All around us, everyday of our lives, there is a possibility for prejudice thinking or stereotyping someone. You may be a person who is very open about it, or you may be someone who acts without prejudice. But whether we like it or not, we often hold some form of hidden bias. Have you ever heard someone say “the woman should go to the kitchen and make us a sandwich” or maybe “men deserve a higher wage than woman” or “blondes are dumb”. These are all example of prejudice thinking.
Want to know what your hidden bias is? Check out Project Implicit. Scientists founded Project Implicit in 1998 to research what our thoughts, attitudes, stereotypes and bias are outside of our conscious awareness, known as implicit social cognition. They do this with virtual tests which reveal peoples hidden bias. There are many different tests to explore including sexuality, race and weight.
I took a few of the tests to reveal my hidden bias including weight, race, sexuality, weapons, and age. I consider myself diverse in my thinking and accept that everyone is unique, therefore I was happy to find out from my tests that I had no preference of a persons weight or sexuality, and I did not associate weapons with the colour of a persons skin. There was a slight preference for white people over black people which shocked me, however I believe this to be a natural preference due to living in a predominately white community. I had a moderate preference for young people over older people which I have questioned myself about and this could potentially be due to the fact that I am a fairly young adult and socialize mostly with people of my own age.
Teaching Tolerance have many resources that can help you understand diversity and help eliminate bias. There is materials on race, religion, class and gender sexual identity. Check them out and encourage yourself and others understand.
Have a nice day!
Chloé
Positive, Happy, Mindful 
1 thought on “Day 15 Hidden Bias.”