It happens that when we begin an interaction with another person, we realize that before we even had time to open our mouth, the interlocutor already dislikes us. This happens if our counterpart’s attitude towards us is biased. What does bias mean, and can you change the situation in your favor? Albert Einstein said: “In this sad world it is easier to split an atom than to overcome prejudice.” However, you can try. This is exactly what will be discussed in the article.

What is Prejudice?

Prejudice means that a person made some conclusions about our personality even before we had time to express ourselves.

Such an attitude can be based on a variety of stereotypes or prejudices - for example, about nationality, gender, age, external data, profession, religion, education, social status, political views, behavior...

This attitude can be explained by the usual psychological incompatibility or personal enmity, also negative experience in the past or the obsessive opinions of others. Sometimes even primitive incompatibility of tastes can lead to people treating each other negatively and stereotypically.

Some examples of showing bias:

• A middle-aged man listens to a young interlocutor with half an ear, because he is convinced in advance that he cannot say anything smart - he is too young. Although in reality it turns out that the “green” one is quite capable of giving a head start to the “gray-haired” one in wisdom and intelligence.
• A woman will not be able to lead a male team - she will not have enough strong-willed qualities and fortitude, she will not be able to gain authority. Although it may well be that the lady successfully coped with a similar task in the past.
• People around me think that beautiful girl does not have extraordinary mental abilities. And it’s the same as if she runs a research institute.
• People see a banker and think he is greedy; journalist - and they fall silent, believing that you can’t tell him anything, etc.
• The employer does not want to hire a woman after maternity leave because he is sure that she does not remember anything except recipes for milk porridges. But in fact, she could work every day of her maternity leave, thanks to which she not only did not lose, but also improved her professional qualities.
• A jury member judges a competition participant not by his achievements, but based on his personal opinion about the person himself.

Why is it important

To be prejudiced means to deprive a person of a chance completely undeservedly. For example, the chance to get Good work, start a warm friendship with him or even love relationship and create a wonderful family... Being biased, a person becomes an unfair, limited, uninteresting interlocutor. It’s not easy to believe, but it is precisely the prejudiced attitude that is the first step to such terrible phenomena as intolerance, fanaticism, wars, genocides...

Few of us are able to please everyone - after all, we are not hundred dollar bills, we have our own characteristics, and are not compatible with everyone.

But if relationships with a person are important to us - for example, they are beneficial to us or simply desirable, we can still try to achieve objectivity. In several ways.

Find out the relationship

This is the simplest and boldest way to express your true self. If we see that a person has made some conclusions about us even before we had time to say a word, we can directly ask what is wrong, offer to ask direct questions about his personality, and if the interlocutor meets us halfway, we can ask as sincerely as possible answer them.

• For example, a young man in a dirty T-shirt and the same shorts sees a girl on the embankment and wants to invite her for coffee. Ta, having noticed appearance guy, just wrinkles his nose and turns away. If you like the girl too much, it may make sense to directly ask whether her clothes are repelling her from the flirt, and explain her unsightly appearance - for example, a friend asked for help with moving. And then invite you to meet in the evening, promising to dress decently.
• Or, say, a university graduate comes for an interview and sees that the employer, having learned about the lack of experience, has already given up on him as a candidate. It makes sense to ask directly whether this bothers the company representative, and tell him - even if there is no work experience, but he has excellent grades in his diploma, experience in internships, participation in social projects, interesting topic thesis, energy, enthusiasm and the ability to learn at the speed of light.

Prove by deed

This is the most the right way dispel doubts about yourself - with the help of concrete results.

If we are given such a chance, we can convey the truth to others not in verbal form, but in real deeds.

Actions towards people and achievements in a professional environment are much more revealing than inspired stories about yourself and your legendary qualities.

For example, if the boss believes that the employee is a real lazy person and incompetent, but the results of the annual performance assessment indicate that this is not at all the case, and he has far from the worst result in the department. Only a tyrant would argue with the conclusions - alas, there are many of them, but often objective indicators can still convince.

The third one is not superfluous

Sometimes, to overcome the bias of someone whose opinion is important to us, we need to call on others to help. For example, if the boss gave a low rating to our work, we can ask two or three more experts to provide their independent opinions, and based on them, contact the boss with a request to reconsider his own.

Of course, this does not apply to everyone - there are people who will only be angered by such antics. But there are also those who are wise enough to admit their mistake, if it really happened.

