From the course: Unconscious Bias

Affinity bias

From the course: Unconscious Bias

Affinity bias

- Parenting is hard. And we're told that playing favorites is wrong. And so as parents, we struggle to make sure everything is fair. But if you have a sibling or if you're a parent yourself, it isn't difficult to tell who the favorite is. And for that, you can place the blame squarely on affinity bias. Affinity bias is the tendency to warm up to people like ourselves. We favor those who have something in common with us. And so as a parent, a child who plays the same sport you did in high school, or who has your creative gene, is usually the one you relate to the most and are closest to. So how does this equate to unconscious bias in the workplace? If the person you have to write an evaluation of is someone who graduated from your alma mater, you may rate them higher than the person you have little or no connection with. Unconsciously, the person with whom you have a perceived affinity will automatically have an edge over the others, and whether they deserve it or not. Reducing our unconscious bias as we interact with others at work can be accomplished by creating standard processes that will help you to pause before you react in favor of or to the detriment of someone in a review process. Working off a structure that you can apply to everyone will help to lesser the influence of bias in your decision-making processes. Standardization also slows down the process so that your automatic and unconscious gut reaction can be replaced with methodical and deliberate action. Think about the last time you chose someone to work with. Why did you select that person? If you've participated in a 360-degree review for a teammate, were your comments objective or based on feelings? Affinity bias can work in especially detrimental ways during recruitment and promotion. Minimizing bias is not impossible, and in fact, with conscious thought and standard processes, you can go a long way towards making a positive difference that can be seen and felt by others around you.

Contents