Humans are tribal creatures, hard-wired by our history as a species to instantly differentiate “us” from “them.”
We do it reflexively, unconsciously and sometimes in ways that are actually at odds with our conscious values and beliefs.
All those uncomfortable truths are supported by a solid body of social science research. If you don’t believe it, or if you just want to uncover your own unconscious biases, we’re here to help.
A consortium of social scientists from several universities including Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Washington, has developed a battery of "implicit association tests" under the heading Project Implicit. The tests are available online for anyone to take. The results will become part of the researchers' database, but all testing is done anonymously.
Various tests measure implicit attitudes on a host of variables: race, gender, sexual orientation, age, weight and religion, among others. There’s even a tests that measures whether you associate weapons more with one group or another.
If you're brave enough to test yourself, we'd love to hear about your experience. Please send me an email.
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