What Is Bias? – Meaning, Attributes, Examples, 20 Ways To Deal With Bias
Table of Contents
As humans, we are all susceptible to bias, a powerful force we may not even realize is affecting us. It can have a significant impact on how we perceive the world around us, how we make decisions, and how we interact with others.
Bias can be subtle, but it is everywhere and can affect many different aspects of our lives, such as education, employment, and socialization. To create a more fair and inclusive society, it is important to understand the nature of bias and how it can influence us.
By recognizing and examining our preferences, we can work towards more unbiased decision-making and promote equality.
Collins English Dictionary defines Bias as a tendency to prefer one person or thing to another and to favour that person or thing.
Bias is often based on preconceived notions or stereotypes rather than actual knowledge or experience and is considered unfair or prejudicial. Biases can be learned or innate and can develop at any stage in a person’s life.
While biases can sometimes be beneficial, they are typically harmful. Sometimes, bias may be unconscious, and the individual may not be aware that they are exhibiting bias towards others. This is a uniquely human trait.
This article will unveil the examples and biases and how to deal with them.
The prevailing biases often stem from the following attributes;
- cultural background
- personal beliefs
- media influence
- sexual identity
- experiences
- Academic history
- Gender
What Are Examples Of Bias?
Unconscious bias
Implicit bias, also referred to as unconscious bias, is a type of bias that differs significantly from conscious bias. Unlike conscious bias, implicit bias is a set of beliefs and attitudes that operate beyond an individual’s conscious awareness or control.
These biases can contradict the values and beliefs that a person thinks they hold, and they may not even be aware that they possess them or that they are influencing their attitudes and actions.
Unconscious biases are challenging to detect and can significantly impact an individual’s behaviour more than conscious biases without the individual realizing it. Implicit bias is typically not intentional, as individuals may not be aware of their biases and the effects they have.
Types Of Unconscious Bias
Affinity Bias
Affinity bias is the unconscious inclination to favour individuals with qualities or characteristics similar to one’s own. People are likelier to connect with others with common interests, experiences, and backgrounds.
This bias can come into play when individuals prefer those who display similar attributes to themselves.
Gender Bias
Gender bias is when decisions are made based on a preference for a specific gender, typically influenced by stereotypes and strong beliefs about gender roles.
Beauty Bias
This means unfairly judging others based on appearance, believing that attractive people are more successful, capable, and qualified than unattractive people. Essentially, a person’s physical appearance is used to make assumptions about their character and abilities.
Ageism
Ageism is having unfavourable emotions towards someone or treating them unfairly because of their age. Women are more subjected to ageism than men.
Conscious Bias
Explicit bias, or conscious bias, refers to an intentional and conscious bias. It occurs when individuals are aware of their biased attitudes and beliefs and act accordingly.
People with explicit biases are often vocal about their opinions and demonstrate discriminatory behaviour towards certain individuals or groups. This bias is processed at a conscious level, and extreme cases can result in negative actions such as verbal or physical harassment or exclusion of people.
Prejudice is often associated with conscious biases, and it is common for people with explicit biases to discriminate against specific individuals or groups.
Cognitive Bias
The most prevalent form of bias is known as cognitive bias. This type of bias is characterized by a deviation from the standards of judgment, whereby an individual may draw inferences, assessments, or perceptions that are considered irrational.
Additionally, cognitive bias may lead to incorrect recollections of past experiences. Such perceptions can influence an individual’s behaviour or attitude, positively or negatively.
Type Of Cognitive Bias
Anchoring Bias
The anchoring bias is a cognitive tendency to give excessive weight or importance to the initial information or a single characteristic you encounter. In simpler terms, the first information you receive or a particular trait can significantly influence your judgment more than any other data you may obtain later.
Optimism Bias
This refers to the inclination to have excessive positivity and overestimate the probability of achieving positive results and success while underestimating the likelihood of facing negative outcomes, difficulties, or adversities.
The Halo Effect
The halo effect can lead to biased decision-making when an individual is fixated on a single outstanding quality of a person and disregards all other aspects. This occurs when a particular characteristic shapes an individual’s thoughts or feelings towards someone.
Such a positive or negative attribute can impact the assessment of the individual’s other qualities or traits. The halo effect is most frequently associated with physical attractiveness.
Prejudices
Prejudice is a preconceived notion or judgment that individual forms before obtaining relevant information or facts. When a bias occurs, it usually results in a negative or unfavourable preconception.
Attribution Bias
The way we comprehend and interpret our own and other people’s actions can be influenced by attribution bias. We often make assumptions and judgments about why individuals behave in certain ways, but sometimes these attributions are not completely accurate and can lead to bias in decision-making.
Contextual Bias
This describes a situation where well-meaning experts can make incorrect decisions due to external or irrelevant influences, leading to a loss of objectivity and the development of subconscious expectations.
This type of bias can be found in various fields such as academia, research, forensic analysis, publications, court proceedings, and even in media reporting, where it can impact story selection and reporting.
Conformity Bias
When people want to be accepted by a social group, conformity bias can occur when they tend to conform to the majority’s views within the group, even if they disagree with those views on an individual level.
Statistical Bias
The process of collecting data can be influenced by statistical bias, which can affect how the research sample is chosen and the data is gathered. This can lead to inaccurate results that do not reflect the true representation.
Some examples of statistical bias are forecast bias, selection bias, reporting bias, social desirability bias, and the observer-expectancy effect.
20 Ways To Deal With Biases
- Foster awareness
- Acknowledge our unconscious biases
- Evaluate the present influences on your decisions
- Make deliberate and thoughtful choices
- Cultivate curiosity
- Monitor your actions
- Strive for a growth mindset
- Pay attention to biases tied to protected characteristics
- Identify personal discomfort triggers
- Expand your social network
- Embrace alternative perspectives
- Establish behavioural guidelines
- Seek diverse viewpoints
- Avoid assumptions and reliance on instincts
- Apologize for mistakes
- Seek evidence that challenges your beliefs
- Utilize schedules to prevent stereotyping
- Speak up against bias
- Cultivate intellectual humility
- Strive to enhance empathy and foster empathetic communication.
