Implicit and Unconscious Bias in the Press

Seattle Globalist, South Seattle Emerald, and
International Examiner
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
Implicit and Unconscious Bias:
Bridging the Distance Between
Professed Values and Daily Behaviors
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

About Seattle Girls’ School

Goals for the Day
Implicit and Unconscious Bias
Bringing it to Our Own Work
Next Steps

The Human Brain
How much of what you see, hear, feel,
experience, etc. are you aware of?
How much of what you do is under
conscious control?
How accurate is your judgment of what
you see, hear, feel, experience, etc.?
How fair minded are you?

“…the human mind takes in 11 million
bits of information every minute. But is
consciously aware of only 40.”
Timothy Wilson, University of Virginia
And since your brain cannot process 11
million bits of information a minute, it
takes mental shortcuts
The Human Brain

Mental Shortcuts Example
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid!
Aodccrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it dnsoe't mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is
taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you
can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is
bcuseae the hmuan mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Azmanig huh?

Mental Shortcuts Example

Our Limited Brain

Our Limited Brain
#1 #2 #3
SLB CFLTK CFLTK
SPRND HLMG CFLTK
SLB SPRND SLB
SPRND HLMG CFLTK

Our Limited Brain
#1 #2 #3
GREEN BLUE GREEN
RED YELLOW YELLOW
PURPLE BLUE RED
GREEN RED PURPLE

Our Limited Brain
#1 #2 #3
RED GREEN YELLOW
BLUE GREEN BROWN
RED YELLOW BLUE
BROWN BROWN BLUE

Our Assuming Brain

Facial Features and Skin Tones
Study by Daniel Levin and Mahzarin Banaji

Our Biased Brain

Process Break
What is interesting,
surprising, or thought
provoking about what you
have learned so far?

Implicit Bias
 An Implicit Bias is a preference for OR against a
person or group of people that operate at the
subconscious level. We are NOT aware that we
have them.
 Triggered automatically through rapid
association of people/groups/objects and our
attitudes AND stereotypes about them.
 Run contrary to our stated beliefs and attitudes.
We can say that we believe in equity (and truly
believe it). But then behave in ways that are
biased and discriminatory.

Implicit Association Test
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html

Skin Color Bias
Study by Avi Ben-Zeev, Tara C. Dennehy, Robin I. Goodrich,
Branden S. Kolarik, Mark W. Geisler

Partisan Bias
Study by Shanto Iyengar and Sean J Westwood

Partisan Bias
Republicans and Democrats Were Asked:
Would you be pleased, displeased, or
unmoved if your children married someone
from the other political party?
 1960 5% R and 4% D would be upset

Implicit Bias in Daily Life
 Black Facial Features Prison Sentences
 Asians in Leadership
 Women in Leadership
 Black Boys as Older and Less Innocent
 Resume Studies
 Weight and Laziness

Implicit Bias in Daily Life

Break

Implicit Bias in the Press

Implicit Bias in the Press:
Local Examples

Implicit Bias in the Institution
 Who gets hired?
 How do stories get chosen?
 Whose work gets accepted?
 How is the work edited?
 How are images chosen?
 How are papers marketed/distributed?
 How are people paid?
 Who is promoted/hired permanently?

What Can We Do About It?
 Perspective Taking
 Increased, Meaningful, Inter-Group
Contact
 Stereotype Replacement
 Improvement of Decision Making
 Counting and Systematizing

What Can We Do About It?
 Why am I feeling this way?
 Would I behave this way if the person
were…?
 What do I KNOW?
 What are my values?
 How do I behave according to my values?

Process Break
What is interesting,
surprising, or thought
provoking about what you
have heard? How have
you seen these examples
manifest?

Open Space Technology

Open Space: Four Principles
 Whoever comes are the right people.
 Whatever happens is the only
thing that could have.
 When it starts is
the right time.
 When it’s over
it's over.

Open Space: The Law of Two Feet
If you find yourself in a situation
where you are neither learning
or contributing, move
somewhere where you can. This
is a law like the Law of Gravity.

Open Space
Central Question
Where are the sources of bias
in our work and in our
institutions? What
interventions might mitigate or
minimize these biases?

Open Space Agenda Setting

Open Space Topics
Please post chart
papers
By 4:00 pm

Open Space Gallery Walk
Please read
chart papers
By 4:30pm

Closing

Moving from Professed Values
to Lived Values

Final Questions or Comments?

Presenter Information
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
6th Faculty and
Professional Outreach
Seattle Girls’ School
2706 S Jackson Street
Seattle WA 98144
(206) 805-6562
rlee@seattlegirlsschool.org
http://tiny.cc/rosettalee

Implicit and Unconscious Bias in the Press

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