Personal Biases and Cultural Identity

Personal Biases and Cultural Identity

Personal biases, also called unconscious biases, are learned stereotypes and attitudes that are automatic and inbuilt in an individual’s character. These inbuilt attitudes are often false perceptions that tend to affect peoples’ decision-making and behaviors. Individuals usually have personal biases towards various aspects of life (Pannucci, & Wilkins, 2010). To overcome personal biases, one needs to identify his/her the factors that cause them to be biased in certain situations. Self-awareness is commonly known as identifying the factors that lead them to make personal biases (Northon, 2016). Professionals must be self-aware in most cases to avoid making organizational decisions based on their personal biases. This act could lead to making wrong decisions that could harm the organization. Like any other individuals, I also have personal biases that I believe developed due to my life experiences.

Cultural identity can be defined as a sense of belonging based on an individual’s ancestry, culture, traditions, religion, values, language, and rituals. Every individual tends to have a cultural identity; commonly, people brag about being part of a particular cultural identity (Ionescu, & Dumitru, 2015). It is human binge’s nature to seek and know their cultural identity since everyone needs to have a sense of belonging. My cultural identity is Black American, meaning that my ancestry is from Africa. The history books and lessons have taught me why I was born in America, yet I’m of Africana descent. My cultural identity has greatly affected my biases since biases develop due to life experiences and the society one is raised in.

I’m a middle-aged American black woman in the middle class, like many other black women born and raised in poor American suburban neighborhoods characterized by poverty and racism. During my early life experience, while attending primary education, I experienced some racism coincidences since I attended a school encompassing people of all races. Thus, being an innocent black girl. I was more vulnerable to all kinds of discrimination. This and other demining experiences unconsciously shaped my personal bias in various aspects.

One of the personal biases that I developed because of my bitter past is the horn effect bias. This unconscious bias causes an individual’s perception to be unfairly influenced by a single negative factor (Reiners, 2021). Since we grew up in a society that showed racism and discrimination against people of color,  I viewed myself as inferior to people of other races. Sometimes I regard races that are non-black to be superior. Therefore, when interacting with people as I practice my career, I treat non-black as superior. In other words, I regard people of other races as more special than mine. This bias probably developed due to the simple life I experienced while growing up and the many racism incidents I experienced that reminded me of a black as inferior and poor.

The second personal bias I tend to have is conformity bias, which tends to behave similarly to the other people around me even if the behaviors contradict my opinion (Reiners, 2021). The conformity bias is indeed a common bias exhibited by many people, including me. I often do this so that I do not run into conflict with the people around me. I find myself agreeing to some ideas even though I know that these ideas are not good. This also applies when making collective decisions; others’ opinions influence me. This means that I fail to think autonomously when working within groups.

Another personal bias I normally display unconsciously is anchoring bias, which tends to rely heavily on one trait or certain information when making a decision (Rivers, Reeves, Calanchini, & Sherman, 2017). One piece of information that might even be false sometimes influences my overall decision of a particular situation. One positive or negative piece of information may make me ignore other information and make decisions based on that little information. This is dangerous since I find myself making flawed decisions I realize later that there was enough information that could have helped me make sound decisions, but just ignored it.

My biases and cultural identity could influence my behavioral health field in various ways. Since I’m aware of the factors that push me to show negative biases, I have learned that these biases and my cultural identity could make me work harder to disapprove of the people who see blacks as inferior. Thus, I would study hard to excel in the health field to become one of the famous researchers and an ardent professional to prove that I’m not inferior. Secondly, these biases and cultural identity could push me to display behaviors like those of my fellow black women show while executing their duties in this field. I may do this unconsciously, but my fellow black women would greatly influence my decisions since we have something in common.

References

Ionescu, A & Dumitru, N. (2015). Globalization’s Influence on Cultural Identity and Its Impact on the Romanian Consumption Behavior,” Romanian Economic Business Review, Romanian-American University, vol. 10(4), pages 137-146,

Northon, L. (2016). Become Aware of Personal Bias, and You’ll Improve Ethical Practice. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/ethical-practice/Pages/Become-Aware-of-Personal-Bias-and-Improve-Ethical-Practice-.aspx

Reiners, B. (2021). 12 Unconscious Bias Examples and How to Avoid Them in the Workplace. https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/unconscious-bias-examples

Rivers, A., Reeves, H., Calanchini, J & Sherman, J. (2017). Implicit Bias Reflects the Personal and the Social. An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory. Volume 28, 2017 – Issue 4

Pannucci, C. J., & Wilkins, E. G. (2010). Identifying and avoiding bias in research. Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 126(2), 619–625. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181de24bc

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Personal Biases and Cultural Identity

Write a 750-1,000-word essay in which you describe your personal biases and explain your cultural identity. In your conclusion, explain how your cultural identity and personal characteristics may influence your work in the behavioral health field.

Use at least three scholarly references to define cultural identity and biases. After defining the terms, write a personal narrative. This assignment can be written in the first person. No abstract is required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.