Call for diversity

It is not without reason that in developed communities, including effective companies, adopted so-called concept of flexibility and diversity. According to her, it is believed that the more people in a team or group who differ in a variety of parameters (gender, nationality, age, views, temperament, experience, skills), the better. Because these people are able to look at a problem from different angles, propose different solutions and find the optimal one among them.

You can appeal to this argument when trying to convey to a person - for example, a boss, the idea: just because you are different does not mean that one of you is bad. This, on the contrary, benefits all participants in the process.

Listen

They say there is no smoke without fire. According to this logic, if a person thinks badly of us, then there is definitely a rational grain in his opinion. Experience suggests that this is not always the case.

However, it still makes sense to pay attention. Maybe there really is something in our behavior that makes people think wrong about us?

Wave your hand

Alas, this tactic is often the only possible one. If you want to change the situation, but the person does not make contact and stubbornly refuses to be objective, you just have to stop paying attention and live with it in parallel. Because no one can transplant their own thoughts.

In addition, it is always useful to remember: there are people who like to gossip, slander, and humiliate. But this is their own business.

Frequently asked questions and answers

I am biased towards people, what should I do?

It is necessary to understand the reasons for this perception. Most often, this is done by those who are used to thinking in stereotypes or classifying people. For example, when someone you know earns a huge amount of money and lives with a much younger spouse, you pre-impose a pattern on the situation. If you previously knew a person in prison who offended you, now you will see each of them as a threat. Fear and expectation of the worst will lead to fear and prejudice towards those sitting. Often the opinion is wrong. You cannot project your expectations onto the actions of others. You should analyze what kind of person is in front of you, what past experience he has and how he lives now. This will help you perceive reality more easily. It's best not to set expectations. Let the situation and relationships with people be built as they should be, without stereotypical thinking and prejudices. Reduce requests. Try to notice the best sides of people around you and not label them.

Unbiased attitude, how is that?

An unbiased attitude is built on trust in others. You don't expect anything in advance. You allow a person to open up and show their strengths. Of course, there are certain patterns of thinking, reactions, behavior, but sometimes people can surprise. Evaluate people, use your experience, but do not allow yourself to label a person in advance. An open-minded attitude is acceptance of a person. You don't blame him in advance.

Preconceived opinion, what is that?

Prejudice is an accusation or justification of other people, their actions, actions, reactions, social status. You can either overestimate something, or, conversely, underestimate it in advance. Typically, the assessment is based on previous experience. For example, you think that everyone who goes to work by subway is low-income people. Thus, you don’t even admit that the metro eliminates standing in traffic jams, saves travel time, or can be a favorite mode of transport. A preconceived opinion is based on a piece of information about something or someone. Because information is incomplete, biases often lead to mistakes, conflicts and disappointments.

What does the word "bias" mean?

Bias is a biased assessment of someone or something. It is based on prejudice, prejudice, previous experience, information obtained from unreliable sources or bias. It can overestimate and perceive something, or underestimate it.

Biased view, what is it?

This is a view of things that was formed in advance. A biased view can appear before meeting someone, visiting a place or institution, reading a book, watching a movie, or getting a job. You have not yet allowed the person to open up, but you have already formed an opinion about him. It can be both positive and negative. Preconception is a judgement.

Prejudice at work, what to do?

If you suffer from bias at work, you have the power to change it. A frank conversation with those who have formed an opinion about you in advance, time, and closer acquaintance can change the situation. For example, you can organize a party. Or invite those who have not yet gotten to know you better to your place. Getting closer, conversations, dialogue will help. If there was an incorrect assessment of you as an employee, prove the opposite. Take on the task and complete it, show that you are an expert and professional in your field. If you have a preconceived opinion about your colleague or boss, try changing your rating. Try to see the benefits. Accept the other person, evaluate him realistically, without starting from the information received about him earlier.

What kind of "unbiased person"?

An unbiased person is characterized by what he does not evaluate. He accepts the world the way he is. Such a person looks at facts without being guided by past experience, information, prejudice, racial or other prejudices. His assessment is fair. He does not expect certain reactions, behavior or attitudes from a person. Finding himself in an environment that is foreign to himself, an unbiased person equally sees positive and negative sides and only then makes his assessment. Poor service in one of the restaurant chains does not mean that the situation will repeat itself in the same restaurant, only in Kyiv. The ability to take life lightly improves emotional condition person. An open-minded person is much less likely to be disappointed. He doesn't expect anything in advance.

