Discover Bias in Your Thinking

You’ve probably heard the word bias – but what does it mean exactly?

A bias is when you judge someone or something unfairly. It might be that you judge someone too nicely – for example, always supporting a friend even when that friend does something mean. Or it might be judging someone unkindly without a reason – for example, not trusting people who look different from you.

A bias is an assumption we make, usually without realizing it. Biases cause seriously problems – they might hurt friendships, cause you to treat people unfairly or be treated unfairly, or make mistakes in your decisions.

Luckily, we’re not stuck with our biases forever. We can find them and start to let them go. The more we do, the more we can be friends with all kinds of people, the happier we’ll be, and the fairer world we’ll make. So the challenge here is to find at least 1 bias – ideally more, since we all have many – and start becoming free of it.

Getting Started:

1. Look for stereotypes in your thinking: Stereotypes are beliefs, usually false, that are held to be true about a certain group. For example, maybe you think that all cats are sleepy and self-centered. That’s a silly one, but there are many really hurtful and untrue stereotypes about groups of humans out there, based on where they’re from, what religion they practice, what skin color they have, their gender, etc. See if you can think of 3 people you know who aren’t like you — it could be they’re a different gender, race, nationality, religion, etc — and write down some assumptions you have about them. Then look at those assumptions and ask: is it possible this is actually a stereotype, and not always (or ever) true about this person? Chances are you will find many stereotypes in there, and you can then become more aware and not believe these automatically any more.

   

2. Catch Your Brain in Affinity Bias: One of the most common forms of bias is to trust people who seem like us, and to be skeptical of others. Let’s say you were born female and identify as female now. It’s likely that you trust other females a little more than you do males, at least until you notice that bias. Can you catch yourself in the act of being biased, by noticing when you are suspicious of someone who is different from you, or automatically trusting someone like you? See if you can find at least one situation, over a time of perhaps 2 days, when this happened.
   

3. Look for cognitive bias: Did you know that the Wikipedia page for Cognitive Bias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases) lists 188 forms of bias? There are so many ways that bias creeps into our thinking! Try to find at least one that applies to you.
   

4. Once you’re aware, make a change in your behavior: Once you’ve found a bias, can you think of a way to undo it through your actions? For example, let’s say you’ve discovered a bias that you don’t trust certain kinds of people. Your action in response could be to befriend people who are different from you. Find a behavior that lets you “break through” that bias and show yourself that it is not true.
   

5. Ask friends and family to help point out your blind spots and hold you accountable. It is impossible to catch all of your own biases. It takes other people to help us. You can explain to your friends and family that you are trying to improve yourself in this way, and ask them to let you know if they see you acting with bias, like making an unfair assumption about someone or something.