bias experience essay brainly

ENG 112: Writing and Community

• Finding the Right Words

What Is Bias?

Bias and multiple viewpoints.

• Choosing Sources
• Searching Catalogs and Databases
• The Writing Process
• Level Up: LibKey Nomad
• Level Up: Google Scholar

Personal narratives are full of bias--the way we perceive the world is filtered through our personal beliefs, wants, and experiences.  Bias is an inclination towards or away from an idea or concept.  This bias influences how we tell a story.  Often, people think of bias in negative ways--prejudice, discrimination, intolerance--but bias is a little less extreme than prejudice, and it can be used in a positive way.  Persuasive speeches and narratives are all about bias coupled with facts; you are attempting to persuade people to do or think a certain way based on facts, yes--but usually these speeches are often peppered with emotional narratives, too.  Have you or someone you know received a letter in the mail from a charity asking for a donation?  Yes, they'll tell you facts about how many people are homeless or how many abused dogs they rescue in a year, but they couple this with emotional impact, using photos and stories about how "Ryan" lost his job or how "Prince", a pit bull, was tied out on a hot day with no water.  In some cases, they will ask for something specific because they want you, as their audience, to know how you can personally make a difference (for just $3 a month, you can help provide Prince with medical care and food).  You're more likely to give if you know your money is going to feed an abused dog, right?  And giving that dog a name makes it seem more personal--you're not just helping any dog, you're helping Prince .  Who wouldn't want to help a poor, defenseless dog, right?

But what if you were hurt by a dog, maybe a pit bull that looked a lot like Prince, and now you're afraid of dogs, and pit bulls in particular?  Your own bias may tell you that Prince was tied up because he's mean, even if he's really not, and you don't want to give money to an organization that helps pit bulls--or maybe even dogs in general.  Your personal bias against dogs means you probably get rid of the letter without even opening it.  Personal experiences lead to personal beliefs and bias, and that influences behavior.  

When thinking about your stakeholders, keep in mind that your topic is not neutral to them--they're going to have their own opinions and viewpoints, perhaps shaped by personal experiences that may be traumatic or may be wonderful.  (Not all biases are against something--some are for something.)  Thinking about who your stakeholders are not only helps you think about the who that is impacted, but the how and the why.  This could also lead to what research you'll be looking for for your facts--do you need to look for polls or surveys?  Statistics?  Important court cases?  Past historical events that were newsworthy?  Think about your topic and ask yourself:  "If I were this person, how would this effect me?"

Let's take this meme as an example:

The first two ways I can think to approach this meme would be the pet obesity problem, and the human obesity problem.  (Remember, with animal memes, it's possible the creator is using the animal as a stand-in for a human.)  So depending on which way I go, I could choose a veterinarian or a doctor (or nurse) as a stakeholder.  What would they have to say about this?  What would, if we choose to use the human angle, an overweight person say?   Is this offensive and if so, how?  Why?  Really study your meme for both the good and bad stereotypes, prejudices, and biases, including your own.  What do you think--and how does your bias shift if you think about it in terms of the animal versus the human projection?

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Evaluating Sources

Understanding bias.

Bias means presenting facts and arguments in a way that consciously favours one side or other in an argument. Is bias bad or wrong?

No! Everyone who argues strongly for something is biased. So it’s not enough, when you are doing a language analysis, to merely spot some bias and say…”This writer is biased” or “This speaker is biased.”

Let’s begin by reading a biased text.

Hypocrites gather to feed off Daniel’s tragic death

The death of two-year-old Daniel Valerio at the hands of his step-father brought outrage from the media.

Daniel suffered repeated beatings before the final attack by Paul Alton, who was sentenced in Melbourne in February to 22 years jail.

Rupert Murdoch’s Herald-Sun launched a campaign which included a public meeting of hundreds of readers. Time magazine put Daniel on its front cover. The Herald-Sun summed up their message:

The community has a duty to protect our children from abuse – if necessary by laws that some people regard as possibly harsh or unnecessary.

But laws – like making it compulsory for doctors and others to report suspected abuse – cannot stop the violence.

Last year, 30 children were murdered across Australia. Babies under one are more likely to be killed than any other social group.

Daniel’s murder was not a horrific exception but the product of a society that sends some of its members over the edge into despairing violence.

The origin of these tragedies lies in the enormous pressures on families, especially working class families.

The media and politicians wring their hands over a million unemployed. But they ignore the impact that having no job, or a stressful poorly paid job, can have.

Child abuse can happen in wealthy families. But generally it is linked to poverty.

A survey in 1980 of “maltreating families” showed that 56.5 per cent were living in poverty and debt. A further 20 per cent expressed extreme anxiety about finances.

A study in Queensland found that all the children who died from abuse came from working class families.

Police records show that school holidays – especially Xmas – are peak times for family violence. “The sad fact is that when families are together for longer than usual, there tends to be more violence”, said one Victorian police officer.

Most people get by. Family life may get tense, but not violent.

But a minority cannot cope and lash out at the nearest vulnerable person to hand – an elderly person, a woman, or a child.

Compulsory reporting of child abuse puts the blame on the individual parents rather than the system that drives them to this kind of despair.

Neither is it a solution. Daniel was seen by 21 professionals before he was killed. Nonetheless, the Victorian Liberal government has agreed to bring it in.

Their hypocrisy is breathtaking.

This is the same government that is sacking 250 fire-fighters, a move that will lead to more deaths.

A real challenge to the basis of domestic violence means a challenge to poverty.

Yet which side were the media on when Labor cut the under-18 dole, or when Jeff Kennett[1] added $30 a week to the cost of sending a child to kindergarten?

To really minimise family violence, we need a fight for every job and against every cutback.

– by David Glanz, The Socialist , April 1993

There are good and bad aspects of bias.

• (a) Deliberately avoid mentioning any of the opposing arguments.
• (b) Deliberately avoid mentioning relevant facts or information that would undermine your own case.
• (c) Get into hyperbole.
• (d) Make too much use of emotive language.
• (e) Misuse or distort statistics.
• (f) Use negative adjectives when talking about people you disagree with, but use positive adjectives when talking about people you agree with.
• Can you find examples of any of these “naughty” ways to be biased in Glaz’s article?
• You mustn’t assume that because a person writes with a particular bias he/she is not being sincere, or that he/she has not really thought the issue through. The person is not just stating what he/she thinks, he/she is trying to persuade you about something.

Bias can result from the way you have organised your experiences in your own mind. You have lumped some experiences into the ‘good’ box and some experiences into the ‘bad’ box. Just about everybody does this[3]. The way you have assembled and valued experiences in your mind is called your Weltanschauung (Velt-arn-shao-oong). If through your own experience, plus good thinking about those experiences, you have a better understanding of something, your bias is indeed a good thing.

For example, if you have been a traffic policeman, and have seen lots of disasters due to speed and alcohol, it is not ‘wrong’ for you to biased against fast cars and drinking at parties and pubs. Your bias is due to your better understanding of the issue, but you still have to argue logically .

Really naughty bias

4. If you pretend to be objective, to not take sides, but actually use techniques that tend to support one side of an argument, in that case you are being naughty. There are subtle ways to do this.

(a) If the support for one side of the argument is mainly at the top of the article, and the reasons to support the opposite side of the issue are mainly at the bottom end of the article; that might be subtle bias – especially if it was written by a journalist. Journalists are taught that many readers only read the first few paragraphs of an article before moving on to reading another article, so whatever is in the first few paragraphs will be what sticks in the reader’s mind.

(b) Quotes from real people are stronger emotionally than just statements by the writer. This is especially true if the person being quoted is an ‘authority’ on the subject, or a ‘celebrity’. So if one side of the issue is being supported by lots of quotes, and the other side isn’t, that is a subtle form of bias.

(c) If when one person is quoted as saying X, but the very next sentence makes that quote sound silly or irrational, that is a subtle form of bias too.

Common sense tells us that if someone is making money out of something, he/she will be biased in favour of it.

For example, a person who makes money out of building nuclear reactors in Europe or China could be expected to support a change in policy in Australia towards developing nuclear energy.

Nonetheless, logically speaking, we cannot just assume a person who is making money out of something will always take sides with whomever or whatever will make him/her more money.

