Learn more about implicit bias using the 2015 annual review by the Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. The institute offers insights into implicit bias for those who wish to understand how we socially reproduce racism or sexism as individuals and groups without thinking.
A Few Key Characteristics of Implicit Biases:
- Implicit biases are pervasive. Everyone possesses them, even people with avowed commitments to impartiality such as judges.
- Implicit and explicit biases are related but distinct mental constructs. They are not mutually exclusive and may even reinforce each other.
- The implicit associations we hold do not necessarily align with our declared beliefs or even reflect stances we would explicitly endorse.
- We generally tend to hold implicit biases that favor our own ingroup, though research has shown that we can still hold implicit biases against our ingroup.
- Implicit biases are malleable. Our brains are incredibly complex, and the implicit associations that we have formed can be gradually unlearned through a variety of debiasing techniques.
http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/researchandstrategicinitiatives/implicit-bias-review/
The Kirwin Institute has collaborated with MTV to offer young folk an implicit bias test and a 10-day fast. Check their website here: http://www.lookdifferent.org/what-can-i-do/implicit-association-test.