biases is a good first step, we need to do more to overcome our tendencies to unconscious action. Studies have found for example, that to overcome the biases of doctors to prescribe more pain pills for white patients than black patients, simple reminders that pop up on their computer screen before they write a script can help stop unconscious thoughts from becoming acts.

What Should You Do?

1)  Take the test: And encourage those you lead to do the same.

2)  Utilize implicit bias sessions: These cannot be a one-time event. What works is to understand that overcoming our biases is a life-long process, not an event.

3)  Help with control: Follow-up studies to the IAT have indicated that giving people time to think before they act, may help people act with less bias. In addition, reminders, such as telling doctors that a hospital has prescribed less pain medication to black patients than to white patients, may help them stop and think before they write a script.

4)  Use reminders and study what works: While we now know that just testing and training sessions alone do not work, what does work is to remind people to stop and think about whether they may be acting out of bias. Keeping track of the number of black versus white citizens who are arrested, for example. Reminders, measuring, and tracking can help.

What Do You Think?

What efforts to eliminate unconscious bias have you seen be effective? Call or write us at: Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com