Biases that can blind us
Unconscious bias has been recognized as a root cause of prejudice, but research says it has another insidious effect as well: It robs us of free will. Harvard psychologist Mahzarin Banaji, the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, highlighted the potentially pernicious effects of the hidden biases that people carry, telling members of the new freshman class Thursday that being aware of one’s own biases is the first step toward making fair judgments and decisions. Banaji, delivering a lecture before about 200 freshmen in Harvard’s Science Center, spoke as part of the Opening Days activities to help new students get acclimated to campus. While racism, sexism, and other overt forms of bias draw a lot of attention, Banaji used a series of exercises to alert students to other types of bias, such as our unconscious preference for people similar to ourselves and how our decisions may be influenced not just by logic...