This study examines the public understanding of unconscious bias and training methods addressing so as to determine the extent to which it aligns with scientific evidence on both. The findings from a pilot survey on a UK sample (N = 200). In the main, public opinion of unconscious bias and the training out of it shows aspects of misalignment with current psychological evidence. Also, the survey reveals that political affiliation and estimates of efficacy of unconscious bias training predict the favourability of opinions towards unconscious bias training. This work provides new insights into where efforts might need to be made to manage expectations in organisations in which unconscious bias training is implemented, and a greater need to communicate scientific insights that accurately convey the current limitations of the efficacy of unconscious bias training.
References
[1]
Behavioural Insights Team (2020) Unconscious Bias and Diversity Training—What the Evidence Says. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944431/20-12-14_UBT_BIT_report.pdf
[2]
Blakely, R. (2020). I’ve Confronted My Unconscious Bias but Will It Change a Thing? Times UK. Times UK. Retrieved July, 11, 2020. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rhys-blakely-ive-confronted-my-unconscious-bias-but-will-it-change-a-thing-025zfgmhc
[3]
Carter, E. R., Onyeador, I. N., & Lewis Jr., N. A. (2020). Developing & Delivering Effective Anti-Bias Training: Challenges & Recommendations. Behavioral Science & Policy, 6, 57-70. https://doi.org/10.1353/bsp.2020.0005
[4]
Chang, E. H., Milkman, K. L., Gromet, D. M., Rebele, R. W., Massey, C., Duckworth, A. L., & Grant, A. M. (2019). The Mixed Effects of Online Diversity Training. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 7778-7783. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1816076116
[5]
Civitillo, S., Juang, L. P., & Schachner, M. K. (2018). Challenging Beliefs about Cultural Diversity in Education: A Synthesis and Critical Review of Trainings with Pre-Service Teachers. Educational Research Review, 24, 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.01.003
[6]
Coughlan, S. (2020). Unconscious Bias Training’ to Be Scrapped by Ministers. BBC online. Retrieved 15, December, 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55309923
[7]
Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2018). Why Doesn’t Diversity Training Work? The Challenge for Industry and Academia. Anthropology Now, 10, 48-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/19428200.2018.1493182
[8]
Dobbin, F., Kim, S., & Kalev, A. (2011). You Can’t Always Get What You Need: Organizational Determinants of Diversity Programs. American Sociological Review, 76, 386-411. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0003122411409704
[9]
Duguid, M. M., & Thomas-Hunt, M. C. (2015). Condoning Stereotyping? How Awareness of Stereotyping Prevalence Impacts Expression of Stereotypes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 343-359. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0037908
[10]
Epstein, S. (1994). Integration of the Cognitive and the Psychodynamic Unconscious. American Psychologist, 49, 709-724. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066X.49.8.709
[11]
Fisher, L. (2020). Exclusive: Unconscious Bias Training to Be Scrapped after Review FindsIt Has Little Effect. Telegraph UK. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/12/14/exclusive-unconscious-bias-training-scrapped-review-finds-has/
[12]
FitzGerald, C., Martin, A., Berner, D., & Hurst, S. (2019). Interventions Designed to Reduce Implicit Prejudices and Implicit Stereotypes in Real World Contexts: A Systematic Review. BMC Psychology, 7, Article No. 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0299-7
[13]
Forbes (2020). Why UK Ministers Should Rethink Their Decision to End Unconscious Bias Training. https://www.forbes.com/sites/frankstarling/2020/12/18/why-uk-ministers-should-rethink-their-decision-to-end-unconscious-bias-training/?sh=11824cce658c
[14]
Forrest, A. (2020). Boris Johnson’s government scraps unconscious bias training for civil servants. Independent UK. Retrieved, 15 December, 2020. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-unconscious-bias-training-b1774154.html
[15]
Gawronski, B. (2019). Six Lessons for a Cogent Science of Implicit Bias and Its Criticism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 574-595. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1745691619826015
[16]
Gawronski, B., Morrison, M., Phills, C. E., & Galdi, S. (2017). Temporal Stability of Implicit and Explicit Measures: A Longitudinal Analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43, 300-312. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0146167216684131
[17]
Gigerenzer, G. (1991). How to Make Cognitive Illusions Disappear: Beyond “Heuristics and Biases”. European Review of Social Psychology, 2, 83-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779143000033
[18]
Government UK (2020). Written Ministerial Statement on Unconscious Bias Training. Government UK, Cabinet Office. Retrieved, 17, December, 2020. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/written-ministerial-statement-on-unconscious-bias-training
[19]
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring Individual Differences in Implicit Cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464-1480. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464
[20]
Jost, J. T. (2019). The IAT Is Dead, Long Live the IAT: Context-Sensitive Measures of Implicit Attitudes Are Indispensable to Social and Political Psychology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28, 10-19. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0963721418797309
[21]
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Macmillan.
[22]
Karelse, J. (2021). Mitigating Unconscious Bias in Forecasting. Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting, 61, 5-14.
[23]
Kirkland, R., & Bohnet, I. (2017). Focusing on What Works for Workplace Diversity. Chicago, IL: McKinsey and Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/focusing-on-what-works-for-workplace-diversity
[24]
Newell, B. R., & Shanks, D. R. (2014). Unconscious Influences on Decision Making: A Critical Review. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X12003214
[25]
Newkirk, P. (2019). Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business. UK: Hachette.
[26]
Noon, M. (2018). Pointless Diversity Training: Unconscious Bias, New Racism and Agency. Work, Employment and Society, 32, 198-209. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0950017017719841
[27]
Osman, M. (2014). Future-Minded: The Psychology of Agency and Control. London: Macmillan International Higher Education.
[28]
Oswald, F. L., Mitchell, G., Blanton, H., Jaccard, J., & Tetlock, P. E. (2013). Predicting Ethnic and Racial Discrimination: A Meta-Analysis of IAT Criterion Studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 171-192. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0032734
[29]
Oswald, F. L., Mitchell, G., Blanton, H., Jaccard, J., & Tetlock, P. E. (2015). Using the IAT to Predict Ethnic and Racial Discrimination: Small Effect Sizes of Unknown Societal Significance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108, 562-571. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000023
[30]
Oswick, C., & Noon, M. (2014). Discourses of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion: Trenchant Formulations or Transient Fashions? British Journal of Management, 25, 23-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2012.00830.x
[31]
Rezaei, A. R. (2011). Validity and Reliability of the IAT: Measuring Gender and Ethnic Stereotypes. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1937-1941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.04.018
[32]
Sayal, R. (2020). UK Ministers Criticised for Failing to Find Alternative to Unconscious Bias Training’ Guardian UK. Retrieved 15, December, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/15/uk-ministers-criticised -for-failing-to-find-alternative-to-unconscious-bias-training
[33]
Skov, T. (2020). Unconscious Gender Bias in Academia: Scarcity of Empirical Evidence. Societies, 10, Article No. 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10020031
