What is Explicit Bias?

What is Explicit Bias?

• A. Conscious preference for a social category (positive/negative).
• B. Unconscious preferences formed early in life.
• C. System 1 thinking.
• D. Strategies to counter implicit bias.

Answer: (A)

Explicit bias is a conscious preference for a social category, positive or negative. It means you are aware of the attitude and may choose to express it or act on it intentionally. This stands in contrast to implicit bias, which refers to unconscious preferences formed early in life that you may not be aware of. System 1 thinking describes fast, automatic thought processes and is not itself a definition of bias. Likewise, strategies to counter implicit bias are about reducing unconscious biases, not defining explicit bias. In practice, recognizing explicit bias helps ensure decisions and interactions are deliberate rather than driven by unspoken assumptions.

Explicit bias is a conscious preference for a social category, positive or negative. It means you are aware of the attitude and may choose to express it or act on it intentionally. This stands in contrast to implicit bias, which refers to unconscious preferences formed early in life that you may not be aware of. System 1 thinking describes fast, automatic thought processes and is not itself a definition of bias. Likewise, strategies to counter implicit bias are about reducing unconscious biases, not defining explicit bias. In practice, recognizing explicit bias helps ensure decisions and interactions are deliberate rather than driven by unspoken assumptions.