8.7.2 Differences and similarities between biases

Many different biases have been discussed in this dissertation. While not an explicit part of the research question, it will be interesting to consider what the differences and similarities between biases are, also in the context of future empirical research into the ‘controllability’ of biases. I have defined biases as undesirable systematic influences in judgment and decision-making arising from the human mind (consisting of the conscious and unconscious) which are, however, not always recognised as such because one is usually not aware of these influences.

The biases discussed share a key similarity in that they occur or arise in the unconscious mind. Absolute control over biases is therefore impossible. It is interesting to further examine whether there are differences in the extent to which biases might be controlled. Is control perhaps easier to achieve if the societal pressure on the theme is greater? Because more attention will be paid to that particular bias? For example with the implicit gender bias. As discussed in Chapter 3, much societal (media) attention is paid to genderdiversity at the top of Dutch corporations. When becoming more familiar with the phenomenon of implicit gender bias, there may be a stronger intention as an individual to control the bias than with perhaps less appealing and less concrete bias such as ‘intuïtive thinking’. Not empirically verified but interesting is what I noticed in my own environment after sharing the content of my research into implicit gender bias. First outrage ‘I’m not affected by implicit gender bias’, then awareness and finally ‘okay, I’m affected’. The group that is close to me might not be the societal average. My friends, family and co-workers cannot not here my plead for gender equality. It must, once again, be said that this is not an empirically responsible result, but it is an interesting starting point for further research. My hypothesis would then be that the application of mitigation techniques to biases that are seen as increasingly undesirable from a societal point of view is more effective than the application of restriction techniques for biases that are considered less serious from a social point of view.

The main differences between biases especially concern the level at which mental deception occurs: at the level of the individual or at group level. An example of the latter is groupthink and group polarisation.

Another difference is that some biases are strongly connected to ‘looking back’ and subsequently opinion construction, while other biases don’t have this strong connection. This connection is reflected in hindsight bias and the Knobe effect and, to a lesser extent, in implicit gender bias. That the connection is less pronounced in, for example, implicit gender bias does not mean that this connection is not possible. Implicit gender bias can for example be fuelled by past experiences with men and women and the subsequent ‘characterisation’ of men and women in general, partly based on androcentrism. In these cases, there is a stronger connection between ‘looking back’ and implicit gender bias.