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What are Implicit Biases?
The American Bar Association defines these as "the process of associating stereotypes or attitudes toward categories of people without our conscious awareness" (ABA Commission on Disability Rights, 2022).
Why Are We Biased?
People often retain biases based upon their personal life experiences. These experiences leave the impressions that often form implicit biases.
Who Are We Biased Against?
People can have implicit biases against countless groups of marginalized people. Some common domains of implicit bias include:
Race
Gender
Religion
Sexual Orientation
People with Disabilities
Many Others
How are These Biases Harmful?
Despite there unconscious nature, these biases can impact our conscious beliefs, and lead to harmful biased decisions (ABA Commission on Disability Rights, 2022).
How Prevalent are Biases Towards People with Disabilities?
My research demonstrates that bias in favor of the able bodied when compared to people with disabilities is widespread. In fact, the ABA cited this to be among the most pervasive implicit and explicit biases among the aforementioned domains. This particular 2007 study surveyed 2.5 million respondents on a number of implicit biases, including disability. The study found that "76 percent of respondents showed an implicit preference for people without disabilities, compared to nine percent for people with disabilities" (ABA Commission on Disability Rights, 2022).
This goes much deeper than many would perceive, as even respondents with disabilities showed biases towards able-bodied people. This includes myself
The Good News!
These various biases are subconscious, measurable, and can be effectively reversed.
How Can We Measure Our Biases?
Often, the best way to realize an implicit bias it to take an online test. Lots of these are designed and maintained by universities following their research. These tests will ask a series of specific questions based around common domains of bias. One test that I found very helpful was Project Implicit, a test designed by Harvard to gauge individual implicit biases (Project Implicit, 2011).
If you don't like this method, you can find simply ask yourselves some the questions posed on the ABA website here.
Some of these include:
1.When you think of an individual with a disability, do you focus on the things the individual can do or cannot do? Where do you get the information on which you base your views? Do you ask or observe the individual with a disability?
2. Do you think “disabled” is a negative word? If so, which words should be used instead?
3. Do you think of an individual with a disability as working in certain careers? If so, which careers and why?
4. When you think of an individual with a disability, do you have sympathy or feel pity for that individual?
What if I Have an Implicit Bias?
Don't feel bad, as the majority of people have one.
Steps can be taken to reverse these, Like:
Working on inter-group contact, mingling with different people.
Individuate (separate) people from groups
Find Common Ground With Others
Monitor your biases, and do your best to correct them
Takeaway: The problem is not that we all have these biases, but what we do in addressing them!
My Project Implicit test results, showing a slight automatic preference for the physically- abled .
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