We have to listen to the arguments as they come up. Assuming someone is biased is not logically okay.  You have to show that someone is biased and use evidence to support your assertion that he/she is biased.

[1] Jeff Kennett was the leader of the Liberal party in Victoria at that time.

[2] When you are a partisan you have taken sides in an argument, or a battle, or a war.

[3] Learning critical thinking (which is what you are learning in Year 11 and 12 English) is aimed at getting you to do more, and better, thinking than that.

• Image of Bias. Authored by : Franco Folini. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/jFQwC . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
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12.8 Spotlight on … Bias in Language and Research

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Avoid bias and stereotyping in your writing.
• Evaluate sources for language bias and stereotyping.

When you begin any research project, it is important to have set checks and balances to ensure you are not unknowingly imposing your own biases into your research. A bias is a personal and usually unreasoned judgment, or a prejudice. Although it may be impossible to function without any bias (good or bad), you can consider possible components of bias in your research. No document can be completely objective, for all documents are created by people who have been socialized in some way; therefore, it is helpful to think about the biases of authors of research documents. Many researchers are clear about their biases and state them in introductions to their writings, whereas others may use—or omit—evidence in a way that implies bias for or against the topic.

As a student researcher, seek to be as transparent and critically self-reflective as possible about your preconceptions and language use. Although you will revisit the concept of bias in source selection in The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources , in this section you will look at bias in topic choice and language use.

Language Bias

Language bias refers to words and expressions that are offensive, demeaning, or prejudicial toward individuals or groups on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, appearance, physical or mental abilities, or sexual orientation. One form of language bias is sexist language that includes only one gender. The most common occurrence is use of the word man or men to stand for all people—including those who are not male. Language has changed to be more inclusive, with terms such as firefighter replacing fireman and mail carrier replacing mailman .

Another kind of language bias focuses on people’s health or abilities, indicating a person as a “victim” of a certain disease or “suffering from it.” Use unbiased language to identify the person as someone “with X disease.” Similarly, refer to a “person who is blind” rather than a “blind person.” This kind of language focuses on the person, not the disease or ability.

To avoid language bias, follow these guidelines:

• Use currently accepted terminology when referring to groups of people. If you are writing about a group of people and are unsure of the proper terminology, research the most recent usage patterns before you write. The same is true for pronoun references, about which you can find more information in Editing Focus: Pronouns and Pronouns .
• Be sensitive when referring to people with disabilities by using a “people first” approach. For example, say “a person who uses a wheelchair” instead of “a wheelchair-bound person.”
• Avoid stereotyping—that is, attributing positive or negative characteristics to people on the basis of groups to which they belong. Although not strictly linguistic, stereotyping comes through in making assumptions about people. A stereotypical attitude would be to assume that all or most rich people act in certain ways and, conversely, that all or most poor people act in certain ways. Another stereotypical attitude would be to assume that a person who comes from a particular area of the country adheres to a certain political agenda.

Assignment: Reviewing Your Research Essay for Language Bias

First, review your essay, and speculate as to biases or blocks you may have incorporated while researching and writing. Freewrite, reflecting on these possibilities. Next, go through your essay one section at a time, and highlight any people references, pronouns, biased language, and instances of possible stereotyping. Using the information above and your reflective freewrite, complete a bias chart like the one shown in Table 12.9 . Next, exchange your essay with two other classmates to see whether they detect bias of which you were unaware. After receiving feedback from two or three people, form a group and discuss what each of you found and how to use alternative language or references. Finally, revisit your freewriting after collaborating with your classmates to reconsider what you wrote before. Add a section to the freewrite in which you relate what your group discussed and what you may have learned from that discussion.

Publish Your Work

After completing your argumentative research paper, you should have a product to be proud of. Your instructor may have a plan to publish papers written by class members, or you may be interested in publishing on your own and joining a wider scholarly conversation. Consider submitting your work to one of these journals that publish undergraduate research:

• Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research
• Crossing Borders: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship
• Liberated Arts: A Journal for Undergraduate Research
• Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research

In addition, if you have designed your research project as a solution to a local problem, consider finding venues to disseminate the information to those for whom it would be the most useful. This decision may mean adjusting the format, tone, language, and/or conventions of your work to address the needs of a specific audience.

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Scholarly Voice: Avoiding Bias

Basics of avoiding bias.

Writers should write objectively and inclusively to receive respect and trust from readers, as well as to avoid alienating readers. To be objective means to write with curiosity, rather than having a preset opinion, and to engage with research, rather than presenting a personal preference.

Being objective in your writing is a skill that you will develop, just like your academic voice. Though having a passion for your topic makes the writing process easier, it is important not to let it take over your draft. Here are some tips for keeping objectivity and eliminating bias.

Generalization

Stay away from generalization by avoiding stated or implied all or never assertions:

Biased: Educators do not consider each child's particular learning style when developing lessons.

This sentence does not acknowledge the variation within the population of educators, implying that all educators are like this.

Better: Some educators do not consider each child's particular learning style when developing lessons.

This sentence acknowledges that there are some educators who do not fall into this category, that all educators are not the same.

Support statements with research or answer the question, "according to which researchers?":

Biased: Third-grade boys are chronically disruptive, while the girls are always eager to please.

Here, all boys are generalized as having the same disruptive behavior, while the writer is also assuming all girls are better behaved, showing a bias toward girls.

Better: In Clooney's (2008) study of Kansas City third graders, 35% of the boys and 68% of the girls were able to complete instructions for a tedious assignment without showing signs of agitation.

This sentence is more specific, telling the reader the exact percentage of girls and boys that exhibited the behavior, avoiding the assumptions implied by the previous vague phrasing.

Self-Awareness

Be aware of your own biases and how these may be expressed in writing. This includes:

Assumptions about professions.

Biased: The teacher should use technology when she is teaching her class.

This sentence assumes that teachers are female, making assumptions about the gender of this profession and creating gender bias.

Better: Teachers should use technology when they are teaching their classes.

This statement does not use gender-specific pronouns, but acknowledges a teacher can be male, female, or another gender. Note that this sentence avoids bias by changing the singular "teacher" to be plural and uses plural pronouns.

Beliefs about specific populations.

Biased: Family is very important to the Hispanic population in my town.

This sentence assumes that all people of Hispanic heritage consider family to be important, especially those in the author's town. There is not any room given for difference between these families or recognizing that some people of Hispanic heritage may not consider family to be important.

Better: According to Watson (2011), family is important to 47% of the Hispanic families in Auburn, Indiana.

This revision is more specific and considers the individual differences between Hispanic families by reporting the specific percentage of those who consider family to be important. It also gives specific information about who conducted the study and where, giving credibility to the writer.

Statements based solely on personal experience.

Biased: My daughter texts constantly, which shows that teenagers use cell phones more than they did in the past.

This statement makes an assumption about all teenagers without basing it on research, but on the author's own personal experience. While personal experiences are sometimes helpful, use them as supporting examples, rather than the sole basis for assertions.

Better: Teenagers' use of cell phones, specifically for texting, has increased 33% in the last 2 years (McDonald, 2011).

This sentence presents the same assertion, but uses specific statistical data to support the idea. Rather than basing this statement on one teenager's behavior, it uses a study that surveyed a larger sample of teenagers.

Objectivity

Bias does not just have negative implications; writers who are too sympathetic are also displaying bias. Giving an overly favorable opinion of someone can eliminate objectivity.

Biased: While all teachers are very good at helping students learn, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) hinders teachers, not allowing them to serve students well. Without NCLB, teachers would be able to perform their jobs perfectly.

This statement is sympathetic towards teachers, stating that all teachers could help students if only the government had not passed NCLB. It assumes all teachers excel at helping students, not allowing for the possibility that some teachers are not very good at their jobs.

Better: While most teachers are able to help students learn, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) hinders teachers, making it more difficult to serve students well. Although there are other issues that affect teachers' ability to perform their jobs well, without NCLB more teachers would serve their students better.

This revision takes into account that there are other issues affecting teachers' performance besides No Child Left Behind and provides a more balanced view of teachers' abilities to help students.

Sensitivity

Sensitive language helps you avoid bias. Consult APA 7, "Chapter 5: Bias-Free Language Guidelines," for more information.

