Discover Your Implicit Biases
A fascinating form of psychological research can help you identify biases that you are unwilling or unable to recognize. Several years ago, three scientists developed a new technique for understanding what they designate as implicit attitudes and stereotypes. The result of their work culminated in Project Implicit, a series of prompts that can be used to help identify biases in the human mind.
Here are some additional details taken from Project Implicit website:
The Project Implicit site (implicit.harvard.edu) has been functioning as a hands-on science museum exhibit, allowing web visitors to experience the manner in which human minds display the effects of stereotypic and prejudicial associations acquired from their socio-cultural environment.
When you have ten extra minutes, head on over to the Project Implicit website and take an Implicit Association Test. The results may surprise you.
“Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for Light Skin compared to Dark Skin”
And why shouldn’t it? Are we not all partial to our own kin?
In a society that tells us we have strength in diversity, we’re also told that we are equal. Such double speak shows the holes in this worldview.
Why not keep each culture separate?
Would you choose to have every race and culture throughout the world replaced with a single color, race and culture?
I see the beauty in each and every culture, and strongly encourage to keep the distinctions strong. Seperatism is strength.
by Silas
on Feb 16, 2009
Hey Silas,
Thanks for sharing some of your thoughts.
You were careful to emphasize a separation of cultures, in conjunction with an appreciation for those cultures. Your view is more balanced than most.
Project Implicit highlights biases and stereotypes, but in some cases it also reveals the ethnocentric attitudes that pervade each human mind. These attitudes can be positive or negative depending on the context.
Thanks for contributing. I look forward to more of your comments in the future.
by JWAL
on Feb 16, 2009
I only found the religion test.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp216/Hearts_Clarkie/k-2-1.jpg
by Drew DeMoss
on Aug 27, 2009
I took the religions, sexuality and race IPT and my findings were very interesting. I found that I prefered christians first followed closly by islam and judasim. I found that i had a moderate tendency toward straight people followed by an unbias towards gays or staights. In the race test I found that I had a slight tendency toward light skinned people over dark skined people.
by Amanda Campbell
on Aug 30, 2009
Today while reading a newsfeed article I couldn’t help but think about the “skin tone” implicit test I took awhile ago (my results said I had no preference to light or dark skin). Anyway the article was about kids and how they begin to discriminate at a very young age.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/214989/page/1
More than anything it made me think of what Silas said:
“And why shouldn’t it? Are we not all partial to our own kin?”
And I really couldn’t understand how someone could be blatanly racist but probably not realize it themselves.
Anyway, this article really put things into perspective for me.
by Logan Hamlyn
on Sep 10, 2009
Logan,
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.
by JWAL
on Sep 13, 2009