How to check your unconscious bias - Dr Jennifer Eberhardt | Global Goals

Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt introduces an experiment to demonstrate the 'other race effect' by asking the audience to identify individuals like 'Iris' and 'Joy' from a selection of faces. She reveals that people tend to more easily identify faces of their own race, illustrating a phenomenon that exists across cultures.

Eberhardt explains that the 'other race effect' is not just environmental but is wired into our brains. The fusiform face area (FFA) in the brain, responsible for distinguishing faces, shows more activity when people see faces of their own race. Our brains are being 'tuned' by the people we surround ourselves with, affecting our neural passages.

The categorization process extends beyond simple identification to influence the beliefs and feelings we attribute to people based on certain characteristics. Eberhardt defines unconscious bias as holding beliefs and feelings about social groups that influence our perceptions and actions, even without our awareness.

Eberhardt demonstrates how subtle cues, like images, can intensify stereotypes. She uses the example of 'Joy' where her performance on a math test varies depending on whether she is subtly reminded of her gender (leading to lower scores) or her Asian identity (leading to higher scores), highlighting how deeply ingrained biases can be.

Unconscious biases are powerful, influencing us even if we don't personally endorse the beliefs or live in the society where they originated. Eberhardt asks rhetorical questions about associating professions and situations with specific genders or races, emphasizing that 'believing is seeing' rather than 'seeing is believing', as these connections are wired into our brains over time.

Eberhardt concludes by stating that everyone with a brain has bias, as it's a natural way to sort and categorize the overwhelming stimuli we encounter. While bias can be beneficial (e.g., distinguishing a pet from a wild animal), unchecked unconscious bias can be detrimental, leading to negative consequences for social groups and society.