However, we can eliminate these biases when we’re aware of the types. Since these biases are unconscious and happen automatically outside our consciousness, we may not be aware that we’re committing it. The factors influencing this unconscious bias are typically focused on social class, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, and nationality. People have been penalized and their benefits are taken away due to unconscious bias.Įven though we have biases wired into us, unconscious bias is usually more directed towards minority groups. Often, unconscious bias results in negative consequences. Many studies believe that unconscious bias happens automatically as our brain makes quick decisions based on its past experiences. Unconscious bias can be so systemically ingrained that it can alter our behavior and how we interact with the people around us. This bias is typically a learned stereotype that’s automatic and mostly unintentional. Unconscious bias happens outside our conscious awareness. Bias may exist towards gender, physical disabilities, weight, sexual orientation, religion, and various other characteristics. These biases can happen towards anything, not just race or ethnicity, though these two are the most well-documented. Bias can exist in an individual, in a group, or in an institution. This prejudice against these factors is usually unfair when they’re compared to one another. What is unconscious bias?īias is a form of prejudice that favors or is against a something, a person, or a group. Even though prejudice is somehow wired into our psyche, it doesn’t mean we have to listen to it all the time. In modern times, prejudice can be a dangerous thing because we assume something and generalize without taking the time to learn or understand.
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Our unconscious bias is essential and necessary because it could be life-saving. We had to make quick decisions, and we made this decision based on what was most obvious to us. Prejudice has helped humankind survive during the primordial time because we needed to be quick-thinking about what dangers to avoid. However, psychologists have stated that prejudice is something we have in all of us.įrom a psychology standpoint, it’s not an entirely bad thing. Have you ever heard the saying that we are all prejudiced towards something? It’s an unsettling thought to think about, especially if you’re someone who is an advocate of equality.