What is a synonym for the phrase "bias"?

A synonym for a biased attitude is: prejudice, prejudice, assessment, judgment, verdict, expectation of something, subjective attitude or assessment, partiality, one-sidedness, limitation, biased perception.

What is the antonym for the word "biased"?

Antonyms for the word “biased” are: objectively, comprehensively, acceptance of something or someone, impartially, impartially, fairly, in accordance with merit, without evaluation.

The boss's biased attitude, what to do?

Often, even before your first day at work, your boss has already formed an opinion about you. It arose from someone’s warnings, from an analysis of your resume, level of education, work experience and even appearance. The boss's attitude can be either positive or vice versa. In both cases, it can harm your career. In the first weeks of work, show yourself with the best side. The boss's biased attitude will change. In which direction depends only on you. If it was based on the perception of your appearance, think about whether it’s worth changing. For example, you are tall, slender, dyed blonde. Do you like the way you look, but your boss or boss doesn’t perceive blondes positively, only brunettes? Then think about whether it’s worth adapting to their taste. If your rating is lower than you deserve, due to your style or makeup (overly flashy appearance, revealing outfits, “blue stocking” look), analyze how your colleagues go to work. Evaluate yourself from the outside. Change your style and your look. This will change your opinion literally immediately. Separate the bias between assessing you as a specialist, as a person, and assessing your appearance. The main thing in work is professionalism. Assessing personal traits (character, temperament, etc.) is important in building relationships with loved ones, friends, and relatives. And appearance is purely your business, if it is not neglected or, conversely, not too vulgar.

Positive bias, what is it?

Positive bias is built on a high pre-assessment. Even before meeting someone, visiting a place, or buying something, a positive opinion has already been formed. The problem is that disappointment from incorrect expectations can be painful. It will affect the assessment in the future. For example, based on good recommendations comrades, the boss is preparing to hire an excellent specialist. Although, it turns out that he is undisciplined, received his education “for money” and humiliates his subordinates. To avoid making mistakes, you should perceive someone or something without judgment. Allow yourself to express yourself. Look at the situation objectively.

Prejudicial attitude towards women, what to do?

If a man has a prejudiced attitude towards women, one should analyze where it came from. This could be a bad marriage, a bad relationship with a mother or sister, or being raised by a father who was disappointed in women or saw them only as sex objects. Infidelity from ex-loved ones, lies, quarrels, and a negative past also have an impact. Only the man himself can change his attitude. He must learn to perceive women not as a whole, but as individuals, with their own character, experience, appearance, the right to decide and change. High or low expectations should be a thing of the past. Treat a woman as a person. Evaluate what she is like as a hostess, interlocutor, and friend. Sometimes a fat woman is not from good appetite, and from hormone therapy, and a redhead is not necessarily liberated. Try to understand her. Accept her for who she is.

Biased defense, what is it?

Biased defense doesn't necessarily have to do with lawyers. Often this is the attitude of a mother to a child, a boss to a pretty colleague, a wife to her husband. For example, a mother, knowing about her son’s cruelty, will justify him, even if he ends up in a pre-trial detention center. She will find excuses for his behavior, despite the facts. Or a wife defends her husband who beats her, seeing signs of love in his behavior. This is because everyone believes in what they want. Biased defense is formed on subjective perception. It seems to the person that his assessment is correct. He pushes away from her, ignoring reality. Such defense not only harms the biased person, but also what or who he is defending.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Bias is a very real problem that can lead to negative consequences, both in the life of the bearer of a biased opinion and its object. This attitude, if it has any significance, can be tried to change. This is not always possible, but trying, as they say, is not torture.

A biased interpretation is self-justification, therefore bias is often death” /1/. Bias is prejudice and intolerance of facts. Bias is, first of all, the perception and evaluation of another person or event without striving for objectivity.

Of course, every person has the right to a personal opinion, and how it should be formed (by what criteria). Otherwise, labor efficiency decreases, because one of the features of professionalism is an adequate attitude towards one’s work and colleagues.

Bias is... legal practice

Nowadays, a prejudiced attitude is understood as one that has developed on personal hostility towards a person: it may be due to psychological incompatibility or known facts about this person. Moreover, the information that becomes the cause of bias is in no way related to the subject of the work.

