IMPLICIT BIAS AS SEEN THROUGH A PUBLIC SCOPE: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Implicit bias is an unconscious, unintentional bias that escapes societal and individual recognition. Yet, it can be conflated with explicit biases leading to considerable misunderstandings by the greater society of what having an implicit bias means. Implicit bias is not conjured by the individual through conscious prejudice or discrimination. Instead, it manifests in situations where participants make impulsive decisions, whether it is a setting that requires a quick reaction or one that, on the surface, does not seem to warrant in-depth thought. This makes the prejudice or discrimination events that follow unrepresentative of the individual’s normal thoughts, beliefs or behaviors. Despite research on strategies to combat implicit biases and public tests designed to help individuals determine potential unconscious biases, the public underutilizes these resources. This may be a result of current stigmas surrounding biases and lack of general knowledge of implicit bias resources, such as empathy strategies or the Implicit Association Tests (IAT). This deficiency in public knowledge and preventative action regarding implicit bias causes experimentation of such biases and strategies to be challenging to study. In this pilot study, the goal was to explore possible reasons and attitudes that lead individuals unfamiliar with implicit bias research to underutilize these resources.