Be specific rather than descriptive.

Biased: I surveyed older adults while collecting data.

This statement does not give specific information about the age of the participants, allowing the reader to make assumptions. Without specific information, "older adults" could refer to anyone who is 65 years and older.

Better: I surveyed participants between ages 70 and 84 while collecting data.

This statement specifically tells the reader what the age range was for the participants in this survey, ensuring that the reader does not make assumptions about the ages of the participants.

Keep wording parallel.

Biased: The man and female turned out to be the directors of the Red Cross.

While "man" is fine on its own, paired with "female," it is not parallel. Additionally, "female" should only be used as an adjective (i.e., "the female participant"), not as a noun (like in this sentence). Instead, always use "man" with "woman" and "male" with "female" and only use "male" and "female" as adjectives and "man" and "woman" as nouns.

Better: The man and woman turned out to be the directors of the Red Cross.

In this sentence, the parallel terms "man" and "woman" are used. Also, "female" and "male" are not used as nouns at all.

Use up-to-date terms for sexual identity.

Biased: The population who were homosexual in the survey responded "No" 75% of the time (Martin, 2010).

In this sentence, the entire population is considered to be "homosexual," which is not very descriptive. Per APA (2020), "homosexual" is not a specific enough term (p. 147).

Better: The population who were lesbian responded "No" 75% of the time (Martin, 2010).

Instead, in this sentence, the term "lesbian" is used to be more specific about the sexual orientation of the population surveyed.

Terms for sexual identity change over time. Consult with the individuals and communities you are researching about the terms they use to identify themselves and use those terms in your writing.

Use parallel racial and ethnic identity terms.

Biased: Those surveyed who are African American responded similarly to those who reported being White. In comparison, the non-Whites also responded similarly to the Asians surveyed.

There are many forms of nonparallel terms here. The term "African American" is paired with "White," which is not parallel. The African American population is also labeled as "non-Whites," using one racial group as the primary group. The term "Asian" is also not parallel.

Better: Those surveyed who are African American responded similarly to those who reported being European American. In comparison, the African Americans also responded similarly to the Japanese Americans surveyed.

This sentence uses parallel terms for all racial identities, as well as using the specific term "Japanese American."

Use people-first language when discussing labels.

Biased : The epileptics consulted with specialists during the trial to address their particular needs.

This sentence defines people by a label instead of acknowledging that they are people first.

Better : The individuals with epilepsy consulted with specialists during the trial to address their particular needs.

Here, the personhood of the individuals is affirmed and placed first in the sentence. This way, the reader sees the person first, then the label. Also note that the APA (2020) manual provides "General Guidelines for Reducing Bias." APA instructs writers to "be sensitive to labels" and that researchers should "respect the language people’ use to describe themselves" (p. 133).

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

Gender-Neutral Pronouns

Walden University is an inclusive institution that serves a diverse population of students. Committed to broadening the university’s understanding of inclusivity and diversity, Walden accepts gender-neutral pronouns in student writing. This practice acknowledges APA’s endorsement of the singular "they" and embraces alternative pronouns currently in circulation (e.g., the nominatives xe, ve, ze/zir, ey, and zhe and their associated derivations). Walden recognizes that discussion around gender identity is ongoing. As such, the university will accept any pronoun in student writing so long as evidence can be provided that it is accepted as a respectful term by the community it represents.

People-First and Identity-First Language Policy

Walden University follows APA standards for bias in language recommendations when referring to groups or individuals. Student writers should ensure that they are following the conventions and preferences of all the group or population they are describing. This may mean person-first language or identity-first language. Whichever the student writer chooses should be done with intention and respect.

As such, while the APA (2020) recommends using people-first language when addressing persons with disabilities (e.g., children with ADHD; p. 13). It is important to follow the convention and preferences of the group. 

Alternatively, APA and Walden also recognize that certain groups or subgroups thereof prefer identity-first language (e.g., autistic children, p. 136). Form and Style Editors will accept people-first and/or identity-first language in student capstone writing so long as evidence can be provided that it is accepted as a respectful term by the community it represents.

Walden student writers should refer to APA for guidance as well as the preferences of the groups they are describing. More information can be found in the APA Manual’s guidance on Choosing Between Person-First and Identify-First Language (and other, relevant information) in APA Section 5 on Bias-Free Language, and Section 5.4, specifically. 

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III. Rhetorical Situation

3.8 Bias in Writing

Kathryn Crowther; Lauren Curtright; Nancy Gilbert; Barbara Hall; Tracienne Ravita; and Kirk Swenson

Everyone has various biases on any number of topics. For example, you might have a bias toward listening to music radio stations rather than talk radio or news programs. You might have a bias toward working at night rather than in the morning, or working by deadlines rather than getting tasks done in advance. These examples identify minor biases, of course, but they still indicate preferences and opinions.

Handling bias in writing and in daily life can be a useful skill. It will allow you to articulate your own points of view while also defending yourself against unreasonable points of view. The ideal in persuasive writing is to let your reader know your bias, but do not let that bias blind you to the primary components of good argumentation: sound, thoughtful evidence and a respectful and reasonable address of opposing sides.

The strength of a personal bias is that it can motivate you to construct a strong argument. If you are invested in the topic, you are more likely to care about the piece of writing. Similarly, the more you care, the more time and effort you will put forth and the better the final product will be. The weakness of bias is when the bias begins to take over the essay—when, for example, you neglect opposing ideas, exaggerate your points, or repeatedly insert yourself ahead of the subject by using “I” too often. Being aware of all three of these pitfalls will help you avoid them.

This section contains material from:

Crowther, Kathryn, Lauren Curtright, Nancy Gilbert, Barbara Hall, Tracienne Ravita, and Kirk Swenson. Successful College Composition . 2nd edition. Book 8. Georgia: English Open Textbooks, 2016. http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/8 . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .

To have a particular opinion or attitude about a subject that is based in feeling, inclination, or tendency rather than researched facts; preconceived notions.

Informed Arguments: A Guide to Writing and Research Copyright © 2022 by Kathryn Crowther; Lauren Curtright; Nancy Gilbert; Barbara Hall; Tracienne Ravita; and Kirk Swenson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How Does Implicit Bias Influence Behavior?

Strategies to Reduce the Impact of Implicit Bias

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Akeem Marsh, MD, is a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist who has dedicated his career to working with medically underserved communities.

Getty Images 

• Measurement
• Discrimination

An implicit bias is an unconscious association, belief, or attitude toward any social group. Implicit biases are one reason why people often attribute certain qualities or characteristics to all members of a particular group, a phenomenon known as stereotyping .

It is important to remember that implicit biases operate almost entirely on an unconscious level . While explicit biases and prejudices are intentional and controllable, implicit biases are less so.

A person may even express explicit disapproval of a certain attitude or belief while still harboring similar biases on a more unconscious level. Such biases do not necessarily align with our own sense of self and personal identity. People can also hold positive or negative associations about their own race, gender, religion, sexuality, or other personal characteristics.

Causes of Implicit Bias

While people might like to believe that they are not susceptible to these implicit biases and stereotypes, the reality is that everyone engages in them whether they like it or not. This reality, however, does not mean that you are necessarily prejudiced or inclined to discriminate against other people. It simply means that your brain is working in a way that makes associations and generalizations.

In addition to the fact that we are influenced by our environment and stereotypes that already exist in the society into which we were born, it is generally impossible to separate ourselves from the influence of society.

You can, however, become more aware of your unconscious thinking and the ways in which society influences you.

It is the natural tendency of the brain to sift, sort, and categorize information about the world that leads to the formation of these implicit biases. We're susceptible to bias because of these tendencies:

• We tend to seek out patterns . Implicit bias occurs because of the brain's natural tendency to look for patterns and associations in the world. Social cognition , or our ability to store, process, and apply information about people in social situations, is dependent on this ability to form associations about the world.
• We like to take shortcuts . Like other cognitive biases , implicit bias is a result of the brain's tendency to try to simplify the world. Because the brain is constantly inundated with more information than it could conceivably process, mental shortcuts make it faster and easier for the brain to sort through all of this data.
• Our experiences and social conditioning play a role . Implicit biases are influenced by experiences, although these attitudes may not be the result of direct personal experience. Cultural conditioning, media portrayals, and upbringing can all contribute to the implicit associations that people form about the members of other social groups.

