Blindspot : hidden biases of good people

Title:

Other title:

Hidden biases of good people

Blind spot

Author:

Banaji, Mahzarin R. author

ISBN:

9780345528438

Edition:

Bantam Books trade paperback edition.

Publication:

New York : Bantam Books, 2016.

Physical Description:

xv, 254 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

General Note:

"Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, in 2013" --Title page verso.

Contents:

Mindbugs -- Shades of truth -- Into the blindspot -- "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" -- Homo categoricus -- The hidden costs of stereotypes -- Us and them -- Outsmarting the machine -- Appendix 1: Are Americans racist? -- Appendix 2: Race, disadvantage, and discrimination.

Abstract:

The self-perception that one is able to assess others in a fair and accurate way is challenged as the authors explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. This book questions the extent to which our perceptions of social groups -- without our awareness or conscious control -- shape our likes and dislikes and our judgments about people's character, abilities and potential. Biases based on experience are revealed with the Implicit Association Test.

Subject Term:

Prejudices -- Psychological aspects.

Discrimination -- Psychological aspects.

Prejudices.

Prejudices

Discrimination -- Psychological aspects

Prejudices -- Psychological aspects

Local Subject:

EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION COLLECTION

Added Author:

Greenwald, Anthony G.

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Library	Call Number	Material Type	Status
Searching... State Library of Oregon	155.92 Banaj	State Employee Loan Only (4 wk)	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"Accessible and authoritative . . . While we may not have much power to eradicate our own prejudices, we can counteract them. The first step is to turn a hidden bias into a visible one. . . . What if we're not the magnanimous people we think we are?"-- The Washington Post

I know my own mind.
I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way.

These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality.

"Blindspot" is the authors' metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases. Writing with simplicity and verve, Banaji and Greenwald question the extent to which our perceptions of social groups--without our awareness or conscious control--shape our likes and dislikes and our judgments about people's character, abilities, and potential.

In Blindspot, the authors reveal hidden biases based on their experience with the Implicit Association Test, a method that has revolutionized the way scientists learn about the human mind and that gives us a glimpse into what lies within the metaphoric blindspot.

The title's "good people" are those of us who strive to align our behavior with our intentions. The aim of Blindspot is to explain the science in plain enough language to help well-intentioned people achieve that alignment. By gaining awareness, we can adapt beliefs and behavior and "outsmart the machine" in our heads so we can be fairer to those around us. Venturing into this book is an invitation to understand our own minds.

Brilliant, authoritative, and utterly accessible, Blindspot is a book that will challenge and change readers for years to come.

Praise for Blindspot

"Conversational . . . easy to read, and best of all, it has the potential, at least, to change the way you think about yourself." --Leonard Mlodinow, The New York Review of Books

"Banaji and Greenwald deserve a major award for writing such a lively and engaging book that conveys an important message: Mental processes that we are not aware of can affect what we think and what we do. Blindspot is one of the most illuminating books ever written on this topic." --Elizabeth F. Loftus, Ph.D., distinguished professor, University of California, Irvine; past president, Association for Psychological Science; author of Eyewitness Testimony

Author Notes

Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald , collaborators for more than thirty years, are kindred spirits in their search to understand how the mind operates in social contexts. Banaji teaches at Harvard University, Greenwald at the University of Washington. With their colleague Brian Nosek, they are co-developers of the Implicit Association Test, a method that transformed them, their research, and their field of inquiry. In this book, for the first time, research evidence from their labs and from the more than fourteen million completed tests at implicit.harvard.edu is made available to the general reader.

Summary:

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Citing the influence of "mindbugs"-ingrained judgments and biases that unconsciously influence behavior-social psychologists Banaji and Greenwald, professors at Harvard and the University of Washington, respectively, provide an accessible and persuasive account of the causes of stereotyping and discrimination. Using numerous tests and data sets, the authors demonstrate that while most Americans are not overtly racist, a majority show implicit preferences for whites versus African-Americans, which can lead to discriminatory treatment of the latter and economic and social disparities. Similar associations can be seen with regard to gender biases and ageism, to the extent that even members of these groups have internalized stereotypes. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these results is the degree to which these mindbugs then become self-fulfilling prophecies, to the point where "people... are willing to sacrifice their self-interest for the sake of maintaining the existing social order." What arises as critical is that these behaviors often occur in ways that are subtle and unintentional, having more to do with a favoritism of one's own in-group, rather than actual animosity toward others. Banaji and Greenwald will keep even nonpsychology students engaged with plenty of self-examinations and compelling elucidations of case studies and experiments. Agent: Katinka Matson and John Brockman, Brockman Inc. (Feb. 5) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

An examination of how beliefs are shaped by hidden bias. Banaji (Psychology/Harvard Univ.) and Greenwald (Psychology/Univ. of Washington) argue that the 4 percent divergence between Barack Obama's actual white American votes in 2008 and pre-election polls is an indication of the racial factors involved. In their opinion, had Obama "been obliged to rely only on the white American electorate, he would have lost in a landslide." The authors have collaborated since 1980 and have developed survey methods designed to reveal what they call "unconscious" or implicit cognition. The Implicit Association Test (developed by Greenwald in 1994) is one of these methods, which they and others have used to help understand the role that unconscious bias or prejudice plays in shaping attitudes. (On the Oprah Winfrey show, Malcolm Gladwell described how he took one of the tests and was shocked at the results: "I was biased--slightly biased--against Black people, toward White people, which horrified me because my mom's Jamaican.") Subjects taking the test are required to make rapid associations to reveal unconscious associations with race, gender and age. The authors discuss how, paradoxically, these associative mechanisms also confer cognitive benefits: "Stereotyping achieves the desirable effect of allowing us to rapidly perceive total strangers as distinctive individuals." Their tests have produced a "large body of data" on the relationship between automatic associations and the reflective mind. A stimulating treatment that should help readers deal with irrational biases that they would otherwise consciously reject.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Choice Review

Stereotypes are, alas, alive and well. Social psychological research on attitudes reveals that hidden biases, implicit "bits of knowledge" based on social categories (e.g., race, gender, religion, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, disability), can subtly influence how one acts toward others. The larger problem--perhaps tragedy is a better word--is that people can be unaware of, even oblivious to, the behavioral impacts of these biases in daily life. As Banaji (Harvard) and Greenwald (Univ. of Washington), developers of the well-known Implicit Association Test (IAT), explain in this thoughtful, provocative book, even the most open-minded people (the "good people") can harbor prejudicial "mindbugs" that lead them to behave in ways misaligned with their personal beliefs. Thus, the tolerant person is possibly a secret chauvinist--or worse--because his or her perceptions of social groups are outside the realm of awareness or conscious control. Using the book's well-placed paper-and-pencil IATs, readers can learn about their own social blind spots concerning race and gender. Two thoughtful appendixes--one exploring whether Americans are (still) racist, the other examining race, disadvantage, and discrimination--support the main narrative. The authors pull no punches here. This is a powerful book. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. D. S. Dunn Moravian College

Preface	p. xi
1 Mindbugs	p. 3
2 Shades of Truth	p. 21
3 Into the Blindspot	p. 32
4 "Not That There's Anything Wrong with That!"	p. 53
5 Homo Categoricus	p. 71
6 The Hidden Costs of Stereotypes	p. 94
7 Us and Them	p. 123
8 Outsmarting the Machine	p. 145
Appendix 1 Are Americans Racist?	p. 169
Appendix 2 Race, Disadvantage, and Discrimination	p. 189
Acknowledgments	p. 211
Notes	p. 217
References	p. 233
Index	p. 245

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Summary:

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Choice Review

Table of Contents