A graduate of Skidmore College, Siobahn Hotaling divides her time between creative and professional pursuits. She is an accomplished singer-songwriter who has released two albums. Siobahn Hotaling also supports psychological research as a project consultant at the Adaption Institute. Over the past several years, she become increasingly interested in the field of implicit bias research. For her final capstone project for her Master's degree in Psychology from Harvard, Siobahn Hotaling developed a prototype of an implicit bias transformation program. In the future, Siobahn hopes to bring the Implicit Bias Transformation Program into organizations and institutions that want to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Implicit bias refers to feelings and thoughts that you are unaware of. Instead of being neutral when interacting with a new person or group of people, this bias results in the association of stereotypes with new people or certain attitudes towards them while unaware of these attitudes. While implicit biases are correctable, they first require accurate identification. This involves being introspective and exploring your prejudices through self-analysis or implicit association tests. On top of this, remain mindful of your behavior when under pressure. Certain biases don’t appear in calm situations, but they do manifest when you experience pressure. Reducing this stress and being aware of how it affects behavior helps combat implicit bias. In addition, implementing individuation practices makes implicit bias more obvious. Individuation involves seeing people as individuals first and not as part of a group. When doing this, it is important not to ignore key aspects of a person’s identity. Instead, remember that they do not speak for every member of their group. Substitution also aids in highlighting implicit bias. This process involves placing someone else in place of another. For instance, you have a new colleague with a different racial background than yourself. Imagine that your new colleague has the same racial background. If you regard the hypothetical new colleague with the same background more positively, you know your implicit bias is pushing you towards negativity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSiobahn Hotaling - Project Consultant at Adaption Institute. Archives
November 2022
Categories
All
|