Understanding Implicit Biases (GS Paper 3, Health)
Context
- In a study published in May last year, psychologists explored how people subconsciously evaluate different racial groups using a psychological test called an implicit association test (IAT).
- Scientists found stark differences between participants’ explicit statements and their implicit beliefs.
- While everyone said they believed in the equality of all races, they also harbored implicit biases in favor of socially advantaged groups.
- This bias was also universal, irrespective of the racial identity of the participants.
- The IAT is built on the premise that if two things — words, concepts, events, etc. — have co-occurred in our experience over and over again, we put those two things together very quickly.
- The test includes a series of quick-fire rounds to sort words related to concepts (e.g., “thin”, “fat”, “white”, “black”, etc.) and assessments (“good” or “bad”) into categories.
- A participant’s score is based on the time taken to sort words when concepts and assessments are combined.
The History and Neuroscience of Bias
- That all humans are equal is a scientific fact established by modern genetics.
- However, the history of humankind is replete with people from one cultural or social group treating those from others as if they are less than human — a phenomenon called pseudo-speciation.
- The basis of this deep-seated tendency in people continues to be the focus of intense research efforts in psychology and neuroscience.
- Many recent studies have found that our brains process information about in-groups (i.e. “us”) and out-groups (“them”) differently.
- Assessing the participant responses with IAT, the researchers found that directing participants’ attention to different facets of their in-group identity was sufficient to change their intergroup bias.
- That is, the participants’ preferences changed depending on whether their brains used age or race to classify others.
Neurobiological Insights
- Neuroimaging studies have corroborated such findings from psychology research, and have clarified that information-processing in the brain is different depending on whether it pertains to “us” or to “them”.
- Brain regions that activate in response to the direct experience of pain as well as empathy for the pain of others include parts of the anterior cingulate cortex and insula.
- Bias doesn’t exist at birth. It is a learned response built on cultural associations together with the brain’s biology.
- Yet preferential bias towards in-group members doesn’t mean an individual will be hostile towards out-group members.
- Factors that lead to hostility include the notion of associating an out-group with a threat. Uncertain circumstances — such as those we witnessed during the pandemic — can also heighten mistrust towards the outgroup.
The Role of the Amygdala
- Neuroimaging studies that have explored the basis of intergroup threats have highlighted the role of a specific brain region called the amygdala.
- An almond-shaped region situated deep in the brain, the amygdala is central to detecting threats and fear-based learning.
- Imaging studies have shown the amygdala activates to a greater degree when the source of threat is from an out-group member.
- The amygdala being activated by something perceived as a threat is an automatic part of information processing in the brain. But cortical activation implies more of a cognitive effort.
Conclusion: Awareness and Understanding
- Whenever you hear social and/or cultural narratives presented as a “fact of life” — that, say, “they are bad people” — and find yourself getting sucked into it, remember that somewhere behind this statement is a misappropriated bit of brain biology.
- Being aware of our own biology can make us more informed, especially when faced with narratives that arouse rather than inform.
