Understanding Unconscious Bias

Jul 27, 2024

Lecture Notes: Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt on Unconscious Bias

Introduction

  • Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt, Stanford Professor of Psychology
  • MacArthur Genius Grant Awardee

Stories and Exercises

  • Iris
    • 28 years old, lives in LA, has a pet fish named Columbo
    • Working on her master's degree, brown belt in Taekwondo
  • Joy
    • 31 years old, lives in Boston, works as an administrator
    • Has a dog named Lily, loves horror movies, best friend is her sister Kate
  • Observations:
    • Participants were asked to identify Iris and Joy
    • Responses indicated a correlation between race and identification accuracy

Key Concepts

Other-Race Effect

  • Difficulty distinguishing faces from races other than our own
  • Results from less experience with diverse faces in daily life

Neural Basis of Face Perception

  • Fusiform Face Area (FFA): brain region responsible for face recognition
    • More active when seeing faces of one's own race
    • Neurons fire less vigorously for faces of other races
  • Experiences shape our brain’s wiring and influence how we categorize people

Unconscious Bias

  • Defined as beliefs and feelings that influence perceptions and actions, often without awareness
  • Examples include societal stereotypes (e.g. gender roles in professions, performance in tests)
  • Stereotype Activation:
    • Images can reinforce stereotypes (e.g. police officers being male)
    • Impact on Performance:
      • Gender identity can affect performance, particularly in math tests
      • Reminder of being a woman can lead to decreased performance due to stereotype
      • Prompting to think of being Asian can improve performance in math

Power of Bias

  • Bias can be unconscious, influencing outcomes and expectations
  • Common associations (e.g. lawyers as male, bankers as white) shape perceptions

Conclusion

  • Bias is inherent to being human; it helps sort stimuli effectively
  • However, unchecked unconscious bias can negatively impact social groups
  • Important to be aware of these biases and their consequences
  • Reflect on how personal experiences and societal beliefs shape perceptions
  • Recognize the importance of addressing biases for a better society.