This is where precedents for bias may arise. There are also frequent cases when representatives of certain professions are biased towards the very subject of their activity, and this ruins the development of skill at the root. If a psychologist is biased towards his patients, he will not be able to help them. This “model” of bias can be “tried on” to any profession, and then it turns out that in any case it leads to negative consequences: undermining authority, poor-quality production, etc.

The last option is one of the most difficult, since in this case you need to find out for yourself why the boss became angry, and, depending on this, compensate for the reason for his bias. If a subordinate is biased towards his manager, then this will certainly negatively affect his work. It is important to understand the reasons for this phenomenon and avoid situations in which it may occur.

People with a pronounced character trait of bias should not work in law enforcement agencies and the judicial system. Bias manifests itself, as a rule, in a negative perception of any events, any actions of a certain circle of people, etc. This character trait is formed from upbringing in the family, school, etc. A person with this trait is of little interest as an interlocutor, partner, employee, moving the business and company forward.

We simply must never forget that established rules can be flexible, they can be applied not only by one person in own benefit, but also by other people. How often do we face unfair treatment from people who, in fact, know nothing about us? How often do we ourselves become blind hostages of bias?

Bias in everyday life

Bias is a biased opinion formed on the basis of stereotypes, in advance decision, which is based not on specific facts and arguments, but on a personal emotional attitude. A prejudiced attitude towards a person can be based on a number of typical criteria - gender, age, physique, skin color, religion, wealth, etc.

Where do we most often encounter bias?

If a person once found himself involved in a conflict with a representative of another religion and now considers all bearers of that religion to be aggressive, this is personal bias. If a person is afraid of something, he will obviously have a negative attitude towards it and try to avoid it. These are any judicial systems (starting from beauty contests and ending, in fact, with the courts), employment, relations between the sexes, politics.

If before we talked about the negative attitude generated by prejudice, now it’s time to remember its second side - positive bias. A person can take a biased position if it is beneficial for him: a banal example is a bribe.

Understand that there can be several points of view on one question, and each will have its own share of truth. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Bias is a lack of impartiality, prejudice, an initial inclination towards a certain position, pre-experimental readiness for a particular conclusion. Bias (a preconceived biased opinion that is formed in advance) is a way psychological reaction, which manifests itself in a deliberately negative attitude towards something or someone.

Disadvantages of Bias

Bias is an infallible belief in one’s own rightness. Bias is the unfair favoring of one side over another. Bias in refereeing. He was always biased. For example, an IQ test that tests blacks and whites at different levels may be considered biased.

Every preconceived notion is precisely reflected. N.358. When We talk about purification of thinking, We first of all mean liberation from preconceived thoughts. N.636. Being fully prepared does not mean being bound by preconceived intentions.

But it should be firmly remembered that there should be no bias or prejudice. It is best to look even at a familiar person as if for the first time. First impressions usually do not deceive, because they have not yet had time to acquire preconceived thoughts.

In this case, the mind greatly interferes, creating a biased judgment and drowning out the signs of the heart. It leads to self-delusion and plunges a person into a world of ghosts. Fear of approaching people and biased judgments make every construction very difficult, but God controls only the brave. They say that prejudice against a person is bad. In fact, this very opinion is already biased towards bias.

Manifestation of bias

Well, if you do it yourself, then well done, but still answer, where does this expression come from and how was this meaning obtained? If I did it myself, the answer to this simple question I definitely wouldn't forget. Don’t lie, it’s obvious how you’re deceiving, and you’re also complaining that I’m biased towards you.

How to overcome bias

But think about it, is it so bad to have a biased attitude? You may ask: if it is possible to foresee cheating options in advance, then why can’t they be stopped immediately? I will answer: it is possible. And it's not difficult to do. If we return to the conversation about bias, then I believe that you should always be biased towards a person, but only to a certain extent. Everything literally follows the same template, and it doesn’t matter who writes, the idea in the content will be the same.

Why is bias dangerous?

It is possible and necessary to foresee the behavior, character and various qualities of a person, on the basis of which to build relationships with him in ADVANCE, adjusting them as he gets to know him more deeply. You can also answer in in a good way: “yes, it’s obvious to me in advance that you, unlike many, deserve special treatment, that’s why I’ll ask you more, and you’ll be able to learn more.”

