THE NATURE OF IMPLICIT BIAS
Implicit bias is part of the human condition. To be hu man is to prefer familiar people. Even very young ba bies learn to differentiate “my family” from “others,” and to see their families as “safe” and “others” as po tentially dangerous. As we grow and develop, we are exposed to massive amounts of data about people and phenomena. To manage this information, we un consciously categorize and assign judgments (with good or bad connotations) to the data. For example, we may determine that one particular group is trust worthy or pleasant and another is dangerous or dis agreeable. Then, as we encounter new representatives of these groups, we respond automatically, based on our prior value judgments.
Implicit bias is theorized to be rooted in heuristics— that is, mental shortcuts that help us sum up and re spond to situations quickly.13 Based on approaches that worked for us in the past, we develop strategies that help us interact automatically in new situations with representatives of previously encountered groups of people. Our default reactions can help us manage our daytoday activities by allowing us to assess and act quickly, without deliberation. For example, if you’re in the middle of a street and a car is headed your way, you don’t try to determine how fast the car is going, who is driving the car, or whether they will stop to avoid hitting you; rather, you hurry across the street. Heuristics often make life easier or safer and our choices more efficient. They play an important role in helping us navigate our environment. But our automatic responses can generate subtle discrimina tory behaviors, which in a clinical context can result in poor health care delivery.
