Implicit Bias, Do You Have It?

Our brains' automatic processing of derogatory perceptions about different groups of people that have become ingrained in our brains over time, often without our conscious knowledge, is known as implicit bias. Even when we think we don't have it, we do. They are the associations, attitudes, and beliefs that we have about certain topics or groups of people. While listening to the podcast A Lesson in How to Overcome Implicit Bias, they stated the perception of implicit bias perfectly by acknowledging that "biases do not make us bad people — they actually make us human — but that we do have a capacity to override them and it's really important for us to build in systems and practices that help us do that" (Chang, 2018). 

To determine implicit bias, I took a implicit association test about age (young and old). Since I am young and absolutely adore the elderly, I didn't believe I had an unconscious bias about this subject. I even put that I like young people and old people equally! However, to my surprise my responses indicated a strong autonomic preference for younger people than older people. I actually said to myself "there's no way this is right," but thinking it over I could understand why that might be. For starters, I am young and can easily relate to the younger population. Therefore my implicit preference for young people relative to old people meant that I was faster at sorting words when 'young people' and 'good' shared a button relative to when 'old people' and 'good' shared a button. Even though I might think all young individuals are youthful, beautiful and full of life and happiness, doesn't mean the same couldn't be said about the older individuals.

Overall, it was really interesting to see how even when you don't think you have an implicit bias toward a group of individuals, unconsciously you might. As future healthcare professionals it is important to be aware of implicit bias as it could affect your performance as a practitioner. Therefore, being mindful of our unconscious bias and understanding that we have the power to change it can make an impact on our personal lives and our potential clients.

Chang, A. (2018, April 19). A Lesson In How To Overcome Implicit Bias. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/04/19/604070231/a-lesson-in-how-to-overcome-implicit-bias.