But it is IMPORTANT to always somehow check your guess BEFORE your actions towards the person become irreversible. My personal opinion is that if I endow a person with negative qualities and expect bad actions from him, then eventually I will receive them. To do this, of course, you need to understand people. An indispensable condition for bias in my understanding is reversibility.

2. Prejudicial attitude towards whom, what l. Suffer from whose l. bias. Nowadays, you can often encounter biased attitudes at work. The worst manifestation of bias in Everyday life a person is a clearly formed negative attitude towards representatives of another race, nationality, gender, etc.

Bias is the tendency to have a false, preconceived, pre-existing negative opinion about someone or something.

The children tried the jam that their mother had just made. They really liked it. Then their younger brother entered the room. -Can I try the jam too? - he asked. - Don't eat it, it's very sour! - the older children joked. Having eaten enough treats, they ran out into the street. Mom looked into the room: “Why don’t you try the jam, my dear?” - Because it's sour! - the kid answered with tears in his eyes. “It can’t be,” Mom smiled. - Who told you this? - Seniors. - They were joking. “Eat and don’t doubt it,” the mother reassured the upset baby. The older brothers ran into the room again. - Why are you eating jam? It's sour! - they laughed. - No, sweet! - the baby answered. - Where did you get the idea that it’s sweet? - Because mom said so! - the boy answered confidently.

It is easier to climb Everest than to prove to a prejudiced person that his prejudices are unfair. It would seem that it would be easier to get consent to an obvious fact: the sun rises in the east, but that was not the case. It seems to you that understanding is enough for this, and you ask: “Do you understand?” He nods that he understands. However, you doubt and do the right thing. Understanding alone is not enough. He needs to understand and accept this truth. With hope in your voice, you ask: “Did you understand with your mind, but did you accept with your soul?” With irritation, he waves away your questions like an autumn fly: “I understand and accept, but I still don’t agree.” And then you finally realize that against the “Iron Curtain” of prejudices, all arguments and arguments are powerless. Maybe before your meeting you were described to him as a liar, a talker and a provocateur. The prejudiced brain has set up an impenetrable minefield against any of your statements. Whatever you try to prove, your thought will be met with " anti-tank hedgehogs» his prejudices. Scientist Albert Einstein is said to have once said that in this sad world it is easier to split an atom than to overcome prejudice.

Prejudice - la cautious, preconceived, pre-existing negative opinion about someone or something. As a type of belief, prejudice differs from the latter in two circumstances: it can be about someone or something, but not against oneself. As we know, beliefs about oneself are extremely common. Moreover, the irrationality of prejudice can exist independently of personal experience. For example, a person has never seen gypsies, but knows that they are bad. When the knight Lancelot arrived in a city enslaved by the cruel Dragon, he, to his surprise, heard about the kindness of the Dragon. Firstly, during the cholera epidemic, the Dragon breathed on the lake and boiled the water in it. Secondly, he rid the city of gypsies. “But the gypsies are very nice people,” Lancelot was surprised. "What do you! Horrible! - exclaimed the archivist Charlemagne. “True, I have never seen a single gypsy in my life.” But back in school I learned that these people are scary. These are vagabonds by nature, by blood. They are the enemies of everyone state system, otherwise they would have settled somewhere and not wandered here and there. Their songs lack masculinity and their ideas are destructive. They steal children. They get everywhere." Please note: Charlemagne himself has not seen the gypsies, but their bad qualities do not give rise to any doubts. Even a real Dragon is better than mythical gypsies. By the way, the source of information about the “Gypsy threat” was none other than Mr. Dragon himself.

In practice, it can be quite difficult to test for bias. It can easily be mistaken for belief. An experienced eye will recognize prejudice by the lack of logic in justifying its position and by its indifference to the facts. If a person is unable to go beyond the usual ideas even in a situation where life directly contradicts previous ideas about it, Great chance that we are dealing with prejudice.

Legends can be made about the persistence of prejudices. It is hundreds of times easier to refute a belief than a prejudice. This amazing fact, but it reproduces itself. Having once mentally outlined the rationale for his prejudice, a person does not want to part with it, like the Stingy Knight with his chests. Rational thinking and normal rules logic is as necessary here as money is for desert island. It’s like a person has blinders on his eyes: he doesn’t notice that prejudice contradicts his entire system of beliefs and beliefs. The facts on which the prejudice was based have already been refuted by everyone, but this does not mean anything - the prejudice will continue to live happily ever after.

