Implicit stereotype
An implicit bias or implicit stereotype is the pre-reflective attribution of particular qualities by an individual to a member of some social out group.
Implicit stereotypes are thought to be shaped by experience and based on learned associations between particular qualities and social categories, including race and/or gender. Individuals' perceptions and behaviors can be influenced by the implicit stereotypes they hold, even if they are sometimes unaware they hold such stereotypes. Implicit bias is an aspect of implicit social cognition: the phenomenon that perceptions, attitudes, and stereotypes can operate prior to conscious intention or endorsement. The existence of implicit bias is supported by a variety of scientific articles in psychological literature. Implicit stereotype was first defined by psychologists Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald in 1995.
Implicit stereotypes - unconscious associations held by individuals - can influence behavior even when they contradict consciously endorsed beliefs. This effect is particularly observable in real-world contexts such as hiring processes.
Early research by Banaji and Greenwald (1995) demonstrated how implicit gender stereotypes affect judgments of fame. The seminal study by Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004) revealed that in the U.S. job market, applicants with stereotypically White names (e.g., "Emily" or "Greg") received 50% more interview callbacks than equally qualified applicants with African American-sounding names (e.g., "Lakisha" or "Jamal"). This racial bias in hiring has been replicated across various cultural contexts.
Yudkin and Van Bavel (2016) propose that such biases originate from automatic cognitive categorization ("us vs. them") rather than explicit prejudice. This tendency emerges early in development, with children displaying in-group preferences by age two. The persistence of these associations helps explain why implicit biases often remain active among individuals who consciously support egalitarian values.
Organizations have implemented several evidence-based strategies to reduce implicit bias:
- Blind recruitment processes that remove identifying information
- Standardized evaluation criteria for more objective assessment
- Structured interviews to minimize subjective judgments
- Implicit bias training programs (though their long-term efficacy remains debated)
Explicit stereotypes, by contrast, are consciously endorsed, intentional, and sometimes controllable thoughts and beliefs.
Implicit biases, however, are thought to be the product of associations that were learned through past experiences. Implicit biases can be activated by the environment and operate prior to a person's intentional, conscious endorsement. Implicit bias can persist even when an individual rejects the bias explicitly.