How Implicit Bias Is Measured

The term implicit bias was first coined by social psychologists Mahzarin Banaji and Tony Greenwald in 1995. In an influential paper introducing their theory of implicit social cognition, they proposed that social behavior was largely influenced by unconscious associations and judgments.

In 1998, Banaji and Greenwald published their now-famous Implicit Association Test (IAT) to support their hypothesis . The test utilizes a computer program to show respondents a series of images and words to determine how long it takes someone to choose between two things.

Subjects might be shown images of faces of different racial backgrounds, for example, in conjunction with either a positive word or a negative word. Subjects would then be asked to click on a positive word when they saw an image of someone from one race and to click on a negative word when they saw someone of another race.

Interpreting the Results

The researchers suggest that when someone clicks quickly, it means that they possess a stronger unconscious association.   If a person quickly clicks on a negative word every time they see a person of a particular race, the researchers suggest that this would indicate that they hold an implicit negative bias toward individuals of that race.

In addition to a test of implicit racial attitudes, the IAT has also been utilized to measure unconscious biases related to gender, weight, sexuality, disability, and other areas. The IAT has grown in popularity and use over the last decade, yet has recently come under fire.

Among the main criticisms are findings that the test results may lack reliability . Respondents may score high on racial bias on one test, and low the next time they are tested.

Also of concern is that scores on the test may not necessarily correlate with individual behavior. People may score high for a type of bias on the IAT, but those results may not accurately predict how they would relate to members of a specific social group.

Link Between Implicit Bias and Discrimination

It is important to understand that implicit bias is not the same thing as racism, although the two concepts are related. Overt racism involves conscious prejudice against members of a particular racial group and can be influenced by both explicit and implicit biases.

Other forms of discrimination that can be influenced by unconscious biases include ageism , sexism, homophobia, and ableism.

One of the benefits of being aware of the potential impact of implicit social biases is that you can take a more active role in overcoming social stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice.

Effects of Implicit Bias

Implicit biases can influence how people behave toward the members of different social groups. Researchers have found that such bias can have effects in a number of settings, including in school, work, and legal proceedings.

Implicit Bias in School

Implicit bias can lead to a phenomenon known as stereotype threat in which people internalize negative stereotypes about themselves based upon group associations. Research has shown, for example, that young girls often internalize implicit attitudes related to gender and math performance.  

By the age of 9, girls have been shown to exhibit the unconscious beliefs that females have a preference for language over math.   The stronger these implicit beliefs are, the less likely girls and women are to pursue math performance in school. Such unconscious beliefs are also believed to play a role in inhibiting women from pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Studies have also demonstrated that implicit attitudes can also influence how teachers respond to student behavior, suggesting that implicit bias can have a powerful impact on educational access and academic achievement.

One study, for example, found that Black children—and Black boys in particular—were more likely to be expelled from school for behavioral issues. When teachers were told to watch for challenging behaviors, they were more likely to focus on Black children than on White children.

Implicit Bias In the Workplace

While the Implicit Attitude Test itself may have pitfalls, these problems do not negate the existence of implicit bias. Or the existence and effects of bias, prejudice, and discrimination in the real world. Such prejudices can have very real and potentially devastating consequences.

One study, for example, found that when Black and White job seekers sent out similar resumes to employers, Black applicants were half as likely to be called in for interviews as White job seekers with equal qualifications.

Such discrimination is likely the result of both explicit and implicit biases toward racial groups.

Even when employers strive to eliminate potential bias in hiring, subtle implicit biases may still have an impact on how people are selected for jobs or promoted to advanced positions. Avoiding such biases entirely can be difficult, but being aware of their existence and striving to minimize them can help.

Implicit Bias in Healthcare Settings

Certainly, age, race, or health condition should not play a role in how patients get treated, however, implicit bias can influence quality healthcare and have long-term impacts including suboptimal care, adverse outcomes, and even death.

For example, one study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that physicians with high scores in implicit bias tended to dominate conversations with Black patients and, as a result, the Black patients had less confidence and trust in the provider and rated the quality of their care lower.  

Researchers continue to investigate implicit bias in relation to other ethnic groups as well as specific health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, mental health, and substance use disorders.

Implicit Bias in Legal Settings

Implicit biases can also have troubling implications in legal proceedings, influencing everything from initial police contact all the way through sentencing. Research has found that there is an overwhelming racial disparity in how Black defendants are treated in criminal sentencing.  

Not only are Black defendants less likely to be offered plea bargains than White defendants charged with similar crimes, but they are also more likely to receive longer and harsher sentences than White defendants.

Strategies to Reduce the Impact of Implict Bias

Implicit biases impact behavior, but there are things that you can do to reduce your own bias. Some ways that you can reduce the influence of implicit bias:

• Focus on seeing people as individuals . Rather than focusing on stereotypes to define people, spend time considering them on a more personal, individual level.
• Work on consciously changing your stereotypes . If you do recognize that your response to a person might be rooted in biases or stereotypes, make an effort to consciously adjust your response.
• Take time to pause and reflect . In order to reduce reflexive reactions, take time to reflect on potential biases and replace them with positive examples of the stereotyped group. 
• Adjust your perspective . Try seeing things from another person's point of view. How would you respond if you were in the same position? What factors might contribute to how a person acts in a particular setting or situation?
• Increase your exposure . Spend more time with people of different racial backgrounds. Learn about their culture by attending community events or exhibits.
• Practice mindfulness . Try meditation, yoga, or focused breathing to increase mindfulness and become more aware of your thoughts and actions.

While implicit bias is difficult to eliminate altogether, there are strategies that you can utilize to reduce its impact. Taking steps such as actively working to overcome your biases , taking other people's perspectives, seeking greater diversity in your life, and building your awareness about your own thoughts are a few ways to reduce the impact of implicit bias.

A Word From Verywell

Implicit biases can be troubling, but they are also a pervasive part of life. Perhaps more troubling, your unconscious attitudes may not necessarily align with your declared beliefs. While people are more likely to hold implicit biases that favor their own in-group, it is not uncommon for people to hold biases against their own social group as well.

The good news is that these implicit biases are not set in stone. Even if you do hold unconscious biases against other groups of people, it is possible to adopt new attitudes, even on the unconscious level.   This process is not necessarily quick or easy, but being aware of the existence of these biases is a good place to start making a change.

Jost JT. The existence of implicit bias is beyond reasonable doubt: A refutation of ideological and methodological objections and executive summary of ten studies that no manager should ignore . Research in Organizational Behavior . 2009;29:39-69. doi:10.1016/j.riob.2009.10.001

Greenwald AG, Mcghee DE, Schwartz JL. Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test . J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998;74(6):1464-1480. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464

Sabin J, Nosek BA, Greenwald A, Rivara FP. Physicians' implicit and explicit attitudes about race by MD race, ethnicity, and gender . J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2009;20(3):896-913. doi:10.1353/hpu.0.0185

Capers Q, Clinchot D, McDougle L, Greenwald AG. Implicit racial bias in medical school admissions . Acad Med . 2017;92(3):365-369. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000001388

Kiefer AK, Sekaquaptewa D. Implicit stereotypes and women's math performance: How implicit gender-math stereotypes influence women's susceptibility to stereotype threat .  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2007;43(5):825-832. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2006.08.004

Steffens MC, Jelenec P, Noack P. On the leaky math pipeline: Comparing implicit math-gender stereotypes and math withdrawal in female and male children and adolescents .  Journal of Educational Psychology. 2010;102(4):947-963. doi:10.1037/a0019920

Edward Zigler Center in Child Development & Social Policy, Yale School of Medicine. Implicit Bias in Preschool: A Research Study Brief .

