“Whoa, whoa!…What bias?!?! I don’t have any biases!” Was that your response to the title of this post? Well, I had the same thought before I took this test and now I think differently.
Here is a fascinating resource that will help you discover what you think about the world on levels beneath conscious thought. It reveals how your past experiences, upbringing, or even your morning scan of the news can skew your beliefs about race, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexuality, and weight.
Why wouldn’t you want to know, especially as a leader, if an unhealthy bias is getting in the way of your leadership?
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Luisito Brooks)
The Implicit Association Test
The resource is called the Implicit Association Test and I first discovered it in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink. [If you haven’t yet read Blink, stop reading this post and go find his fantastic book. Or click here.] The IAT is a free online test designed to measure our “attitudes on an unconscious level – the immediate, automatic associations that tumble out before we’ve even had time to think…it shows that our unconscious attitudes may be utterly incompatible with our stated conscious values.” (84)
How It Works
The IAT works by presenting words on the computer screen and determining how quickly you connect those words (Male:Female “Lisa”). Then, the IAT throws a curve ball by attaching other words like “Family” and “Career” to the names, forcing you to unconsciously decide if you agree with that association when deciding whether “Lisa” is a male or female name. IAT measures your “bias” by comparing the length of time that it takes you make those decisions.
Trust me, it’s revealing. You really need to take the test to fully grasp the concept.
After the test, the IAT gives you a scaled report on the level of bias you showed for the particular area. You can test your bias for free on the following categories: Presidential Popularity, Skin-tone, Sexuality, Weight, Age, Race, Gender-Science, Asian-American, Weapons, Religion, Native-American, Disability, Gender-Career, Arab-Muslim.
Why It Matters & What to Do
Clearly, we can’t change all of our biases…and I don’t think we want to. Our unique perspectives stem from our beliefs about the world, conscious and unconscious. The world would be quite dull if we all shared the same beliefs. And sadly, leadership would be pure science and no art.
Biases are acceptable in life and leadership until the point at which they’re harmful to one’s cause or other people. The very first lesson to learn (and accept) is that we all carry biases. Simply acknowledging that fact actually helps moderate negative biases (based on neuroscience reading, Blink and others).
Then, it’s important to know how our daily lives affect our beliefs. This requires scrutiny about what we read, who we talk to, even the type of music we listen to. In Blink, Gladwell tells the story of a student who took the test every day for months and displayed an abnormally positive association with African-Americans after he had watched Olympic track and field that morning. (97)
And as leaders, we must find out how our unconscious attitudes may be hindering our leadership. “Just because something is outside of awareness doesn’t mean it’s outside of control.” (96) Ask your colleagues and friends what they observe about how you communicate your attitudes and beliefs. Distribute an anonymous survey to your team. You may uncover an important area to improve.
Finally, Gladwell also recommends to intentionally add exposure to things you are biased against, which will increase your familiarity and reduce your hesitation and discomfort.
Take the Test
Go to Implicit Association Test to discover your biases.
Questions for Leaders
- What military-related categories would be helpful to discover a bias about? (Officer vs. Enlisted? Combat Arms vs. Combat Support?)
- How would you change if you found out that your cultural beliefs negatively affected your leadership?
- How do you encourage those in your organization to overcome their biases?