Implicit Bias
Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These are mental shortcuts that help us more easily make sense of our incredibly complex world. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. These associations develop over the course of a lifetime beginning at a very early age through exposure to direct and indirect messages.
We all have implicit biases, no matter our identities and regardless of how educated we are on the topic. These biases manifest themselves in ways that have impacts we may not desire. Have you ever had a knee-jerk reaction or thought related to a person or situation, and then thought to yourself something like “That wasn’t cool of me” or “No, that is not the right thing to think;” that is your implicit bias and then your active consciousness reconsidering that bias.
It is difficult for many of us to talk about implicit or explicit bias; we are often brought up to believe that we live in a “just world,” that we treat people how they should be treated and as a result people get what they deserve. Bias directly contradicts that world view and our self or group concept. Though we can learn and internalize these messages and biases very early in our lives, implicit biases are malleable and the associations we form can be unlearned.
“The most effective adaptation of racism over time is the idea that racism is conscious bias held by mean people.”