Pager D, Western B, Bonikowski B. Discrimination in a low-wage labor market: A field experiment . Am Sociol Rev. 2009;74(5):777-799. doi:10.1177/000312240907400505

Malinen S, Johnston L. Workplace ageism: Discovering hidden bias . Exp Aging Res. 2013;39(4):445-465. doi:10.1080/0361073X.2013.808111

Cooper LA, Roter DL, Carson KA, et al. The associations of clinicians' implicit attitudes about race with medical visit communication and patient ratings of interpersonal care . Am J Public Health . 2012;102(5):979-87. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300558

Leiber MJ, Fox KC. Race and the impact of detention on juvenile justice decision making .  Crime & Delinquency. 2005;51(4):470-497. doi:10.1177/0011128705275976

Van Ryn M, Hardeman R, Phelan SM, et al. Medical school experiences associated with change in implicit racial bias among 3547 students: A medical student CHANGES study report . J Gen Intern Med. 2015;30(12):1748-1756. doi:10.1007/s11606-015-3447-7

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Chapter 6: Bias in Writing and Research

Reading and writing critically, style and tone of language.

Just as with any essay, the way you write and the tone that you use is very important to consider.  If you are talking with a person who uses aggressive and inflammatory words, are you more or less likely to listen to the whole argument and ultimately be convinced? If someone is waving his hands and swearing or yelling, the gestures and raised voice may actually distract you from what is being said.  Also, when people are extremely animated in their discussions, their audience may become defensive if they do not agree with the ideas presented. In such a case, the audience may then respond in the same way, and no one ends up really hearing other points of view and will definitely not be convinced.

In short, remember to choose your words carefully. While you will need to use assertive language to support your ideas, you need to choose objective words. How you make your argument more convincing is by: Using strong, peer-reviewed, and reliable evidence to back up your ideas; presenting and rebutting at least one opposing idea

Acknowledging Opposing Ideas and Limits to Your Argument

Because an argument implies differing points of view on the subject, you must be sure to acknowledge those opposing ideas. Avoiding ideas that conflict with your own gives the reader the impression that you may be uncertain, fearful, or unaware of opposing ideas. Thus, it is essential that you not only address counterarguments but also do so respectfully.

Try to address opposing arguments earlier rather than later in your essay. Rhetorically speaking, ordering your positive arguments last allows you to better address ideas that conflict with your own, so you can spend the rest of the essay countering those arguments. This way, you leave your reader thinking about your argument rather than someone else’s. You have the last word.

Acknowledging different points of view also fosters more credibility between you and the audience. They know from the outset that you are aware of opposing ideas and that you are not afraid to give them space.

It is also helpful to establish the limits of your argument and what you are trying to accomplish. In effect, you are conceding early on that your argument is not the ultimate authority on a given topic. Such humility can go a long way toward earning credibility and trust with an audience. Your readers will know from the beginning that you are a reasonable writer, and they will trust your argument as a result. For example, in the following concessionary statement, the writer advocates for stricter gun control laws, but admits it will not solve all of our problems with crime:

Although tougher gun control laws are a powerful first step in decreasing violence in our streets, such legislation alone cannot end these problems since guns are not the only problem we face.

Such a concession will be welcome by those who might disagree with this writer’s argument in the first place. To effectively persuade their readers, writers need to be modest in their goals and humble in their approach to get readers to listen to the ideas.

Phrases of Concession  are those such as:

• granted that

Bias in Writing

Everyone has various biases on any number of topics. For example, you might have a bias toward wearing black instead of brightly coloured clothes, or wearing jeans rather than formal wear. You might have a bias toward working at night rather than in the morning, or working by deadlines rather than getting tasks done in advance. These examples identify minor biases, of course, but they still indicate preferences and opinions.

Bias and angles can easily appear even through the smallest words you choose to use in your writing. Choosing each word carefully is even more significant in a persuasive paper because, as already mentioned, you want your reader to view your presentation of ideas as logical and not just a tirade. Using objective and neutral language and evidence and acknowledging you have a possible bias will help you present a well-rounded and developed argument.

Handling bias in writing and in daily life can be a useful skill. It will allow you to articulate your own points of view while also defending yourself against unreasonable points of view. The ideal in persuasive writing is to let your reader know your bias, but do not let that bias blind you to the primary components of good argumentation: sound, thoughtful evidence and a respectful and reasonable address of opposing sides.

• The strength of a personal bias is that it can motivate you to construct a strong argument. If you are invested in the topic, you are more likely to care about the piece of writing. Similarly, the more you care, the more time and effort you are apt to put forth and the better the final product will be.
• The weakness of personal bias is that it can take over the essay—when, for example, you neglect opposing ideas, exaggerate your points, or repeatedly insert yourself ahead of the subject by using I too often. Being aware of all three of these pitfalls will help you avoid them.

Video source: https://youtu.be/ccK9TTA6xiw

Fact versus Opinion

Facts are statements that can be definitely proven using objective data. The statement that is a fact is absolutely valid. In other words, the statement can be pronounced as true or false. For example, 2 + 2 = 4. This expression identifies a true statement, or a fact, because it can be proved objectively .

Opinions are subjective and include personal views, or judgments. An opinion is what an individual believes about a particular subject. However, an opinion in argumentation must have legitimate backing; adequate evidence and credibility should support the opinion. Consider the credibility of expert opinions, as experts in a given field have the knowledge and credentials to make their opinion meaningful to a larger audience.

For example, you seek the opinion of your dentist when it comes to the health of your gums, and you seek the opinion of your mechanic when it comes to the maintenance of your car. Both have knowledge and credentials in those respective fields, which is why their opinions matter to you. But the authority of your dentist may be greatly diminished should he or she offer an opinion about your car, and vice versa.

In your writing, you want to strike a balance between credible facts and authoritative opinions. Relying on one or the other will likely lose more of your audience than it gains.

The Use of THE FIRST PERSON (“i”) in Writing

The use of I in writing is often a topic of debate, and the acceptance of its usage varies from instructor to instructor. It is difficult to predict the preferences for all your present and future instructors, but consider the effects it can potentially have on your writing.

Be mindful of the use of I in your writing because it can make your argument sound overly biased, for two primary reasons:

Excessive repetition of any word will eventually catch the reader’s attention—and usually not in a good way. The use of I is no different.

The insertion of I into a sentence alters not only the way a sentence might sound but also the composition of the sentence itself. I is often the subject of a sentence. If the subject of the essay is supposed to be, say, smoking, then by inserting yourself into the sentence, you are effectively displacing the subject of the essay into a secondary position. In the following example, the subject of the sentence is bolded and underlined:

Smoking is bad. vs. I think smoking is bad.

In the first sentence, the rightful subject, smoking , is in the subject position in the sentence. In the second sentence, the insertion of I and think replaces smoking as the subject, which draws attention to I and away from the topic that is supposed to be discussed. Remember to keep the message (the subject) and the messenger (the writer) separate.

You can use the following checklist for good arguments as you work on your persuasive essay:

Developing Sound Arguments

• Does my essay contain the following elements?
• An engaging introduction
• A reasonable, specific thesis that is able to be supported by evidence
• A varied range of evidence from credible sources
• Respectful acknowledgment and explanation of opposing ideas
• A style and tone of language that is appropriate for the subject and audience
• Acknowledgment of the argument’s limits
• A conclusion that will adequately summarize the essay and reinforce the thesis

Using Visual Elements to Strengthen Arguments

Adding visual elements to a persuasive argument can often strengthen its persuasive effect. However, remember you want to use them to make a bigger impact for your reader, so you need to make sure they are:

• Relevant and essential. They should help your reader visualize your point.
• Easy to follow. The reader should not have to work too hard to understand.
• Appropriate to audience, tone, and purpose. Always keep the audience in mind.
• Appropriately cited and referenced. If you borrow from a source, be sure to include proper citations.
• NOT disrespectful. You want your writing to been seen as fair and non-biased.
• NOT used too often. They will become more of a distraction than a focal point if they are used too often

There are two main types of visual elements: quantitative visuals and qualitative visuals.

• Quantitative visuals present data graphically. They allow the audience to see statistics spatially. The purpose of using quantitative visuals is to make logical appeals to the audience. For example, sometimes it is easier to understand the disparity in certain statistics if it is displayed graphically. Bar graphs, pie charts, Venn diagrams, histograms, and line graphs are all ways of presenting quantitative data in spatial dimensions.
• Qualitative visuals present images that appeal to the audience’s emotions. Photographs and pictorial images are examples of qualitative visuals. Such images often try to convey a story, and seeing an actual example can carry more power than hearing or reading about the example. For example, one image of a child suffering from malnutrition will likely have more of an emotional impact than pages dedicated to describing that same condition in writing.

