Unwinding Prejudice: Identity & Bias (Part 1)

Presented by Evelyn Carter with Commune

Tags: bias, discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes

“Social identity informs the way we structure the world and make assumptions about the people around us.”

Bias

  • General preference for or against people based on their social identities 
  • An umbrella term for more specific concepts:
    • Prejudice: a gut reaction (our attitude)
    • Discrimination: behaviour; how we treat people (our reactions)
    • Stereotypes: a labeled applied to people based on a category (our mental associations)
  • Important to start from our own perspectives: 
    • How would you answer the question: Who are you?
      • Our social identities, groups, categories we belong to/identify with:
        • Some are visible or concealable 
        • Ingroup: people we share one or more of our social identities (are like us)
        • Outgroup: people who do not share our social identities (are not like us) 
    • Where did you grow up? Who occupied those spaces?
      • The places you choose to be (work and play) are made up of people who are mostly like you
    • How do you learn about people who are different from you?
      • Often happen through second-hand retelling:
        • Stories from others
        • Things we’ve seen or read that reinforce particular narratives 
  • We are more likely to notice behaviour by someone who’s group is distinctive (minority or distinct appearance) 
  • We create rules between a particular group and behaviour 
  • Our biases are a function of our socialization 
    • Information we are exposed to, both passively and actively 
    • Personal and second hand experiences 
  • We absorb biases in a passive way but are responsible for our socialization 
  • Biases shape the way we see the world around us, our judgement, and interactions we have with others 
  • Biases are the result of and serve to create inequalities that exist in our society and are harmful 
  • Research has indicated the mental and physical health consequences of experiencing discrimination:
    •  Substance abuse
    • Poorer cardiovascular health
    • Greater instances of depression, anxiety and stress 

It’s your responsibility to check your biases.

Unlearn, relearn and question.

Resources to learn more: 

Buried Prejudice: The Bigot in Your Brain by Siri Carpenter

Learn more from Evelyn:

Identifying Implicit Attitude (Part 2)

The Impact of Bias (Part 3)

Techniques for Reducing Bias (Part 4)

Structured Equality (Part 5)

More from Commune

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