What is the nature of prejudice? Where do they come from? Limit yourself to “lame” thinking individual person it would be wrong. A person’s everyday personal experience cannot be the only cause of prejudice. Behind him, the true parents of prejudice are visible - stereotypes. Stereotypes are the real parents of prejudice. When contacting others, a person compares and evaluates them through the prism of his existing attitudes. For this reason, he sees and hears what he wants to see and hear. M. Gorky in “The Life of Klim Samgin” wrote: “When a Russian steals, they say: “A thief stole,” and when a Jew steals, they say: “A Jew stole.” Notice the difference? According to stereotypes (Jews are crooks), attention is focused not so much on the fact of theft, but on the nationality of the thief.

After the revolution of 1917, stereotypes of the intellectual, the priest, the merchant, the professor, and the kulak were created in the collective consciousness, which gave rise to mass prejudices that live among some people to this day. If you are an intellectual, then you must be snotty and lousy. “Professor, take off your bicycle glasses. I myself will tell about the time and about myself,” wrote V. Mayakovsky. Who needs a bespectacled professor, always absent-minded, out of this world. An idiot, in a word. It’s a shame to talk about the priest: extremely greedy, hypocritical, fat, hungry for wine and women. “What will you, father, wine or vodka?” - “And beer too, my son.” There is nothing to say about the kulak - he was destroyed as a class. The most efficient part of the peasantry was repressed through drunkenness. Thanks to stereotypes, a prejudice has developed in people’s minds that kulaks are stealers and world-eaters.

Prejudices are often widespread and national in nature. Charles Dickens in Little Dorrit describes this mass psychosis: “It was no easy task for a foreigner to earn the favor of the Bleeding Hearts. Firstly, they were all vaguely convinced that every foreigner was hiding a knife in his bosom; secondly, they professed a sound principle legitimized by national public opinion: let the foreigners go home. They never wondered how many of their compatriots would have to leave different countries, if only this principle were universally adopted; they thought it only applied to England.”

Now let's remember fascism and racism. Where did the Germans get their prejudices against Jews, Slavs and other peoples? They drew them from the social consciousness imposed on them. Society drilled stereotypes of Nazi ideology into the heads of an entire people, which gave rise to corresponding prejudices. Consequently, prejudices are social phenomena brought to life by stereotypes of mass consciousness. D. Aiken wrote: “If one fine morning we discovered that from now on all people are of one nation, one faith and one race, then before lunch we would have invented new prejudices.”

In addition, each person is identified as an individual, relating himself to some group of people ( kindergarten, school, sports club, party, nation, state). Each of these structures requires us to comply certain rules. Being within its boundaries, we feel like a “cog” in a large mechanism. Voluntarily or unwittingly, we think in the same direction as the other members of the structure, feeding the corresponding pendulum with our thought energy. Each pendulum, being in a competitive environment, is interested in increasing its supporters and reducing the influence of other pendulums. By exploiting our sense of self-worth, pendulums force us to consider our structures better than others. A fan of a football club is prejudiced against any similar guy from another club. It leads to clashes, stabbings and murders. Street goes to street, area to area. One nation is aggressively prejudiced against another. In a word, egregors, forming our need for a qualitative comparison of structures, first form the stereotypes they need, which, in turn, give rise to prejudices.

One must say at least one word in defense of prejudices. If an indecisive, shy person is convinced that he is new job respected and appreciated, and he will believe it, this prejudice will play a positive role. He successfully adapts to the new team.

Peter Kovalev

• Why is bias dangerous?

How often do we face unfair treatment from people who, in fact, know nothing about us? How often do we ourselves become blind hostages of bias? This happens all the time - we are all, to one degree or another, blessed with a lack of prejudice.

Bias is a biased opinion formed on the basis of stereotypes, a pre-made decision that is based not on specific facts and arguments, but on a personal emotional attitude. The antonym of bias is impartiality - the ability to make decisions based only on logic and expediency, without the participation of feelings, emotions and imposed cliches.

If we take prejudice apart, we come to the conclusion that it is not pure product human stupidity or depravity - it should rather be called side effect logical processes. As already mentioned, bias is built on the basis of stereotypes (read “ What are stereotypes"), and they, in turn, follow from inductive conclusions: “The bus driver was rude to me - that means all bus drivers are boors.” This logical fallacy is based on the fact that inductive inferences are correct in no more than 80% of cases.