Writing at Work

When making a business presentation, you typically have limited time to get your idea across. Providing visual elements for your audience can be an effective timesaving tool. Quantitative visuals in business presentations serve the same purpose as they do in persuasive writing. They should make logical appeals by showing numerical data in a spatial design. Quantitative visuals should be pictures that might appeal to your audience’s emotions. You will find that many of the rhetorical devices used in writing are the same ones used in the workplace.

Writing for Academic and Professional Contexts: An Introduction Copyright © 2023 by Sheridan College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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12 Common Biases That Affect How We Make Everyday Decisions

Make sure that the decisions that matter are not made based on bias..

Posted September 7, 2018 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

• Confirmation bias means that people favor ideas that confirm their existing beliefs.
• People overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes if they're in a good mood, which is optimism bias.
• Declinism refers to a bias in favor of the past, due to a resistance to change.

Though the concept of illusory superiority arguably dates back to Confucius and Socrates, it may come as a shock that its discussion in the form of the Dunning-Kruger Effect is almost 20 years old; and though it may simply be a result of an echo chamber created through my own social media , it seems to be popping up quite frequently in the news and posts that I’ve been reading lately—even through memes . For those of you unfamiliar with the phenomenon, the Dunning-Kruger Effect refers to a cognitive bias in which individuals with a low level of knowledge in a particular subject mistakenly assess their knowledge or ability as greater than it is. Similarly, it also refers to experts underestimating their own level of knowledge or ability.

But, then again, maybe it’s not my echo chamber—maybe it is part and parcel of our new knowledge economy (Dwyer, 2017; Dwyer, Hogan & Stewart, 2014) and the manner in which we quickly and effortlessly process information (right or wrong) with the help of the internet. In any case, given the frequency with which I seem to have encountered mention of this cognitive bias lately, coupled with the interest in my previous blog post " 18 Common Logical Fallacies and Persuasion Techniques ," I decided it might be interesting to compile a similar list—this time, one of cognitive biases .

A cognitive bias refers to a "systematic error" in the thinking process. Such biases are often connected to a heuristic, which is essentially a mental shortcut—heuristics allow one to make an inference without extensive deliberation and/or reflective judgment, given that they are essentially schemas for such solutions (West, Toplak, & Stanovich, 2008). Though there are many interesting heuristics out there, the following list deals exclusively with cognitive biases. Furthermore, these are not the only cognitive biases out there (e.g. there’s also the halo effect and the just world phenomenon ); rather, they are 12 common biases that affect how we make everyday decisions, from my experience.

1. The Dunning-Kruger Effect

In addition to the explanation of this effect above, experts are often aware of what they don’t know and (hopefully) engage their intellectual honesty and humility in this fashion. In this sense, the more you know, the less confident you're likely to be—not out of lacking knowledge, but due to caution. On the other hand, if you know only a little about something, you see it simplistically—biasing you to believe that the concept is easier to comprehend than it may actually be.

2. Confirmation Bias

Just because I put the Dunning-Kruger Effect in the number one spot does not mean I consider it the most commonly engaged bias—it is an interesting effect, sure; but in my critical thinking classes, the confirmation bias is the one I constantly warn students about. We all favour ideas that confirm our existing beliefs and what we think we know. Likewise, when we conduct research, we all suffer from trying to find sources that justify what we believe about the subject. This bias brings to light the importance of, as I discussed in my previous post on " 5 Tips for Critical Thinking ," playing devil’s advocate . That is, we must overcome confirmation bias and consider both sides (or, if there are more than two, all sides) of the story. Remember, we are cognitively lazy—we don’t like changing our knowledge (schema) structures and how we think about things.

3. Self-Serving Bias

Ever fail an exam because your teacher hates you? Ever go in the following week and ace the next one because you studied extra hard despite that teacher? Congratulations, you’ve engaged the self-serving bias. We attribute successes and positive outcomes to our doing, basking in our own glory when things go right; but, when we face failure and negative outcomes, we tend to attribute these events to other people or contextual factors outside ourselves.

4. The Curse of Knowledge and Hindsight Bias

Similar in ways to the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974) and to some extent, the false consensus effect , once you (truly) understand a new piece of information, that piece of information is now available to you and often becomes seemingly obvious. It might be easy to forget that there was ever a time you didn’t know this information and so, you assume that others, like yourself, also know this information: the curse of knowledge . However, it is often an unfair assumption that others share the same knowledge. The hindsight bias is similar to the curse of knowledge in that once we have information about an event, it then seems obvious that it was going to happen all along. I should have seen it coming!

5. Optimism/Pessimism Bias

As you probably guessed from the name, we have a tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes, particularly if we are in good humour, and to overestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes if we are feeling down or have a pessimistic attitude. In either the case of optimism or pessimism , be aware that emotions can make thinking irrational. Remember one of my " 5 Tips for Critical Thinking ": Leave emotion at the door.

6. The Sunk Cost Fallacy

Though labeled a fallacy, I see "sunk cost" as just as much in tune with bias as faulty thinking, given the manner in which we think in terms of winning, losing, and breaking even. For example, we generally believe that when we put something in, we should get something out—whether it’s effort, time, or money. With that, sometimes we lose… and that’s it—we get nothing in return. A sunk cost refers to something lost that cannot be recovered. Our aversion to losing (Kahneman, 2011) makes us irrationally cling to the idea of regaining even though it has already been lost (known in gambling as chasing the pot —when we make a bet and chase after it, perhaps making another bet to recoup the original [and hopefully more] even though, rationally, we should consider the initial bet as out-and-out lost). The appropriate advice of cutting your losses is applicable here.

7. Negativity Bias

Negativity bias is not totally separate from pessimism bias , but it is subtly and importantly distinct. In fact, it works according to similar mechanics as the sunk cost fallacy in that it reflects our profound aversion to losing. We like to win, but we hate to lose even more. So, when we make a decision, we generally think in terms of outcomes—either positive or negative. The bias comes into play when we irrationally weigh the potential for a negative outcome as more important than that of a positive outcome.

8. The Decline Bias (a.k.a. Declinism)

You may have heard the complaint that the internet will be the downfall of information dissemination; but, Socrates reportedly said the same thing about the written word. Declinism refers to a bias in favour of the past over and above "how things are going." Similarly, you might know a member of an older generation who prefaces grievances with, "Well, back in my day" before following up with how things are supposedly getting worse. The decline bias may result from something I’ve mentioned repeatedly in my posts—we don’t like change. People like their worlds to make sense, they like things wrapped up in nice, neat little packages. Our world is easier to engage in when things make sense to us. When things change, so must the way in which we think about them; and because we are cognitively lazy (Kahenman, 2011; Simon, 1957), we try our best to avoid changing our thought processes.

9. The Backfire Effect

The backfire effect refers to the strengthening of a belief even after it has been challenged. Cook and Lewandowsky (2011) explain it very well in the context of changing people’s minds in their Debunking Handbook . The backfire effect may work based on the same foundation as Declinism , in that we do not like change. It is also similar to negativity bias , in that we wish to avoid losing and other negative outcomes—in this case, one’s idea is being challenged or rejected (i.e. perceived as being made out to be "wrong") and thus, they may hold on tighter to the idea than they had before. However, there are caveats to the backfire effect—for example, we also tend to abandon a belief if there's enough evidence against it with regard to specific facts .

10. The Fundamental Attribution Error

The fundamental attribution error is similar to the self-serving bias , in that we look for contextual excuses for our failures, but generally blame other people or their characteristics for their failures. It also may stem from the availability heuristic in that we make judgments based only on the information we have available at hand.

One of the best textbook examples of this integrates stereotyping: Imagine you are driving behind another car. The other driver is swerving a bit and unpredictably starts speeding up and slowing down. You decide to overtake them (so as to no longer be stuck behind such a dangerous driver) and as you look over, you see a female behind the wheel. The fundamental attribution error kicks in when you make the judgment that their driving is poor because they’re a woman (also tying on to an unfounded stereotype). But what you probably don’t know is that the other driver has three children yelling and goofing around in the backseat, while she’s trying to get one to soccer, one to dance, and the other to a piano lesson. She’s had a particularly tough day and now she’s running late with all of the kids because she couldn’t leave work at the normal time. If we were that driver, we’d judge ourselves as driving poorly because of these reasons, not because of who we are. Tangentially, my wife is a much better driver than I am.

