PSYC-FPX3540 Implicit Bias Worksheet

Consider how automatic components of implicit bias are present in the real world in your personal interactions with others (attitudes
and behaviors), such as in conversations with friends or coworkers, or in the media, such as in the news.

Choose two specific personal incidents and one you observed in the media, and, based on information from the Blaine and
Brenchley textbook, think about possible causes of the implicit bias you observed and complete the following five tasks (omit
identifiers, such as names of people or businesses):

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Provide an example of a time when you observed I was once a supervisor at a call center. One of the young ladies which I hired
possible implicit bias in a work or social setting, was a Muslim and we discussed that while we were in our interview. Although
or in the media on a news segment or on an that day she came and was not in a hijab and full burqa, we discussed what
internet source. What cues led you to believe was necessary for her to wear what she was most comfortable in. I assured
that implicit bias may have played role in this her that she would be welcome. The first day of work for training she came in
situation? wearing a full hijab with face covering and when I went to go greet the new
trainees, nobody sat with her, nobody talked to her, and nobody greeted her
*Explain one possible cause of the implicit bias within the classroom. In addition, the trainer did not acknowledge her
based on information from our Blaine and presence and I felt badly for her but I decided to watch how the rest of the
Brenchley textbook. class would go. At the end of the day all of the supervisors and everyone were
discussing her and asking who hired her and saying that she did not fit within
company culture. The next day, I wore a hijab along with several of the other
Islamic women on site to show solidarity for the young lady who I did learn
felt completely alone on her first day.

Considering that the issue with individuals who are Islamic still have issues in
this country based upon their dress and are met with harassment everyday,
this was an example of perceptual similarity (Blaine & Brenchley, 2020, pg.
24). For some reason, many people consider that Islam is a religion of people

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willing to kill others on-site and have not taken the time to really deal with a
reality that we have hijackers of truth in all religions. Christianity and the
crusades or even the reality that people can get on television and pray for the
death of gays and lesbians or state that if they had a button to kill all the gay
people on earth they would press it. I say it is perceptual similiarity as I am not
Muslim; however, by me wearing a hijab it opened up the doors of
conversation as I was a leader and it also gave space for her to be able to
make friends because they no longer feared something they had no
knowledge about.

Provide an example of a time where you believe I recall going into the store with my sister and her boyfriend. There were also
you, a family member, or a friend were three Caucasian men who came in after us. We were simply getting drinks and
stereotyped based on group status and/or social chips because we were about to go to the movies. The owners of the store
identity. How did you feel when the situation (Oriental) were so busy looking at us that when we went to go pay the three
occurred? What if anything did you do? Caucasian men ran out the store with beer, yet, they were still very fixated on
us and my sisters boyfriend said “see that’s what y’all get, so busy watching
*Explain one possible cause of the implicit bias us, the one’s you love stole from y’all” and he busted out laughing. The guy
based on information from our Blaine and behind the counter got so angry that he actually pulled out a gun and ran after
Brenchley textbook. my sister’s boyfriend. He actually was shooting in a parking lot at him as if he
had taken something from the store. The police were called and the store
owner was taken to jail. The whole time he incessantly called us “black
niggers”.

Honestly, I was scared that I was going to get shot simply for being black in a
store with people who did not like me and feels as if I was a thief just by my
presence. I was saddened because one again, I was unjustly stereotyped as a
thief alongside my sister and her boyfriend. This made me feel as if I would

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never be acceptable to society.

Describe a situation where your perceptions For me it has been in the dating arena. For many years, I would not even
and/or reactions were shaped by implicit bias. consider dating a man who was not black as I did not feel that we would have
Were you aware of the bias at the time or is it anything in common. I am a quasi black nationalist, how could someone I felt
something you have considered in retrospect? is a descendant of slave owners and lifts up the ideals of white supremacy as
Explain your thoughts. Were your implicit biases well as benefiting from white privilege ever really have any commonality to
challenged? me? So for many years I refused but once I realized the truth that there are
many types of people in the world, I realized that I did not necessarily need to
*Explain how your insight into the situation can hold to that archaic thought process.
help you in changing or shaping your personal or
professional behavior for the future. For many years I was unaware of the bias but it was ingrained into me as a
child from my grandparents and I saw white people as an “other” and as
better because they were allowed to do and say the things that we as black
people were not allowed to say or do.

As I grew older I realized that nobody was better that I was and honestly I took
the other side of the spectrum that black people were better than everyone
else and I lived within that paradigm for quite a few years.

Once I came to the realization that everyone is here attempting to the best
with what they have and trying to make a means for themselves I had to
change my thought processes.

It was a complete mind shift which I had to undergo cognitive dissonance in

order to come to these conclusions. Nobody could help me to see my bias, I
had to come to terms with them when learning how to deal with people who
did not cause me any harm neither tried to harm me. I honestly thought there
were no upstanding white people in the world, sort of how many white

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people see black people when we come into a place where the majority of
people around are white.

Explain two or more strategies that can be used One strategy to combat implicit bias is to see people as individuals (NPR,
to prevent and combat implicit bias. 2018). I had to learn this the hard way. I say white people as a collective unit
of people who honestly hates black people, however, when I was placed in a
*Use professional and scholarly sources to position where I had to deal directly with individuals who were honest, hard-
support the effectiveness of the strategies, and working people, I had to see them apart from the whole which I had
cite those sources. developed in my mind.

I think the optimal strategy is to work to consciously change the stereotypes in

our heads (NPR, 2018). This is not something that is easy or that happens over
night; but, it is a conscious deliberate method to help you learn about your
own internal biases and then forces you to ask yourself why you have them,
how did they develop, and most importantly, are you the progenitor of that
thought or was it one placed in your head by those within your core group?

5. Provide the full references for your sources in Blaine, B. E., & Brenchley, K.J. M. (2020). Understanding the Psychology of Diversity
APA format. (4th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US).
https://capella.vitalsource.com/books/9781544381091

A lesson in how to overcome implicit bias (2018). . Washington, D.C.: NPR. Retrieved
from http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com
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