Malcolm Gladwell and Subconscious Biases

 I recently read a chapter from Malcom Gladwell's "Blink" called "The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men". This chapter was on the subconscious biases or choices that we make without even realizing. What I thought was fairly interesting about this reading was a fact about how fast our brains react. When we have a strong bias, we can usually come up with an association in between four hundred and six hundred milliseconds, but when we don't have that bias, it takes two hundred to three hundred milliseconds longer to come up with an association. I think it is crazy how the brain can actively work that fast at all times. What I think I took away from this chapter was that we are not who we always want to be. Some of these people who took tests found that they were pro-white, even though they might not want to feel that way.

    In leadership, I believe that these subconscious biases may play a part in decisions made, whether they are meant to or not. If somebody in a position of power has a bias towards a certain race or gender, then it will most likely show, even in something small like eye contact or tone of voice. That being said, I believe that these biases can be reversed but not fully eliminated. These thoughts are imprinted in our brains making it very difficult to get rid of them, but learning and practicing to do things right could slow down or even reverse these biases. I believe that someone with very neutral biases would make a great leader because of they're unlikeliness to make decisions based on a person's gender, age, or race.

   After reading chapter three of Malcom Gladwell's "Blink". I took the IAT to see if I had any subconscious biases. My results showed a moderate bias towards whites, and males in the workplace. I was definitely surprised by these results because I totally do not view myself as racist or sexist. We are all one of a kind living on Earth, so the fact that our brain picks people out because of the color of skin or what gender they are and decides that they are less than us is truly strange.