A prejudiced attitude towards a person can be based on a number of typical criteria - gender, age, physique, skin color, religion, wealth, etc. Let's remember a few stereotypes that gave rise to the monsters of prejudice:

• all blondes are stupid;
• all Muslims are terrorists;
• all old people don’t know how to use computers;
• All fat people clumsy;
• all dark-skinned people need to beware;
• all rich people acquired their wealth by dishonest means;
• and many, many others.

As you understand, these statements are only partly true, since all people are different. There are Muslims who blow up planes, and there are loving husbands and fathers who speak out against violence. There are older programmers. And female PhDs with charming straw-colored hair. And even honest businessmen.

But how much trouble does bias based on these stereotypes bring us! How much hatred we can pour on a person just because he has a different skin color; how many ridiculous comments they tolerate regarding their professionalism beautiful women; how decent men suffer from the mistrust of their offended girlfriends, who are sure that “men only need one thing” and “they are all scum.”

Why is bias dangerous?

• a biased person is not able to objectively assess the situation and make the right decisions;
• he does not know how to listen to others, does not accept other people's points of view and lives by the principle: there are two opinions - mine and the wrong one;
• he is selective in relation to facts: he accepts those that are beneficial to him, and rejects the rest;
• bias deprives flexibility of thinking, prevents you from opening up to new things and expanding your horizons. A typical example of a biased position: “Our ancestors did it this way, and we will do it too”;
• the result of a biased attitude is fatal mistakes in making important life and professional decisions.

Prejudices can be formed under the influence of a number of factors:

1. Public opinion

Social bias is based on stereotypes of a certain stratum and may not be reinforced personal experience. For example, most men have a negative attitude towards women driving, even if they have not been in an accident or dangerous situations involving a female driver.

2. Personal experience

Bias of this type, on the contrary, stems from one’s own conclusions drawn on the basis of experienced events. If a person once found himself involved in a conflict with a representative of another religion and now considers all bearers of that religion to be aggressive, this is personal bias.

3. Media, gossip, rumors

It often happens that a negative attitude towards a person or phenomenon is based solely on what a neighbor said or heard on television. In terms of the level of reliability of information, these two sources are almost equivalent - they mix truth and lies, without understanding who is right and who is wrong.

There is a joke about this: “I didn’t say hello to the grandmothers on the bench - that’s it, now I’m a drug addict!”

How does the third point differ from the first? Public opinion is based on real statistical findings, but does not take into account exceptions - there is a grain of truth in it, sometimes quite impressive. Opinions based on the media and gossip are often completely opposite to the truth.

Political forces often take advantage of this: it is enough to create a negative stereotype of a competitor, and he will never wash himself off, even if it is not true.

4. Fears and phobias, fear of failure

If a person is afraid of something, he will obviously have a negative attitude towards it and try to avoid it. When someone fears failure, they form false arguments against the need for a given action. As an example, a person does not change an unpleasant, low-paid job, fearing that he will not succeed in the new place. To justify himself, he begins to invent excuses that he himself believes in: “All advertisements offering higher pay are a scam.” All bosses are bad, but at least I know what to expect from mine.” Thus, a person creates a negative biased position, which he himself believes in.

5. Pride, confidence in one’s own infallibility

At some stage of professional or life growth the individual may find himself trapped in self-confidence, which is expressed in one motto: “I can’t be wrong!” This causes prejudice against other people, a blind reluctance to listen to and understand the arguments of anyone other than oneself. Most often, managers suffer from this.

A lot of troubles are brought by an unshakable confidence in one’s rightness, which causes bias against logical arguments. Thus, an experienced designer may not listen to fair arguments young specialist only due to age. Thus, he will endanger the lives of people who will use the bridge or airplane built according to his drawings.

Where do we most often encounter bias?

In fact, we encounter it all the time, but there are entire “breeding grounds” for this disease. These are any judicial systems (starting from beauty contests and ending, in fact, with the courts), employment, relations between the sexes, politics. Any field in which decisions are based on the opinions of certain people suffers from biases, because we are all subjective. Even if we don't want to admit it.

What is positive bias?

If before we talked about the negative attitude generated by prejudice, now it’s time to remember its second side - positive bias. She is driven by personal gain, desires, emotional preferences, sympathies.

A person can take a biased position if it is beneficial for him: a banal example is a bribe. He can make a decision in favor of a person only because he likes him externally. We will always take the side of the person we know, even if we don’t know him well enough.

