The Negative Effects Of Implicit Biases And Decision Making

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Implicit bias (also known as Unconscious bias) is an unconscious mental attitude that is either a positive or negative towards a person or object. implicit biases are a very intriguing aspect of the human cognition. However, they can become problematic. Implicit biases can alter behaviour that is opposite to a person’s beliefs or norm, which ultimately effects decision making. To tackle the problems that arise, many researchers have attempted to understand the why implicit biases occur and to develop strategies that help mitigate its negative effects. In 1998, social Psychologists, developed the Implicit Association Test. The IAT is a tool that measures implicit biases. The IAT was then later revised by Project Implicit and become one of the most used tool. Participants are asked to quickly categorise negative (bad) or positive (good) adjectives, and pictures of, for example, black and white faces. As the pictures and adjectives appear on a computer screen, the participants are asked to press one of two keys on a keyboard. Typically, in the Race IAT, participants have faster reaction times when black faces share the same key as ‘bad’ adjectives and when white faces share a key with ‘good’ adjectives. The difference between the participants’ reaction times is used as an indicator of a preference …show more content…

Therefore, it is possible to suggest that making people aware of their biases and think more about their decisions may attenuate the negative effects. This concept is further reinforced by Ross’s (2015) Harvard Business Review article. Ross states by accepting and acknowledging that implicit biases are present, people can mitigate its effects within the work environment; implicit biases will less likely dictate people’s

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