11. In-Group Bias

As we have seen through consideration of the self-serving bias and the fundamental attribution error , we have a tendency to be relatively kind when making judgments about ourselves. Simply, in-group bias refers to the unfair favouring of someone from one’s own group. You might think that you’re unbiased, impartial, and fair, but we all succumb to this bias, having evolved to be this way. That is, from an evolutionary perspective, this bias can be considered an advantage—favouring and protecting those similar to you, particularly with respect to kinship and the promotion of one’s own line.

12. The Forer Effect (a.k.a. The Barnum Effect)

As in the case of Declinism , to better understand the Forer effect (commonly known as the Barnum Effect ), it’s helpful to acknowledge that people like their world to make sense. If it didn’t, we would have no pre-existing routine to fall back on and we’d have to think harder to contextualise new information. With that, if there are gaps in our thinking of how we understand things, we will try to fill those gaps in with what we intuitively think makes sense, subsequently reinforcing our existing schema(s). As our minds make such connections to consolidate our own personal understanding of the world, it is easy to see how people can tend to process vague information and interpret it in a manner that makes it seem personal and specific to them. Given our egocentric nature (along with our desire for nice, neat little packages and patterns), when we process vague information, we hold on to what we deem meaningful to us and discard what is not. Simply, we better process information we think is specifically tailored to us, regardless of ambiguity. Specifically, the Forer effect refers to the tendency for people to accept vague and general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves without realizing that the same description could be applied to just about everyone else (Forer, 1949). For example, when people read their horoscope, even vague, general information can seem like it’s advising something relevant and specific to them.

While heuristics are generally useful for making inferences by providing us with cognitive shortcuts that help us stave off decision fatigue, some forms of heuristics can make our judgments irrational. Though various cognitive biases were covered in this post, these are by no means the only biases out there—just the most commonly engaged, in my experience, with respect to everyday decision-making . If you’re interested in learning more about these and other cognitive biases, I recommend checking out yourbias.is . Remember, we make thousands of decisions every day, some more important than others. Make sure that the ones that do matter are not made based on bias, but rather on reflective judgment and critical thinking.

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Simon, H. A. (1957). Models of man. New York: Wiley.

Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 4157, 1124–1131.

West, R. F., Toplak, M. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (2008). Heuristics and biases as measures of critical thinking: Associations with cognitive ability and thinking dispositions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 4, 930–941.

Christopher Dwyer, Ph.D., is a lecturer at the Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Ireland.

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1.1: Historical Bias

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Learning Objectives

• Identify some examples of historical bias
• Regardless of whether they are conscious or learned implicitly within cultural contexts, biases have been part of historical investigation since the ancient beginnings of the discipline. As such, history provides an excellent example of how biases change, evolve, and even disappear.
• Early attempts to make history an empirical, objective discipline (most notably by Voltaire) did not find many followers. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, European historians only strengthened their biases. As Europe gradually dominated the world through the self-imposed mission to colonize nearly all the other continents, Eurocentrism prevailed in history.
• Even within the Eurocentric perspective, not all Europeans were equal; Western historians largely ignored aspects of history, such as class, gender, or ethnicity. Until the rapid development of social history in the 1960s and 1970s, mainstream Western historical narratives focused on political and military history, while cultural or social history was written mostly from the perspective of the elites.
• The biased approach to history-writing transferred also to history-teaching. From the origins of national mass schooling systems in the 19th century, the teaching of history to promote national sentiment has been a high priority. History textbooks in most countries have been tools to foster nationalism and patriotism and to promote the most favorable version of national history.
• Germany attempts to be an example of how to remove nationalistic narratives from history education. The history curriculum in Germany is characterized by a transnational perspective that emphasizes the all-European heritage, minimizes the idea of national pride, and fosters the notion of civil society centered on democracy, human rights, and peace.
• Despite progress and increased focus on groups that have been traditionally excluded from mainstream historical narratives (people of color, women, the working class, the poor, the disabled, LGBTQI-identified people, etc.), bias remains a component of historical investigation.

The practice of viewing the world from a European or generally Western perspective with an implied belief in the pre-eminence of Western culture. It may also be used to describe a view centered on the history or eminence of white people. The term was coined in the 1980s, referring to the notion of European exceptionalism and other Western equivalents, such as American exceptionalism.

Bias in Historical Writing

Bias is an inclination or outlook to present or hold a partial perspective, often accompanied by a refusal to consider the possible merits of alternative points of view. Regardless of whether conscious or learned implicitly within cultural contexts, biases have been part of historical investigation since the ancient beginnings of the discipline. As such, history provides an excellent example of how biases change, evolve, and even disappear.

History as a modern academic discipline based on empirical methods (in this case, studying primary sources in order to reconstruct the past based on available evidence), rose to prominence during the Age of Enlightenment. Voltaire, a French author and thinker, is credited to have developed a fresh outlook on history that broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events and emphasized customs, social history (the history of ordinary people) and achievements in the arts and sciences. His Essay on Customs  traced the progress of world civilization in a universal context, thereby rejecting both nationalism and the traditional Christian frame of reference. Voltaire was also the first scholar to make a serious attempt to write the history of the world, eliminating theological frameworks and emphasizing economics, culture, and political history. He was the first to emphasize the debt of medieval culture to Middle Eastern civilization. Although he repeatedly warned against political bias on the part of the historian, he did not miss many opportunities to expose the intolerance and frauds of the Catholic Church over the ages— a topic that was Voltaire’s life-long intellectual interest.

Voltaire’s early attempts to make history an empirical, objective discipline did not find many followers. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, European historians only strengthened their biases. As Europe gradually benefited from the ongoing scientific progress and dominated the world in the self-imposed mission to colonize nearly all other continents, Eurocentrism prevailed in history. The practice of viewing and presenting the world from a European or generally Western perspective, with an implied belief in the pre-eminence of Western culture, dominated among European historians who contrasted the progressively mechanized character of European culture with traditional hunting, farming and herding societies in many of the areas of the world being newly conquered and colonized. These included  the Americas, Asia, Africa and, later, the Pacific and Australasia. Many European writers of this time construed the history of Europe as paradigmatic for the rest of the world. Other cultures were identified as having reached a stage that Europe itself had already passed: primitive hunter-gatherer, farming, early civilization, feudalism and modern liberal-capitalism. Only Europe was considered to have achieved the last stage. With this assumption, Europeans were also presented as racially superior, and European history as a discipline became essentially the history of the dominance of white peoples.

However, even within the Eurocentric perspective, not all Europeans were equal; Western historians largely ignored aspects of history, such as class, gender, or ethnicity. Until relatively recently (particularly the rapid development of social history in the 1960s and 1970s), mainstream Western historical narratives focused on political and military history, while cultural or social history was written mostly from the perspective of the elites. Consequently, what was in fact an experience of a selected few (usually white males of upper classes, with some occasional mentions of their female counterparts), was typically presented as the illustrative experience of the entire society. In the United States, some of the first to break this approach were African American scholars who at the turn of the 20th century wrote histories of black Americans and called for their inclusion in the mainstream historical narrative.

The title page to The Historians’ History of the World: A Comprehensive Narrative of the Rise and Development of Nations as Recorded by over two thousand of the Great Writers of all Ages, 1907. The Historians’ History of the World is a 25-volume encyclopedia of world history originally published in English near the beginning of the 20th century. It is quite extensive but its perspective is entirely Western Eurocentric. For example, while four volumes focus on the history of England (with Scotland and Ireland included in one of them), “Poland, the Balkans, Turkey, minor Eastern states, China, Japan” are all described in one volume. It was compiled by Henry Smith Williams, a medical doctor and author, as well as other authorities on history, and published in New York in 1902 by Encyclopædia Britannica and the Outlook Company.

