The Bias Bias
We all have strongly held beliefs, biases, opinions, and preferences. Are they serving us well, or harming our relationship with others?
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Bias, belief, opinion, precondition, or prejudice.
It is also referred to as partiality, partisanship, favoritism, bigotry, intolerance, unfairness, or discrimination.
It shapes our thinking, influences our beliefs, and distorts how we process and prioritize information. Bias also sways how we make decisions and the corresponding actions that follow. It filters our view of the world and influences how we view and interact with people.
From the early, formative years of our lives, our parents, grandparents, siblings, and other influencers taught us many things. In addition to teaching us important things, like learning how to sit, walk, and talk, they imprinted on our young, impressionable minds what they believed.
We accepted their opinions, biases, prejudices, and beliefs without question, as our brains lacked any frame of reference to evaluate their validity.
Sometimes these opinions, beliefs, and biases are innocuous. Aversions to certain foods, preferences toward a sports team, or partiality toward a certain make or model of vehicle are commonly passed on from parents to children. Not wanting to disappoint our parents, we simply accept these as “preferred” ways of thinking.
“We’re a Ford Family.” “We’re a Chevy Family.” “We’re a John Deere Family.”
“Woo Pig Sooie.” “Roll Tide.” “Hook ‘em Horns.”
“We’re a Chicken & Dumplings Family.” “We’re a Steak & Taters Family.”
Growing up, my Mom prepared foods she enjoyed eating, and she taught us to enjoy eating them, too. Southern cooking was commonplace in our home. Dad enjoyed classical music and was a big fan of “Hogan’s Heroes”, “The Andy Griffith Show”, and “Gomer Pyle, USMC.” Mom enjoyed “Gunsmoke”, “Gilligan’s Island”, “The Lucy Show” and “Marcus Welby MD”.
My parents were both devout people of faith. Dad was a bi-vocational minister for most of my life. Their values and principled beliefs shaped my view of the world, along with the character and values I embraced from a young age. Today, I still live them out. So does my sister, Tonya.
Looking back, it’s easy to see how our parents’ preferences influenced our own. It’s even more interesting to look at our children to see how these preferences have been passed on generationally. The beliefs, biases, and opinions we embraced at an early age often become the very beliefs, biases, and opinions we pass on to our children and grandchildren.
We all have a bias toward bias.
We all have strongly held beliefs, opinions, and preferences.
Biases, whether conscious or unconscious, can fuel prejudice and conflict, creating divides between different communities or people groups. It often relies on inaccurate or incomplete information. Bias can prevent people from seeing situations from different viewpoints, limiting creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration.
Acting on biased beliefs can lead to incorrect conclusions, misunderstandings, and unjust actions. We’ve seen this throughout human history.
We all have a bias toward bias.
We all have strongly held beliefs, opinions, and preferences.
But do we ever question, challenge, or examine what we believe, and why?
Throughout history, some people have.
William Wilberforce challenged the morality and legality of the slave trade in the 1760s, leading to its abolition. Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton led a similar charge that led to Northern states rejecting slavery. Abraham Lincoln championed that cause decades later, culminating in the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Mahatma Gandhi was opposed to the caste system in India where heredity determined your status. Nelson Mandela spoke out against apartheid, fostering racial reconciliation after becoming South Africa’s first black head of state. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (and her husband Anthony) led the charge for women’s voting rights in the 19th Century.
Our biases strongly influence our belief system. What we believe to be true is true to us, even if it is not rooted in Truth. This is where bias can be problematic. Bias can lead to some unpleasant and uncomfortable outcomes.
As you may now realize, many of our biases are nothing more than learned behaviors. We refer to this as implicit bias which includes subconscious feelings, attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes. These come from prior influences (neural imprinting) that influence our decision-making without our conscious thought.
What can be learned can be unlearned.
We as a species experience roughly 60,000 thoughts a day. To preserve our “thinking power” for what’s important, the reticular activating system in our brain filters what we pay attention to, giving preference (bias) to certain thoughts and not to others. Certain thoughts are amplified to our conscious thinking while others don’t rise to that level of awareness.
