131: Implicit Bias with Dr. Mahzarin Banaji

Explicitly, nobody really believes in gender stereotypes anymore, but when we look at the world, and who’s where and how much money people make, and so on, it still seems to be there. And the answer to that is yeah, because it’s there. It’s just not something we say. It’s more of something we do.

-Dr. Mahzarin Banaji

 

What is implicit bias?  Do I have it (and do you?)?  Does my (and your?) child have it?  And if we do have implicit bias, what, if anything, can we do about it?

Join me in a conversation with Dr. Mahzarin Banaji, former Dean of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and co-creator of the Implicit Association Test, for an overview of implicit bias and how we can know if we (and our children) have it.

This episode will be followed by a second part in this mini-series where we dig deeply into the research, where results are complex and often contradictory.  Stay tuned!

 

Jump to highlights:

  • (01:00) An intro of  Dr. Mahzarin Banaji
  • (02:58) What is implicit bias?
  • (07:48) Differentiating bias that you are aware of and bias that you aren’t aware of
  • (08:56) Describing the Implicit Association test
  • (18:11) What the research says about where implicit bias comes from
  • (24:50) Development of group preference from implicit association
  • (32:18) Group bias and its implications towards individual psychological health
  • (40:44) What can be done to potentially prevent implicit biases from developing?
  • (46:56) Some good progress with society’s bias in general and areas that need working on

 

Resources:

 

About the author, Jen

Jen Lumanlan (M.S., M.Ed.) hosts the Your Parenting Mojo podcast (www.YourParentingMojo.com), which examines scientific research related to child development through the lens of respectful parenting.

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