Are You Aware of Your Biases?

Photo by Kunj Parekh on Unsplash

Bias, prejudice, discrimination. What comes to your mind when you hear these terms?

Synonyms for too much negativity?

Of course, these are negative terms that arouse negative emotions. We are aware of them when other people use them, be it against us or someone else. We also know that people tend to reject what they do not understand because of their cultural upbringing, political views, religious beliefs, tribal practices, personality, use of language, fears, or any other reason.

But how often do we recognize these aspects in ourselves?

As we come to an end in 2021, it is our own biases that I wish to highlight in this article. It is something I learned from volunteering at a Mental Health Awareness organization this year.

Now you might be thinking, “Oh, I am a very open-minded person, so I have no problem accepting differences in others.”

True, you could be that kind of person. That was what I thought about myself too. I am usually empathetic and try to see others’ points of view.

However, when I volunteered as a scriptwriter for an online Counselling Skills video course at the organization, one of the key learnings I had was how blind I could be to some of my biases. This point is emphasized so much by counselling psychologists as they, as counsellors, must recognize these aspects in themselves before seeing these factors coming into play in other people.

How to Become Aware of Your Biases

To identify biases, you can do an exercise (taking 5 to 10 minutes) here.

The exercise comprises four steps:

1. Identify three different kinds of groups to which you belong (or to which you belonged in the past) that may have potentially led you to a place of prejudice or hierarchy. (For example, you could belong to a professional group like soldiers, doctors, business owners, etc. or a religious group or a family. You could be part of a prestigious educational institution or any other kind of group that may have impacted you or shaped your assumptions, confidence, self-esteem, etc.)
2. What are the assumptions you tend to make by being in this group? (For example, “my profession is the best”, “my race or religion is superior”, “my way of doing things is the right way”, etc.)
3. What assumptions might other people make of you being part of this group? (This could be people within this group or outside this group. Either way is relevant.)
4. What do you see as the potential pitfalls of any of these assumptions?

So, what are your insights from this exercise? Were you able to recognize how you might have had some form of prejudice by being part of any group?

Hence, by working this out, we become aware of discrimination. It reminds us that there are always two sides to the coin. And, this exercise applies not just to counsellors or mental health professionals. It is relevant to each one of us to become better human beings.