Module 8: Stereotypes and unconscious bias

1. Definitions
2. Origin of biases
3. Manifestation of biases
4. Biases in the context of domestic violence and their consequences
5. Anti-biases strategies
6. Five steps to counter personal biases

Sources

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Take time to reflect on the image.

1. What is your initial reaction to this image?
2. Are there any traditional gender roles that come to your mind when you see this image? If so, which ones?
3. How does this image challenge or reinforce traditional gender roles?
4. What assumptions might arise for you when seeing a man engaging in an activity traditionally associated with women?

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1. Definitions

As it is important to foster self-awareness, recognise harmful attitudes and behaviours, and highlight the broader societal implications of these phenomena, the definitions of bias, stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination are presented in this section.¹

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2. Origin of biases

Understanding the origin of biases allows us to explore the root causes and underlying mechanisms that contribute to the formation and perpetuation of biases. Everyone has biases, regardless of gender, education, or social status. They can help our brains to make quick decisions, but can also lead to discrimination and making us bad decisions.²

The following video explains this well and what role our brains plays in it.

Our individual biases are influenced by our systems of thinking and our experiences.

1. Systems of thinking

• Two systems of thinking: System 1 (unconscious) and System 2 (conscious)
• System 1: enables us to act quickly based on stored experiences

Example: When driving, we react immediately to a child running into the road.

• System 2: slower and requires conscious effort.

Examples: When paying attention to a conversation or searching for someone in a crowd.

2. Experiences

• Experiences shape our unconscious thought processes.
• Sometimes these processes can be faulty or go against our conscious beliefs (= unconscious biases).

Example: We tend to prefer people from our own culture because of our past experiences.

Take home points

• Unconscious biases can occur due to information overload, low informative value, need for quick decisions, and diversity of information.
• They are like shortcuts that our brains use, especially when we are feeling stressed or scared.
• Sometimes these shortcuts can cause unfair treatment or discrimination, thus it is important to understand one’s own unconscious biases.
• To address unconscious biases, we should question our perceptions and re-evaluate our experiences.

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3. Manifestation of biases

Examples of biases can help you recognise the diverse ways in which biases manifest in real-world situations to better understand their impact.³

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4. Biases in the context of domestic violence and their consequences

This section helps you to get a better understanding about the role of biases in the context of domestic violence and to gain insight into their profound influence on perceptions, attitudes, and responses. It is important to recognise their impact on victim-blaming and also when addressing inadequate support systems and dismantling systemic barriers to facilitate effective intervention and prevention measures.

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5. Anti-biases strategies

The following strategies aim to challenge and overcome biases, stereotypes, and prejudices that perpetuate harmful dynamics and hinder addressing domestic violence.

1. Counterstereotype imaging = thinking away stereotypes:

• Sometimes people have ideas about how certain groups of people are supposed to be.
• When we think about people who are different from those stereotypes, it can make us less biased.⁹

The following video shows that “we live in a time where we quickly put people in boxes, but maybe we have more in common than what we think”.

Have a look behind the following examples.

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2. Individuation = focusing on the uniqueness of each person:

• We should not judge someone based on our first impressions or what we think about their group to which they seem to belong.
• It is important to take our time and get to know the person as an individual.
• We can challenge our stereotypes by learning more about the person and seeing their unique qualities.¹⁰

The following three videos show how the topic of diversity is successfully addressed in advertising campaigns.

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3. Contact theory = positive contact helps reduce stereotypes:

• When we have positive experiences with people from different groups, it can make us less likely to believe stereotypes.¹¹

Some victim groups are more at risk at others to face stereotypes and unconscious biases, such as men as victims, disabled victims, victims in a LGBTIQ+ relationship, victims with a low or high socioeconomic background and immigrant victims. The following five case studies illustrate this.

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4. Perspective taking = putting yourself in the other person’s shoes:

• It is important to try to understand how someone else might feel or think, and we should imagine how we would feel if we were in their situation.¹²

Examples:

What do I see? What do I read or hear?

