#implicit biases

[jarmstronq]

7 seconds. The unseen speed of human bias.

The Psychology Behind Snap Judgments | Uncomfortable Truths Series You walk into a room full of strangers. No one says a word, but it’s already begun. Eyes flick over your clothes, your face, the way you carry yourself. In just seven seconds, judgments are made. Not just about who you are, but who you must be. Before you’ve spoken, laughed, or explained, you’ve been sized up, sorted, and slotted…

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[flyingfeatherlights]

All this talk about the tangled live action coming up again has reminded me how mad I still am at the fact that an actress was bullied online by racist jerks just because of a freaking fan cast. Yeah, I grew up watching Disney stuff but that does not mean that I will ever condone this part of the narrative. I won’t stop being mad cause that wasn’t right and at the end of the day, not only is this movie still just a piece of fiction but people forget that Disney doesn’t own fairytales but because they (and even the company itself to an extent iykyk) believes that it does, they begin to go crazy at even the smallest implication of someone doing something different. You literally can’t use “oh it’s not accurate to the original movie” to excuse racism! Fairytales and folklore have existed for centuries across every single culture and continent, sometimes even intersecting, evolving and being based off of each other with so many retellings and variations. I know that I grew up on Of course, this is an issue that goes so much further and deeper than people want to even think about. (*cough cough* colonization mentality).

[unofficialchronicle]

Link to a bunch of Harvard Implicit Bias tests:

Project Implicit is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and international collaborative of researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition.

Project Implicit was founded in 1998 by three scientists – Dr. Tony Greenwald (University of Washington), Dr. Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard University), and Dr. Brian Nosek (University of Virginia). Project Implicit Health (formerly Project Implicit Mental Health) launched in 2011 and is led by Dr. Bethany Teachman (University of Virginia) and Dr. Matt Nock (Harvard University).

The mission of Project Implicit is to educate the public about bias and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the internet. Project Implicit scientists produce high-impact research that forms the basis of our scientific knowledge about bias and disparities.

Please visit https://www.projectimplicit.net to learn more about our team and the programs and services that we offer.

[icedsodapop]

Me right now:

I also do have an itsy bitsy bitty problem with casting mostly actors of color (Ares is the exception) to play the more antagonistic mythological beings in the series. Like, Medusa was played by a Black actress, Zeus (arguably the shittiest of the big three) was played by a Black actor, Hermes (who isnt a big bad but is framed as being a bad father) was played by a Latino actor, and a Japanese actor was playing a character who seems to be Kronos. Meanwhile, Hades, Poseidon, and Hephaestus are played by White actors. And while Christopher Judge and Sam Claflin are just fancasts at the moment, I think it's worth noting that we have to be more reflective on why we fancast certain actors for certain roles becos implicit biases are a thing, like fancasting a Black actor for an antagonist role and a White actor for a more heroic one.

That or I'm overthinking and Walker Scobell has simply been rewatching Catching Fire over the weekend 🤷🏻‍♀️

[worklabournewsresearch]

Starbucks’ Implicit Bias Training

“On Tuesday, Starbucks stores in the United States [closed] for part of the day to deliver ‘implicit bias training’ for all of its employees. Canadian Starbucks employees will get similar training June 11. ... We are all familiar with the concept of explicit biases. These include attitudes and behaviours regarding certain groups with the intent to harm or exclude. ... In contrast, implicit biases are stereotypes that form through our experiences and that work outside of our awareness. Even though we are not aware of them, implicit biases lead to discriminatory behaviours and biased decisions. ... By their very nature, implicit biases are automatic beliefs or associated behaviours that influence us without our knowledge and despite our best intentions.”

“While implicit bias is a problem that erodes equity and perpetuates discrimination, research on implicit bias training highlights mixed results and suggests that implicit bias training alone will not solve the problem. ... Societal pressures and stigma against being prejudiced led to individuals feeling like they are not allowed to have any bias, despite the fact that we all have biases, and not all biases can be eliminated. In fact, some biases may be helpful to keep us safe. Implicit bias training is therefore unique from other forms of diversity training because a conversation on implicit bias must start with a hard look in the mirror. The conversation can only begin once we humble ourselves by recognizing that we are all deeply flawed and imperfect human beings.”