Why is this bad? The fact that competent workers have to work under the supervision of narrow-minded nephews and dropout daughters of influential people. Officials who are appointed to positions through acquaintances do not always even really understand what they need to do. And even in the state management machine, the well-known “nepotism” flourishes. Of course, this negatively affects work.

Connections, patronage, cronyism - all these are offspring of positive bias based on personal gain: I’d rather help an acquaintance who will become my debtor than be objective and get nothing for it.

***
Everyone suffers from bias - both its bearers and the objects at which it is directed. Lack of justice kills the desire to act. Bias gives rise to undeserved criticism and unfair connivance, fanaticism and favoritism; puts the lives and destinies of people and entire nations at risk. The Inquisition, the Crusades, genocide - these are the children of bias.

A biased person can be seen a mile away - thinking people will prefer not to mess with him. Therefore, we can safely say that the presence of prejudices distances their bearer from success; such baggage pulls its owner down.

How to deal with this? Cultivate a lack of bias and impartiality. To do this you need to learn a few rules:

• To pacify pride and accept the fact that we can make mistakes, and other people’s opinions can be more correct than ours.
• Calmly consider arguments and facts without thinking about who owns them.
• Don’t take everything they say for granted, check the information in primary sources.
• Feel free to open up to new things, without being afraid of fresh ideas and original views.
• Understand that there can be several points of view on one question, and each will have its own share of truth.

Of course, you shouldn’t go too far - people who are too impartial rightly cause public disapproval. After all, we are emotional and social beings, we do not have the right to abandon loved ones, humane values, love and compassion just because the arguments of reason dictate so. The golden mean between these two phenomena is sufficient objectivity to accept important decisions, which does not prohibit personal experiences and emotions. In this combination, they will become useful companions of our intellectual growth and professional activity.

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In our world, "to the brim" inhabited by people various kinds occupations, worldviews, temperament and more, there simply cannot be such a thing as bias. Sooner or later everyone faces this phenomenon.

So, bias is this kind of attitude towards someone or something that is based on a prejudice formed earlier, before direct acquaintance with the current object. That is, bias can manifest itself both in relation to the person himself and to the works of his activity. Because to weather events or natural anomalies the concept of bias hardly applies.

Perhaps every society “suffers” from this disease, which gives rise to minor conflicts and sometimes even loud scandals. For example, in some countries there is a very biased attitude towards Russia, which portrays our country as a conflict instigator. However, most often we have to suffer from bias at the everyday level, when our colleagues or acquaintances, and maybe even friends, are ready to give us a premature assessment.

As they say, you are greeted by your clothes and escorted by your mind. But, unfortunately, some people do not want to look beyond the “clothes”, thereby drawing very hasty conclusions. The most obvious example of bias seems to be children and their shameless teasing. Of course, this is not exactly the bias that we are used to seeing in society. But children are little adults, so their fun should not be considered absolutely harmless. Think about how some kids treat the new kid or the new girl in class. Without a twinge of conscience, they can call a peer a nerd or a nerd (and this is a very offensive nickname for children) just because he wears glasses.

By their behavior, children demonstrate a biased attitude clearly, so to speak, without embellishment. Whereas in the adult world, this kind of attitude is usually hidden for the sake of etiquette accepted in society. Probably, a person simply cannot help but evaluate another person or the fruits of his activities through the prism own experience and thinking. That's how we are made.

Very often, bias competes with objectivity. I think those who have had to judge or rate other people understand perfectly well what we are talking about. For example, it is difficult to be completely objective and evaluate only talent when in competitions best poem your child is involved. After all, for most parents, their child is the most beautiful, the most talented and simply the best.

Prejudicial attitudes are common: on the bus, grannies think that today’s youth do not respect their venerable age at all, scornfully glaring at the young people sitting next to them, road patrol inspectors are not afraid to hint at a bribe, and all officials have long been accustomed to being considered thieves and deceivers . Such bias can be called mass, because it arose on the basis of public opinion, supported by experience.

As for the prejudiced attitude towards an individual person, touchiness, resentment, and much more that are considered to be the personal qualities of a person can play a role here. That is why it can be very disappointing to forever lose the trust and affection of a friend or ally, just once having acted dishonestly towards him.

Speaking about prejudice towards other people, I still want to hope that most often it is positive, a kind of advance. After all, it is often much easier to be disappointed than to be enchanted =)