Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People
I know my own mind.
I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way.
These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality.
“Blindspot” is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases. Writing with simplicity and verve, Banaji and Greenwald question the extent to which our perceptions of social groups—without our awareness or conscious control—shape our likes and dislikes and our judgments about people’s character, abilities, and potential.
In Blindspot, the authors reveal hidden biases based on their experience with the Implicit Association Test, a method that has revolutionized the way scientists learn about the human mind and that gives us a glimpse into what lies within the metaphoric blindspot.
The title’s “good people” are those of us who strive to align our behavior with our intentions. The aim of Blindspot is to explain the science in plain enough language to help well-intentioned people achieve that alignment. By gaining awareness, we can adapt beliefs and behavior and “outsmart the machine” in our heads so we can be fairer to those around us. Venturing into this book is an invitation to understand our own minds.
Brilliant, authoritative, and utterly accessible, Blindspot is a book that will challenge and change readers for years to come.
Praise for Blindspot
“Conversational . . . easy to read, and best of all, it has the potential, at least, to change the way you think about yourself.” —Leonard Mlodinow, The New York Review of Books
“Banaji and Greenwald deserve a major award for writing such a lively and engaging book that conveys an important message: Mental processes that we are not aware of can affect what we think and what we do. Blindspot is one of the most illuminating books ever written on this topic.” —Elizabeth F. Loftus, Ph.D., distinguished professor, University of California, Irvine; past president, Association for Psychological Science; author of Eyewitness Testimony
Reviews (215)
Comments by a biases reviewer
The authors have evidently devoted a lot of thought to their research and to writing this book. They tell us about unconscious biases that we may have that are inconsistent with our conscious thoughts and ideals. An example of the authors thoughtfulness can be reflected in their use of different colours to label the various types of lies (white, grey, invisible, blue, red, etc) that we often tell, often without being fully conscious of what we are doing. The presentation is vivid, and the ideas easy to commit to memory. I also find the authors' Implicit Association Test (IAT) to be a rather ingenious device to reflect unconscious associations or biases. As I read from a Kindle edition, I find it rather too tedious to try to produce hard copies of the tests to try out. Instead, I went online to take a couple of the tests. With the hard copies, the authors have emphasised that someone taking the test may opt to start first with the either sheet A or B. That is not possible with the online test. Because I am already in my 60s, I find that my mind has considerable difficulty adjusting to switching from the left column to the right (and vice versa) as I progressed from part 1 to part 7 of the online test. As the test relies on measures of the speed and accuracy in which the subject takes the test, I cannot help but wonder if the difficulty that I have experienced in switching time and again between left and right may not have contributed significantly, but erroneously, to what the test attempts to measure. Perhaps the test procedures can be refined to cater for such possible errors. As it stands, I think the IAT Is best taken as a good reflection of unconscious biases, instead of an accurate measure of such. A final comment is that while the authors have done an excellent job in detailing various unconscious biases, they have made less headway in coming up with solutions. I find the few solutions discussed in the book to be much less insightful, or impressive.
Should be required reading
Very good explanations and easy to understand. I am one of the 75% of white Americans with a strong preference for white despite my egalitarian views. I wish everyone who says there is no racism in America would read this book. Unfortunately the authors cannot as yet offer a way to counteract our implicit biases. I hope that just knowing of my biases will help me to act more like what I so strongly profess. And it worries me about so many people and family members who are not even aware of their own obvious racism.
Discomforting brilliance
while the writing style is relaxed, almost breezy, the material definitely is not. This book is not fun to read- but to my mind, an important one. The book is well-researched and the writing keeps the jargon to a minimum... but the questions it raised about what I believe, about myself and others, will be resonating for a long while. Overwhelmingly recommended- but be prepared to be uncomfortable
Awareness is the first step to enlightenment
An eyeopening introduction to "Implicit Associations" aka biases that we might be totally unaware of, because our intellect believes that we don't have them. Do I believe intellectually that a woman can do an as good as or even better job as a CEO, or even the POTUS, than a man? Definitely! But, after taking a few of the tests, I didn't have to take the gender test to know that I'd flunk and put women to work in their homes, because that's the way I was raised, and that's my primary and hidden bias.I now have an explanation for feeling more "comfortable" with male bosses over the years, despite being a feminist. The racial bias test was was even more challenging intellectually. Unlike the authors, I didn't "flunk" it (meaning I don't share the "white" bias of 75% of the test takers, including many people of color). But, how do I reconcile the fact that I have a more positive association to people who do not share my European ancestry? I was actually born in Germany after WWII to German parents who had a pronounced preference for their own kind. I suspect that's the reason for my apparent contrariness, but after reading about the authors' shock at their results, I was definitely concerned that I might also flunk the test, despite my intellectual view on the subject. Along with the relief of "passing" the test came the next question...so, why don't I like my own race...myself? No, this book doesn't give in-depth explanations for ways to combat test results that don't fit with your intellectual self-image, but it definitely makes you aware that what you think and believe about yourself doesn't necessarily match how you feel innately, and those innate feelings do influence your behavior, despite your belief to the contrary.
How Woke Are You?
This book was written for people who have never thought about the ideas it explores. I'm not suggesting I'm more evolved than anyone else, but I had to shove toothpicks into my eyes to get through it. PS - Mahzarin, there is more than one correct answer to the surgeon riddle. Just think it bit more outside the box!
Very readable researched work
This book discusses implicit biases every person holds. It forthrightly covers several areas of potential bias, showing through extensive research how almost everyone is affected in some way by their biases. It helped me to understand the underlying basis for many of our social problems. Written in a conversational style, the research results can be understood by an average person. Any "jargon" gets explained.
missing a few pages from ch.8 and missing all the pages from appendix 1&2
I bought this book NEW for a classroom assignment and it was missing pages from chapter 8 and all the pages from Appendix 1&2. Instead it had pages from chapter 3 to chapter 5 so I do not know what chapter 8 and appendix 1&2 were about. I would have returned it but my course was only for 6 weeks and I needed to write an essay on it.
The IAT and you...
I first heard about the Implicit Association Test (IAT) from Malcolm Gladwell. In one of his works (I can’t recall which one), Gladwell discusses on bias and how ingrained they can be in our minds. He even took the IAT and it showed that he held a negative bias towards African Americans. As the son of a Jamaican woman, Gladwell was stunned by these results. Apparently, though you may see yourself as an independent entity, you are very much a product of the system you grew up in. If this is all you know about the IAT, I think you are set. If you want to know more, Blindspot can enlighten you. The IAT was developed authors Banaji and Greenwald. Everyone has a bias. It is impossible as a human to function without bias. Humans are social creatures. This book dives deep into this idea. Though interesting, this book was not my favorite. I felt like Gladwell did a better job communicating the power of the IAT and its effects. If you want to learn more specifically about the IAT, this is the book for you. I think the IAT is interesting, it is descriptive but not prescriptive. I think the IAT can show us a flaw in society, but not in individual biases.
Highly recommend it
I enjoyed reading Blindspot. This is an easy read with academically supported findings that I needed to supplement my students' study of bias and how our perceptions impact how we see, hear, and experience the world.
Even good people can express an implicit attitude to race and racism.
Like it or not, each of us expresses our racism or as this book calls it our mindbugs since our society does precondition us, but that does not mean we must express it openly. It is our obligation to recognize it , but not let ourselves express it openly. This book is eye opening in that regard.
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