Measuring Implicit Bias: How It Helps Your Practice

Measuring implicit bias can be used to determine whether a person prefers one group over another. Unconscious mental associations occur outside of conscious awareness, resulting in implicit bias. These implicit biases, which are frequently linked to behavior, can significantly impact how people interact with others. Understanding implicit bias is critical because it can lead to discrimination and impact your practice. This post will help you learn measuring implicit bias and why it is essential to address the effects of your biases.

What’s In The Article?

• How Implicit Bias Affects Your Practice

• Measuring Implicit Bias

• Understanding IAT

• Why Understanding Your Bias Is Important

• Final Thoughts

How Implicit Bias Affects Your Practice

Implicit bias is a type of unconscious bias that influences our decisions. It happens when we prefer one group over another, even if we don't realize it. For decades, people have been aware of the concept of implicit bias. It refers to the unconscious associations we form about people, which can also influence our judgment and behavior.

Implicit biases can lead to discriminatory behavior against people in groups associated with stereotypes because these biases are often formed from stereotypes and can be difficult to change. While these associations occur outside our conscious awareness, they are also difficult to control on our own. However, we can reduce their influence by participating in training programs or reading books about how our minds work.

Measuring Implicit Bias

Implicit measures can be used to determine whether a person prefers one group over another. The implicit association test (IAT), which measures response latency between two categories, is the most commonly used method of measuring implicit bias.  The IAT assesses the strength of your implicit biases by determining how quickly you associate certain words with one another. If your results show an automatic preference for one group over another, it may help explain why you may have acted in a biased or unfair manner, even if you did not intend to.

It is impossible to know what your results mean without first interpreting them. You will need to reflect on your findings and consider how they may relate to your practice. This can be difficult for some people because their scores may feel like an indictment against them or their identity, leading them to self-doubt and shame.  Here are some actionable steps you can take to assess your biases:

• Recognize your bias.

• Learn how to work around your biases.

• Recognize the distinction between implicit and explicit bias.

• Ensure you understand which practices are associated with implicit bias and work to change them if they don't result in positive outcomes.

• Learn how to recognize when you are engaging in unconscious thought patterns or behaviors influenced by stereotypes.

Understanding IAT

The IAT is a test that calculates the speed of your responses to assess implicit bias. It compares the response latency between two categories, such as white and black faces or female and male names. Participants are asked to categorize words or images based on their meaning, but with a twist. Some pairings are simpler than others because they make mathematical sense. This means that if participants take an IAT measuring racial bias and are faster at associating white faces with positive words than black faces, and vice versa for negative words, they are likely to have racial prejudice in their subconscious minds. Multiple IATs can also be used to measure different types of biases. For example, you can use three different IATs to determine your implicit bias toward race, gender, and age.

Because it provides a more accurate assessment than self-reporting alone, the test is frequently used in measuring implicit bias. People can consciously try to hide their biases, but they won't be able to change them on their own completely. They can shift these unconscious associations over time if they are made aware of them through testing and reflection.

You might also want to assess implicit attitudes toward people with disabilities and those who are overweight or obese. Because some people may not identify as having a disability or being overweight despite being diagnosed with an illness, creating a custom category may be beneficial rather than relying on existing categories provided by researchers in this field. As a result, these categories may not accurately reflect their self-perception compared to how society perceives them based on physical appearance.

Why Understanding Your Bias Is Important

You can only fix a problem if you're aware of it. The first step is understanding your implicit bias and how it affects your practice. Understanding your implicit bias can help you avoid unintentionally discriminating or harming others. 

It is critical to understand that implicit bias is not a conscious choice. This does not imply that you are a racist or a sexist. It means that your brain has learned certain associations and preferences without your knowledge through repeated exposure. These associations are frequently formed based on others' group membership rather than individual characteristics.

Final Thoughts

Understanding how to work with your biases is the first step toward addressing their effects. The good news is that you can now begin measuring implicit bias in various ways.

The IAT is one of the most widely used tools for assessing implicit bias, and it can be used to evaluate any type of bias, from race or gender to age or weight. But remember that even if you don't have any explicit biases against certain groups, they may exist implicitly. So, keep an eye out for any patterns in your behavior that may indicate unconscious prejudice against people in your practice setting from different backgrounds than yours, and then use that knowledge to motivate positive changes in yourself or your practice environment.