Unconscious biases are held ideas, assumptions, or behaviors that we have picked up over time but may not be aware of. Although prejudice is a natural aspect of the human brain, it frequently serves to reinforce preconceived notions. A more diverse and inclusive workplace may be created by understanding the many forms of prejudice, how they manifest in the workplace, and what can be done to overcome them.
Various forms of unconscious prejudice have various effects. Some forms of prejudice are the result of superficial assessments of people, while others stem from held beliefs or from logical fallacies. Below, we take a closer look at these widespread prejudices.
Real-Life Examples of Unconscious Bias:
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Gender Bias:
Sexism is gender prejudice. Unconscious gender stereotyping causes this prejudice.
Bias may damage corporate recruiting and relationships. If the recruiting panel prefers men over women despite identical qualifications and experience, this is prejudice.
The gender wage gap is another well-known example. In 2021, males earn 18% more than women.
Gender prejudice may limit career success for some groups.
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Name Bias:
Name bias favors Anglo-sounding names. Recruitment has the highest name prejudice. This bias occurs when recruiters favor Anglo-sounding names over similarly qualified non-Anglo names. Name prejudice may hurt diversity hiring and cost firms, great individuals.
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Beauty Bias:
Beauty bias favors and stereotypes beautiful people. Lookism—discrimination based on appearance—has also resulted from this.
A beauty-biased recruiting manager prefers attractive applicants. Ability, expertise, and cultural fit should determine hiring, not looks.
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Horns effect:
Horns are the opposite of halo. This bias makes us dislike a person based on one attribute or experience.
Over-emphasis on one attribute or interaction can lead to biased character assessments.
Someone who just joined the team feels their manager is unpleasant since they got constructive feedback. The horns effect can weaken teamwork if allowed unchecked.
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Confirmation Bias:
Confirmation bias is the propensity to seek and use knowledge that supports beliefs and expectations. Thus, cherry-picking data to prove a point.
This impairs our capacity to think objectively and critically, resulting in distorted perceptions and neglecting competing ideas. A product developer creates an athletic product. They go out to athletic friends who will back the concept despite market studies showing minimal interest in the product.
Validating a concept is satisfying, but it’s crucial to examine the potential repercussions.
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Conformity Bias:
Conformity bias is comparable to groupthink, which happens when we conform to the group’s views even though they differ from ours. Peer pressure or striving to integrate into a social or professional group might cause this prejudice.
A team chooses between two proposals. One individual like idea A, while the team prefers B. Their beliefs lead them to vote for Proposition B since everyone else did.
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Affinity Bias:
Affinity bias—also known as similarity bias—is the propensity to favor persons with similar passions, backgrounds, and experiences. Like-minded folks make us feel at ease.
This prejudice may affect hiring. A hiring manager may like a candidate since they went to the same school.
Affinity bias in employment can hurt diversity and inclusion initiatives over time.
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Status quo Bias:
Our inclination toward the status quo might lead to resistance to change.
Status quo prejudice occurs when a corporation hires people from a particular demographic category without pursuing diversity goals.
You may lose out on fantastic applicants with new ideas and views by using the same hiring processes.
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Anchor Bias:
Anchor bias happens when we overuse the initial piece of information to make decisions. This narrows our view. A recruiter’s first discovery about an interviewee is that they have been jobless for a year. Instead of focusing on the candidate’s abilities and credentials, the recruiter emphasizes this. It’s crucial to consider all the facts before making a choice.
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Authority Bias:
Authority bias is trusting and following authority persons.
Following a reputable expert is usually a smart idea. However, blindly obeying a leader without critical thought may produce problems.
For instance, if a team member blindly follows their manager’s directions to create a report that reflects their views, this might compromise the report’s integrity.
To avoid problems, seek more information or knowledge when your management gives you directions in an area beyond their competence. Read More–>