Explaining 10 Examples of Unconscious Bias Everyone Should Be Aware Of

 

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Unintentional biases learned from our environment and can influence our perceptions in either a positive or negative way are known as unconscious biases. Because our brains evolved to take mental shortcuts, everyone demonstrates some degree of unconscious bias at least occasionally. We can consciously process around 40 bits of information per second, but our subconscious mind can handle about 11 million bits per second unintentionally.

Taking the mental shortcut of processing information subconsciously saves us time and energy. The top 10 examples of unconscious biases that everyone should be aware of are:

Gender bias — Cultural norms associate certain traits with being male or female, like men being logical leaders and women being caring. However, gender exists on a complex spectrum and there is no scientific basis for gender-specific traits. People demonstrating traits stereotypically associated with the opposite gender can face issues like being ignored at work or seen as too emotional.

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Beauty bias — Research shows physically attractive people are treated better simply due to their looks. Studies found people assigned more positive character traits to beautiful individuals versus unattractive people. attractiveness was also linked to perceptions of reliability.

Ageism — People can be negatively judged or have limitations unfairly imposed simply due to their age, such as seeing the elderly as less capable. Two out of three employees over age 45 report facing age discrimination at work.

Halo/horn effect — Our initial impressions of people impact how we perceive other traits, for better or worse. If someone makes a good first impression, we assume other positive traits. A single negative trait can lead us to assume other flaws.

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Confirmation bias — We unconsciously seek information confirming our preexisting beliefs and reject disconfirming information, hindering open-minded thinking.

Attribution bias — We take personal credit for successes but blame outside factors for failures, rather than objectively analyzing situations.

Conformity bias — Our ancestral need to conform for survival still subtly influences us today, such as following the crowd even when unethical.

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Affinity bias — We gravitate toward similarities, but this can limit diversity of thought and unjustly exclude differences.

Contrast effect — Direct comparisons improperly influence our evaluations instead of considering each item on its own merits.

Name bias — Even names can unintentionally impact how we perceive people, like associating professional success more with common Anglo names.