Discover your Bias with Implicit Association Tests
- Authors: Dr. Tony Greenwald (Uni. of Washington), Dr. Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard Uni.), Dr. Brian Nosek (Uni. of Virginia), Dr. Bethany Teachman (Uni. of Virginia), Dr. Matt Nock (Harvard Uni.)
- Initiated in: 2011
- Keywords: Diversity, bias, recruitment
The implicit association test is a part of a project to collect data on implicit bias. 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 test shows your implicit associations, and thus some of the implicit (or unconscious) bias we all have. The test compares test takers and places your results in regard to the many other results of former test takers, so that you can see how much bias you have, and which way it leans, in the area tested.
You can test yourself in a multitude of different areas, among others disability, ethnicity, weight, and age. The results will tell you where your bias, and thus your unconscious preference, lies.
Bias is something we all have, and it is neither good nor bad, it is just a part of our decision-making process as human beings. That means you can’t “get rid of” bias, but you can become more aware of which way your own unconscious preferences leans, and thus try to design decision-making processes that minimize those preferences affecting the decision. This is something that is done in the design of science experiments all the time.
Biases are generally affected by cultural norms, and so the place and people that raised you, the media you consumed and the school you attended will have shaped your bias.
Common biases are:
- Confirmation bias – to tend to look for or remember information that confirms your preconceptions of the world (e.g. reading only or mostly news that align with your beliefs and perspectives).
- Gender bias – e.g., the assumption that women are more caring and thus more qualified for jobs requiring ‘soft skills’, or the assumption that people or animals are male in the absence of any indicator of gender.
- Racial bias – A distortion arising from systemic, institutional, interpersonal or individual forms of explicit or implicit prejudice, based on social constructs of race or ethnicity that influences how non-caucasian people are perceived. (e.g. assuming jobs or employee levels based on ethnicity)
Some common and well-known examples of bias in Western societies: people tend to associate people wearing glasses with being smart, people with curly hair as being funny and people with white coats as having authority. If you want to read more about the different types of bias, you can start on Wikipedia.
Since bias affects our decision-making, when looking at organisations, it is especially relevant in the recruitment process. Having your recruitment leads or board take the implicit association test can be a good step to raise self-awareness and lead to more diversity in the hiring process. Other actions could include making sure the recruitment / interview panel is diverse as well as filtering gender/age/address out in the initial selection process.