A woman with a head veil enters the office.

What do I think? How do I classify?

The woman is a Muslim.

What do I feel? What emotion does the situation trigger in me? How do I judge and decide?

The woman is self-confident. / I feel sorry for the woman. / etc.

Role plays are a good way to understand the impact of stereotypes and unconscious bias in the context of domestic violence.

Suggestions for role plays can be found under training materials for trainers.

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6. Five steps to counter personal biases

Encountering personal biases in the context of domestic violence is important because biases can hinder fair treatment and support for victims. This awareness is part of a broader effort, including striving for more equal opportunities, protecting marginalised groups in society, and counterbalancing the negative impact of media messages. Recognising and addressing these biases is essential to ensure that all victims receive the help and justice they need, regardless of their background. These steps provide you with practical tools to identify and challenge your own biases.¹³

1. Accept that you have biases:

• Sometimes we have certain ways of thinking that might not be fair to everyone.
• It is important to learn more about these ways of thinking and how they can affect our decisions.

2. Identify situations where mistakes can happen:

• There are times when we might not make the best decisions because we are in a hurry or feeling angry.
• It is good to ask friends and colleagues for feedback about us to understand our preferences and patterns.

3. Analyse how you see things:

• When we see something, we have thoughts and feelings about it.
• We can ask ourselves what we see, what we think, and how it makes us feel.

4. Understand where biases come from:

• Our experiences and the culture we grow up in shape how we see and judge things.
• We can think about where our ideas came from and how they might be different from others.

5. Reduce biases and be aware of them:

• If we realise, we have biases, we can work on changing them.
• Learning more about different topics can help us make fairer conclusions.

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Training materials to be used for a workshop or for your self-study can be found here.

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Sources

1. Anti-Bias. Unconscious Bias, Stereotype und Vorurteile (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/wissen/definitionen/unconsciousbias-definition/ ↩︎
2. Anti-Bias. Denkfehler! Wie Unconscious Bias entstehen (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/wissen/entstehung-von-bias/denkfehler-wie-unconscious-bias-entstehen/ ↩︎
3. Anti-Bias. Biases von A-Z (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/wissen/biases-von-a-z/ ↩︎
4. The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness. Gender Norms and Gender Role Expectations. https://stoprelationshipabuse.org/action/rape-culture/#genderroleexpectations ↩︎
5. The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness. Gender Norms and Gender Role Expectations. https://stoprelationshipabuse.org/action/rape-culture/#genderroleexpectations ↩︎
6. The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness. Objectification. https://stoprelationshipabuse.org/action/rape-culture/#objectification ↩︎
7. The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness. Trans-Misogyny. https://stoprelationshipabuse.org/action/rape-culture/#trans%20misogyny ↩︎
8. The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness. Avoiding Victim Blaming. https://stoprelationshipabuse.org/educated/avoiding-victim-blaming/ ↩︎
9. Anti-Bias. Counterstereotype Imaging – Stereotype wegdenken (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/anti-bias-strategien/schritte-gegen-persoenliche-bias/counterstereotype-imaging/ ↩︎
10. Anti-Bias. Individuation – auf die Einzigartigkeit jedes Menschen fokussieren (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/anti-bias-strategien/schritte-gegen-persoenliche-bias/individuation/ ↩︎
11. Anti-Bias. Kontakttheorie – Kontakt hilft Stereotype und Vorurteile zu reduzieren (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/anti-bias-strategien/schritte-gegen-persoenliche-bias/kontakttheorie/ ↩︎
12. Anti-Bias. Perspektivenübernahme – in die Schuhe des Gegenübers schlüpfen (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/anti-bias-strategien/schritte-gegen-persoenliche-bias/perspektivenuebernahme/ ↩︎
13. Anti-Bias. 5 Schritte gegen persönliche Biases (in German). https://www.anti-bias.eu/anti-bias-strategien/schritte-gegen-persoenliche-bias/5-schritte-gegen-persoenliche-bias/ ↩︎