Scientists have identified more than 150 biases that affect our decision-making. Let’s look at some of the more common biases and how we mitigate their negative influence on our decision-making and action-taking.
· Affinity Bias: When one person (or a group of people) is favored or preferred because they share similar traits or attributes, without regard to their knowledge, experience, or expertise.
Most of us like to be with people who are like ourselves. We segregate people into “in-groups” and “out-groups” rather than seeking to find common ground and identifying how everyone can contribute their talents to a desired outcome.
Conformity Bias: Also known as peer pressure or groupthink, this form of bias occurs when one person’s opinion is swayed to align with the consensus of the group.
It is through the open sharing of good ideas that the best idea is identified. When everyone is given the opportunity to contribute their thoughts or ideas, we gain the unique perspective of the Team. All of us together are better than any one of us.
Attribution Bias: Where a person is judged by their past behaviors or a group of people is judged based on the behaviors of a small sampling of this group. This can unfairly label a person, or group of people, in a negative light.
We tend to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intent. When we avoid making assumptions about people’s motivations, maintain open communication, and seek collaboration, we allow everyone to demonstrate their worth.
Authority Bias: The tendency of others to agree with the person who is perceived as having the greatest power or influence in a group. It limits creativity and innovation.
Good leaders know those closest to the problem often have the best solution to solve a problem or move a process forward. As such, they encourage the open sharing of ideas to answer the question: “Is there a better way?”
Status Quo Bias: The tendency to hold on to established habits, processes, systems, or behaviors. It prefers the familiar and resists innovation or change.
We are ALL creatures of habit. But if we do the same thing the same way, we get the same outcome. Nothing changes. This is how people and organizations stagnate and ultimately fail. Carly Fiorini, in her book, “Find Your Way”, says “The status quo has great power. But leaders challenge the status quo to change things for the better.” Remember, nothing changes until something changes.
We all have biases.
We are all biased people.
We all have a bias bias.
But, not all biases are bad. In fact, some are beneficial. They serve as mental shortcuts (based on past experience) that allow us to make better, faster decisions. A bias gives us a “reference point” to help us make decision-making easier.
By the same token, a bias can (and does) filter how we view the world around us, causing us to think and act in ways that sometimes don’t serve us (or others) well.
This is where biases can be harmful.
This is where reflective thinking can be valuable.
Let me leave you with a few reflective thoughts, and encourage you to take some time and think through these questions. Even better, take some time to ponder these questions and journal your responses.
Here are some reflective questions you can include at the end of your article to challenge readers to examine their biases:
1. What assumptions do I often make about people based on their appearance, background, or identity?
2. How do my cultural, social, or personal experiences influence the way I perceive others?
3. When have I judged someone before truly getting to know them, and what was the impact of that judgment?
4. How do I react when someone challenges my views or beliefs? Do I listen openly or become defensive?
5. What voices or perspectives are missing in the media, workplaces, or communities I engage with? How can I seek out and include them?
6. Can I recall a time when I discovered I was wrong about a person or group? How did I change my thinking?
7. What steps can I take to become more aware of my unconscious biases in everyday interactions?
8. How often do I engage in conversations with people who have different backgrounds, opinions, or beliefs? What do I learn from these interactions?
9. What practices can I implement to interrupt biased thoughts or behaviors when they arise?
10. Am I willing to take accountability for the ways my biases might harm others, and what can I do to make amends?
We all have a bias toward bias.
We are all biased people.
When we learn to recognize how our biases are helping (or harming) us, we can become more intentional about what we believe and the corresponding actions that follow.
Perhaps the world would be a much better place to live if we kept our biases and opinions to ourselves, and everyone around us did the same.
Perhaps the world would be a much better place to live if we simply agreed to disagree, without being disagreeable.
Perhaps the world would be a much better place to live if we focused more on meeting the needs of those around us, seeing each person as valuable, and treating them accordingly.
Perhaps that starts with you, today.