Bias in the Teaching of History

The biased approach to historical writing is present in the teaching of history as well. From the origins of national mass schooling systems in the 19th century, the teaching of history to promote national sentiment has been a high priority. Until today, in most countries history textbook are tools to foster nationalism and patriotism and promote the most favorable version of national history. In the United States, one of the most striking examples of this approach is the continuous narrative of the United States as a state established on the principles of personal liberty and democracy. Although aspects of U.S. history, such as slavery, genocide of American Indians, or disfranchisement of the large segments of the society for decades after the onset of the American statehood, are now taught in most (yet not all) American schools, they are presented as marginal in the larger narrative of liberty and democracy.

In many countries, history textbooks are sponsored by the national government and are written to put the national heritage in the most favorable light, although academic historians have often fought against the politicization of the textbooks, sometimes with success. Interestingly, the 21st-century Germany attempts to be an example of how to remove nationalistic narratives from history education. As the 20th-century history of Germany is filled with events and processes that are rarely a cause of national pride, the history curriculum in Germany (controlled by the 16 German states) is characterized by a transnational perspective that emphasizes the all-European heritage, minimizes the idea of national pride, and fosters the notion of civil society centered on democracy, human rights, and peace. Yet, even in the rather unusual German case, Eurocentrism continues to dominate.

The challenge to replace national, or even nationalist, perspectives with a more inclusive transnational or global view of human history is also still very present in college-level history curricula. In the United States after World War I, a strong movement emerged at the university level to teach courses in Western Civilization with the aim to give students a common heritage with Europe. After 1980, attention increasingly moved toward teaching world history or requiring students to take courses in non-western cultures. Yet, world history courses still struggle to move beyond the Eurocentric perspective, focusing heavily on the history of Europe and its links to the United States.

Despite all the progress and much more focus on the groups that have been traditionally excluded from mainstream historical narratives (people of color, women, the working class, the poor, the disabled, LGBTQI-identified people, etc.), bias remains a component of historical investigation, whether it is a product of nationalism, author’s political views, or an agenda-driven interpretation of sources. It is only appropriate to state that the present world history book, while written in accordance with the most recent scholarly and educational practices, has been written and edited by authors trained in American universities and published in the United States. As such, it is also not free from both national (U.S.) and individual (authors’) biases.

• Boundless World History. Authored by : Boundless. Located at : https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-textbook/ . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

A Personal Experience of Discrimination Essay

Introduction, my personal experience.

We live in an integrated society where various elements color our view and understanding of what goes on around us. One of the defining characteristics about me is my optimistic outlook towards life. Always looking at the bright side of people and situations has been my mantra and despite how bad things get, I do not let any situation tear me down. I am always open to the possibilities that people have the inborn ability to love, care and understand each other with very little inhibitions. This is a virtue that is especially useful to me in a world constantly battered by the winds of uncertainty.

Due to this positive perception on life and humanity, I have never really thought about the existing problems of racism and its associated vices such as discrimination or stereotyping. This is mainly because I have never really encountered them on a personal level even though people around me always shared their experiences as to how they witnessed them at some point in their lives. I think that my long term belief that people exercised equality was biased and as a result, blinded me from seeing the truth. Evidently, people in their varied capacities have the potential to be unjust, cruel and discriminatory depending on their culture and environment that they dwell in. Incidentally, reality finally dawned on me as I experienced the most horrific event in my life.

I am a well travelled youth who believes in living life to the fullest and making the most out of it. Two years ago, I embarked on a trip to France in a bid to further fulfill my life principle. It was then that I experience ostracism and discrimination in the hands of the joyous Parisians. My friends had always praised the shopping district in Paris and I finally had a chance to witness the marvels. I always had a fetish for designer handbags and France was home to one of the famous designers dealing with these bags. I wanted to experience entering the Louis Vioutton boutique on Champ Ellyses and purchase my first LV designer handbag. I could have easily purchased one in the states but the thrill of knowing that I would be the owner of a designer handbag purchased directly from the source in Paris was overwhelming.

I was totally exited as I approached the store. I imagined the looks on my friends’ faces as I narrate this enduring event to them. I expected to be received with a warm welcome by the sales personnel but that was not the case. The minute I walked into the store, I was ignored by the sales people. I figured that maybe they identified me as an American so I decided to speak in Spanish. Funny enough, they responded in English but only to one question then turned away to assist other people that had just walked into the store. I was beyond myself with anger as I contemplated on what I could have done to receive such a cold response.

I lingered in the boutique for about twenty minutes trying to get someone’s attention but to no avail. It was like I didn’t matter. I was ignored and as I looked at them I saw them laughing at me a fact that made me feel totally alienated and looked down upon. Needless to say, I felt humiliated and belittled. I finally gathered enough courage and walked out of the boutique feeling blue and undeserving.

This stereotyping and discrimination exerted a prime jolt to my ego which made me realize the horrible and uncalled-for situations that many Americans experience in their day to day interactions. I finally understood that racism and its associated vices are territorial concepts that people employ to feel empowered and for self gratification. I also realized that such incidences affect people irrespective of their age, race and religion. It pained me as I imagined how difficult it is to encounter these situations on a daily basis.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 18). A Personal Experience of Discrimination. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-personal-experience-of-discrimination/

"A Personal Experience of Discrimination." IvyPanda , 18 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/a-personal-experience-of-discrimination/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'A Personal Experience of Discrimination'. 18 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "A Personal Experience of Discrimination." March 18, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-personal-experience-of-discrimination/.

1. IvyPanda . "A Personal Experience of Discrimination." March 18, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-personal-experience-of-discrimination/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "A Personal Experience of Discrimination." March 18, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-personal-experience-of-discrimination/.

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Senior NPR editor resigns after accusing outlet of liberal bias

An editor for National Public Radio resigned Wednesday just days after he inflamed the ongoing culture war about mainstream media with an essay about what he considers the news outlet’s liberal leanings.

Uri Berliner, who was a senior business editor, wrote an essay for the right-leaning online publication The Free Press in which he said he believes NPR is losing the public’s trust. 

NPR, a nonprofit radio network, has an “absence of viewpoint diversity,” he wrote in the essay, which was published April 9. It “has always had a liberal bent,” but now an “open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR,” he wrote.  

The essay triggered a wave of scrutiny of NPR from conservatives, some of whom responded to it with calls to defund the news organization, which receives federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. NPR says on its website that federal funding is “essential” to NPR but that “less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget comes in the form of grants from CPB and federal agencies and departments.”

In a resignation statement on X, Berliner briefly elaborated on the reason for his departure, which came days after NPR reported that it had suspended him for five days without pay following the op-ed’s release. 

NPR’s chief business editor, Pallavi Gogoi, had told Berliner about its requirement to secure approval before he appeared in outside media, according to NPR’s report.

“I don’t support calls to defund NPR,” Berliner wrote. “I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism.  But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay.” 

Berliner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. A representative for NPR said it “does not comment on individual personnel matters.” 

Berliner’s essay gained traction on X, with many conservatives homing in on his thoughts about NPR’s political makeup. He wrote: “In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None.” 

He also criticized NPR’s coverage, or lack thereof, of certain stories, such as the Mueller report, Hunter Biden’s laptop, the origins of Covid-19 and systemic racism following the murder of George Floyd.

High-profile supporters of Berliner’s essay, including former President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk, shared criticism of NPR and its CEO, Katherine Maher. 

“NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM! EDITOR SAID THEY HAVE NO REPUBLICANS, AND IS ONLY USED TO ‘DAMAGE TRUMP.’ THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on April 10.

Musk wrote on X that the “head of NPR hates the Constitution of the USA” in response to a clip of Maher discussing the challenges in fighting disinformation and honoring the First Amendment right to free speech.

Meanwhile, some journalists at NPR pushed back against Berliner’s accusations.

“Morning Edition” co-host Steve Inskeep shared his take in a post on his Substack newsletter , saying he believes Berliner failed to “engage anyone who had a different point of view.”

“Having been asked, I answered: my colleague’s article was filled with errors and omissions,” he wrote, adding, “The errors do make NPR look bad, because it’s embarrassing that an NPR journalist would make so many.”

NPR’s chief news executive, Edith Chapin, also denied Berliner’s assessment of the newsroom in a memo to staff members, according to NPR .

“We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories,” she wrote. “We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.”

Maher also said Monday in a statement to NPR : “In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen. What matters is NPR’s work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests.”

Daysia Tolentino is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.