Bias Intercultural Communication and Leadership

BIAS

Intercultural communication and leadership

Intercultural communication: Implicit bias

What is the theory behind these tests and how does implicit bias work?

According to the FAQ section of the HIAT, "the HIAT asks you to pair two concepts (e.g., young and good, or elderly and good). The more closely associated the two concepts are, the easier it is to respond to them as a single unit. So, if young and good are strongly associated, it should be easier to respond faster when you are asked to give the same response (i.e. The 'E' or 'I' key) to these two" (FAQ, 2013, HIAT). On the test I took, 'European-American' and 'American' were first paired together versus 'Asian-American' and 'Foreign' when I was shown a series of images and faces: then the two concepts were reversed so 'European-American' and 'Foreign' were paired together and 'Asian-American' and 'American' were paired together. I apparently took longer to identify faces and images when 'Asian-American' and 'American' were displayed, versus 'Asian-American' and 'Foreign,' which, according to the test, reveals implicit bias.

Q2. After taking the Harvard Implicit Association Test what have you learned about yourself?

According to the results: "Your data suggest a moderate association of European-American with American and Asian-American with Foreign compared to Asian-American with American and European-American with Foreign." This suggests even though I do not consciously associate being an American with being of a particular ethnic heritage, many images and subtly-communicated messages still affect my subconscious and this could have an impact upon how I view the world. I think it is very difficult not to have some bias: when the image of a generic 'American' comes to mind, the media still tends to depict someone who is Caucasian, even though the U.S. is (statistically speaking) a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society.

Q3. How do you explain any biases if the tests show that you have some? If you do not have any biases as revealed from taking the Harvard tests, how and why do you think this is the case?

Initially, I thought this was because of the order in which the concepts were presented to me. But according to the FAQ section on the website: "the order in which tests are administered does make a difference to the overall result in some tests. However, the difference is small and recent changes to the test have sharply reduced the influence of order. Because of this order effect, the orders used for IATs presented on this website are assigned at random. For any data we present, we are careful to be sure that half the test-takers got the a then B. order and the other half got the B. then a order. With the revised task design, the order has only a minimal influence on task performance" (FAQ, 2013, HIAT). Thus, clearly I am not the first person to make this assumption about test order.

Naturally, I was quite upset to receive these results at first. However, upon reflection, I do not think the implied meaning is that I am prejudiced against Asian-Americans, but that I have subconsciously picked upon the prejudices of my culture in terms of media images. Even though I myself do not resemble the stereotypical 'Barbie' or 'Ken'-like image of an American, I still am immersed in a culture that associates physical, WASPY perfection with America. But these images do not necessarily mean I harbor prejudice in my heart against Asian-Americans or believe that these media images are fair and justified.

Q4. If the tests demonstrated that you may have some bias, how do you intend to reduce or eliminate it?

I will try to be more mindful about the way in which I consume the media to which I am exposed, and try to consciously question images of 'typical Americanness' when I see them on the news, in advertising, and elsewhere.

Q5. How will you deal with others in your workplace who feel they have no biases but you are aware that they do?

I think that sensitivity training and diversity education should be mandatory components of all workplaces. This type of training should include self-administered questionnaires like the HIAT to raise awareness about the commonness of prejudice and also role-playing and discussions about different assumptions and communication styles. I should note that I do not believe that explicitly 'calling someone out' on their prejudices and shaming them is particularly helpful; firmly presenting an alternative point-of-view or way of looking at the situation is much more effective. Organizations must also have strong and effective anti-discrimination policies to reduce bias. This can help all workers. "We have developed a "good person/bad person" paradigm of diversity. A more accurate depiction, however, is that we all have bias of one kind or another. It is not restricted to one or a few select groups of people" (Unconscious bias, 2013, Cook/Ross).

Simply being an EEOC employer is not enough to guard against bias. For example, "a recent resume study conducted by a team of economists found that candidates with 'white-sounding' names received 50% more call-backs for jobs than those with 'African-American sounding' names, even though the resumes were almost identical" (Implicit bias, 2013, Workplace Empathy). Even though the workplaces were EEOC-compliant and presumably had managers who were trained to respect diversity, cultural assumptions about what makes for a 'good' employee still had a substantial impact on hiring perceptions and subsequent offers of employment to job-seekers. It also likely has an effect on salaries and promotions at the company.

Q6. How will you manage yourself when, as a manager/boss you are dealing with people from other cultures and ethnic backgrounds and you know how implicit bias impacts one's decisions, attitudes and behaviors?

Diversity is not something that is achieved by simply incorporating people from different cultural backgrounds into the workforce. It is a value that must be reinforced consistently in the day-to-day life of the enterprise. I will fight to be self-conscious about my own behaviors and continually check in about my unspoken stereotypes and assumptions. "Perception is selective….Perceptual patterns are learned. We are not born seeing the world…Perception is culturally determined…Perception is consistent…Perception is inaccurate" (Textbook, 73). While these tendencies cannot be eradicated, at minimum self-consciousness can eliminate some of their negative effects.