Minority Fellowship Program WebinarAssessing and Addressing Implicit Bias

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services AdministrationU.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Minority Fellowship Program TrainingWebinar February 26, 2020

Disclaimer

The views, opinions, and content expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the

Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), or the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services.

Mindbugs: Understanding Implicit Bias

Kate A. Ratliff, Ph.D.Executive Director, Project Implicit

Associate Professor, University of Florida

Presentation Overview

• Part 1: Bias in Basic Perception• Part 2: Bias in Social Perception: Implicit Attitudes and Stereotypes• Part 3: Implicit Bias in the Workplace• Part 4: Reducing the Impact of Implicit Bias

Margaret Thatcher Optical Illusion

Source: Thompson, 1980

Checkerboard Illusion

Source: Adelson, 1995

Disparity in Reporting

Gender Disparity

Source: Moss-Racusin et al., 2012

Gender Disparity (con’t)

Black applicants (e.g., Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004)

Obese applicants (e.g., Giel et al., 2012)

Muslim applicants(e.g., Agerstrom & Rooth, 2009)

Source: Moss-Racusin et al., 2012

Bias Definition

Bias: Attitudes or stereotypes in favor or against a person or social

group; a preference for one over another

Explicit Attitudes/Stereotypes• Aware• Controllable• Introspection• Endorsed

Implicit Attitudes/Stereotypes• Less Aware• Less Controllable• Less Introspective• No Endorsement

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Take the Online Test

Block Left Right

1 Black Americans White Americans

2 Bad Words Good Words

3 Black American’s or Bad Words White Americans or Good Words

4 White Americans Black Americans

5 White Americans or Good Words Black American’s or Bad Words

Source: Greenwald et al., 1998

Project Implicit’s Demonstration Site

Project Implicit: Implicit Race Attitudes (N = 1,764,489)

0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000

Strongly Prefer Black People 42544

Moderately Prefer Black People 107315

Slightly Prefer Black People 139876

No Implicit Preference 139876

Slightly Prefer White People 318041

Moderately Prefer White People 522916

Strongly Prefer White People 493921

Project Implicit: Explicit Race Attitudes (N = 1,764,489) (con't)

Strongly Prefer Black People 3

Moderately Prefer Black People 5

Slightly Prefer Black People 9

No Explicit Preference 127

Slightly Prefer White People 25

Moderately Prefer White People 5

Strongly Prefer White People 1

Understanding Bias and Mitigating Its Effect on Decision Making

• Much of mental life occurs outside of active awareness; implicit bias is one example

• Implicit biases often contradict our stated beliefs

• Implicit and explicit biases shape behavior

Meta-analyses show that IAT scores predict a wide variety of real-world behaviors (N = 184 studies)

Source: Greenwald et al., 2009; Oswald et al., 2013; Carlsson & Agerstrom, 2016

Implicit Attitudes and Health Care

Mr. Thompson is a 50-year-old (black/white) man with a history of well-known controlled hypertension and smoking, but no other risk factors for CAD, who presents to the emergency department with chest pain. He appears to be in a lot of pain describing it as “sharp, like being stabbed with a knife” and pointing to the midsternum…His EKG shows 2 mm horizontal ST elevations in the anterior leads (not J-point elevation), but there is no time for cardiac enzymes. He has no absolute contraindications to thrombolysis.

Source: Green et al., 2007

Implicit Attitudes and Health Care (con’t)

Source: Green et al., 2007

Examples of domains in which implicit bias might influence behavior

Reflection

Where is there opportunity for implicit attitudes or stereotypes to influence your decision-making in your work life?

Approaches to Bias Mitigation

• Reducing implicit bias• Reducing the influence of implicit bias

Mitigating the Impact of Unwanted Bias

Bias is influential when...

• Information is ambiguous and complex (e.g., Bodenhausen et al., 2016)

• Decision-making criteria are unclear (e.g., Uhlmann & Cohen, 2005)

Constructed Criteria

Streetsmart

• Tough• Patrol experience• Respect from officers• Risk taker• Good physical shape

Educated

• Formally educated• Administrative skills• Supervisory experience• Politically connected• Media training

Mitigate the Impact of Unwanted Bias

Bias is influential when...• Information is ambiguous and complex (e.g., Bodenhausen et al., 2016)• Decision-making criteria are unclear (e.g., Uhlmann & Cohen, 2005)

To mitigate the effects of bias we could...• Develop and prioritize evaluation criteria in advance and judge only in comparison to those criteria• Know which factors are related to performance• Be transparent about evaluation criteria and reasons for a decision

Mitigate the Impact of Unwanted Bias (2)

Bias is influential when...• Decisions must be made quickly (e.g., Fazio & Olson, 2014)• One is tired, stressed, or otherwise depleted (e.g., Friese et al., 2008)

To mitigate the effects of bias we could...• Slow down; calm down; plan to evaluate during your best time of day• Be wary of decision-making based on your gut reaction

Mitigate the Impact of Unwanted Bias (3)

Bias is influential when...• Groups of likeminded people conduct evaluations (Fine et al., 2012)

To mitigate the effects of bias we could...• Assign/develop diverse committees• Evaluate independently; do not share until all are finished• Allow less senior group members to speak up first• Appoint a “devil’s advocate”

Mitigate the Impact of Unwanted Bias (4)

Bias is influential when...• Organizational climate permits it (e.g., Ziegert & Hanges, 2005)

To mitigate the effects of bias we could...• Make anti-bias an explicit priority; lead from the top• Reconsider “fitting in” as a criterion• Speak up: in the face of prejudicial statements; when credit is incorrectly attributed; if someone is interrupted; if

someone isn’t given a chance to contribute

Mitigate the Impact of Unwanted Bias (5)

Bias is influential when...We are overconfident in our objectivity (e.g., Uhlmann & Cohen, 2007)

Bias Blind Spot

• My judgments are based on a logical analysis of the facts.• My decision-making is rational and objective.

• Other people's judgments are based on a logical analysis of the facts.• Other people's decision-making is rational and objective.

Source: Pronin et al., 2002

Mitigate the Impact of Unwanted Bias (6)

Bias is influential when...• We are overconfident in our objectivity (e.g., Uhlmann & Cohen, 2007)

To mitigate the effects of bias we could...• Honestly assess your practices; question yourself; be humble• Create practices with the idea that you are biased

Understanding Bias / Mitigating Effects

• Much of mental life occurs outside of active awareness; implicit bias is one example

• Implicit biases often contradict our stated beliefs

• Implicit and explicit biases shape behavior

• Implicit biases are difficult to change; humility and active management are better strategies

Project Implicit

• Project Implicit - http://projectimplicit.net• PI Research Site - https://implicit.harvard.edu• My Academic Site - http://kateratliff.com

Contact Information

Kate Ratliff, Ph.D.Executive Director, Project ImplicitAssociate Professor, University of Florida

http://www.kateratliff.com/

Thank You

SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.

If you have questions or need additional information about this or other webinarsContact the Minority Fellowship Program Coordinating Center: MFPCC@mayatech.com

www.samhsa.gov1-877-SAMHSA-7 (1-877-726-4727)

1-800-487-4889 (TDD)