Implicit Bias- Presidents

Charles Mossiat: Test results and evaluation of implicit bias

The test was a unique experience for me as I was not anticipating it to be anything like it was. I initially inferred that it would be relating information about presidents and testing my bias based off of what I have previously known but instead, it was almost like a reaction time test. It showed pictures of Joe Biden and George W. Bush both as United States presidents which was honestly difficult because the pictures were in black and white and were obviously used to attempt to trick the user since many of them were hard to decipher who it was. I ended up leaning toward Joe Biden according to the test which in all honesty is incorrect, however, this is where bias comes into play. I believe that I was biased when selecting Joe Biden because of the frequency with which I see him and his recent appearance in a high-level political position. When George Bush was president I was a little kid, and it is safe to say that in my current day-to-day life, I see images and news about President Biden far more often than President Bush. This led me to be more accurate when it came to Biden, implicit bias. In order to prevent things like this from happening in the hiring world it is important to remove past thoughts and perceptions when interviewing someone and if this test taught me anything, slow down. The test encouraged speed as it is trying to get you to think solely on initial reaction, you can lower bias when you take your time and evaluate the subject at hand.