“Another challenge with implementing bias training is that biases and inequities often become embedded in workplace structures and policies over time. ... If we encourage individuals to question biased norms within their workplace but they speak up and face retribution for doing so, we are creating more problems than we are solving. If any company wants implicit bias training to be successful, the company itself must survey its policies and processes and be prepared to change them. If your company decides to implement implicit bias training, make sure you ask them what else they plan on doing to promote equity and reduce discrimination. Shutting stores or implementing mandatory training will simply not be enough.”

The Conversation, May 27, 2018: “Starbucks and the impact of implicit bias training,” by Javeed Sukhera

CBC News, May 29, 2018: “'Behavioural change requires time': Starbucks closes U.S. stores for anti-bias training,” by Laura MacNaughton

Quartz at Work, May 29, 2018: “Starbucks has mastered the art of corporate contrition,” by Oliver Staley

Quartz at Work, May 30, 2018: “Sorry Starbucks, you did this to yourself,” by Annaliese Griffin

The New York Times, May 28, 2018: “Why Starbucks’s Bias Training, Despite Skepticism, Is an Important Start,” by Andrew Ross Sorkin

The New York Times, April 18, 2018: “Can Training Eliminate Biases? Starbucks Will Test the Thesis,” by  Noam Scheiber and Rachel Abrams

CBC News, May 4, 2018: “Starbucks to close Canadian stores to provide implicit bias training”

Test to Find Your Implicit Biases

[exceptionals]

If you want to test your unconscious biases about race, sexuality, gender, and mental health you can do so here

[science-junkie]

Implicit racism in academia by Tom Stafford

Subtle racism is prevalent in US and UK universities, according to a new paper commissioned by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and released last week, reports The Times Higher Education.

Black professors surveyed for the paper said they were treated differently than white colleagues in the form of receiving less eye contact or requests for their opinion, that they felt excluded in meetings and experienced undermining of their work. “I have to downplay my achievements sometimes to be accepted” said one academic, explaining that colleagues that didn’t expect a black woman to be clever and articulate. Senior managers often dismiss racist incidents as conflicts of personalities or believe them to be exaggerated, found the paper.

And all this in institutions where almost all staff would say they are not just “not racist” but where many would say they were actively committed to fighting prejudice.

This seems like a clear case of the operation of implicit biases – where there is a contradiction between people’s egalitarian beliefs and their racist actions. Implicit biases are an industry in psychology, where tools such as the implicit association test (IAT) are used to measure them. 

[...] Commonly, implicit biases are described as if they are unconscious or somehow outside of the awareness of those holding them. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been shown to be the case (in fact the opposite may be true – there’s some evidence that people can predict their IAT scores fairly accurately). Worse, the very idea of being unaware of a bias is badly specified. Does ‘unaware’ mean you aren’t aware of your racist feelings? Of your racist behaviour? Of that the feelings, in this case, have produced the behaviour?

The racist behaviours reported in the paper – avoiding eye-contact, assuming that discrimination is due to personalities and not race, etc – could all work at any or all of these levels of awareness. Although the behaviours are subtle, and contradict people’s expressed, anti-racist, opinions, the white academics could still be completely aware. They could know that black academics make them feel awkward or argumentative, and know that this is due to their race. Or they could be completely unaware. They could know that they don’t trust the opinions of certain academics, for example, but not realise that race is a factor in why they feel this way.

Just because the behaviour is subtle, or the psychological phenomenon is called ‘implicit’, doesn’t mean we can be certain about what people really know about it. The real value in the notion of implicit bias is that it reminds us that prejudice can exist in how we behave, not just in what we say and believe.

Source: Mind Hacks

[familyleague]

Leanetta Jessie, our wonderful Director of Disproportionate Minority Contact and Social Justice Initiatives, coordinated the Standing Up to Bias: Mine, Yours, Ours Training here at the Family League. Individuals across the city visited our offices to learn about implicit biases each one of has, and ways we can combat biased thoughts and behaviors against others.