Report On Testing On Implicit Bias Related To Sexuality

I chose Sexuality among the suggested topics. I chose it because it’s the first thing that came into my mind when talking about implicit bias. I have not much bias for Race, Gender, Ablelism, and Age. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) result was: “Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Straight people over Gay people”. As for the score, I’m not surprised because I really have moderate preference for straight people over Gay people. Although I am straight/heterosexual, I have relatives and friends who are gays whom I love and enjoy hanging out with that’s why I don’t have much inclination away from such group of people.

I’m not surprised with the result I’ve got because honestly, I have moderate preference for straight people rather than gay people. I feel that the result validated my feelings towards gay people. I think the result were quite accurate considering the result that was generated when I took the test. But, I think this result does not really represent true and accurate result for everybody. It is based on how fast you responded to the categories (bad or good) in relation to straight and gay people. How you connect certain attribute to a certain group of people. Attributes were supplied in the test so you are only limited to choose from among them. The result can also be affected if the test taker is tired because eye fatigue can make him/her choose/key in the wrong pair. Also, the physical absence of the experimenter to the study may have affected the result since there are no assurance that the procedural instruction to all respondents are clear and the task is performed the proper way.

Upon reflecting on the result and reviewing what we have discussed in the class regarding implicit bias, I think my score in a way reflected my personal bias on sexuality. When a stimuli or attribute is flashed, my initial reaction was to associate it either to straight or to gay people. I think I scored the way I did because I cannot even think harder because it is supposed to be answered right away so the first thing that comes into my mind is the one I chose over the other whether you’ll press “E” or you press “I”. Anyway, the result showed my implicit bias — my prejudice that is ingrained in my unconscious mind. The result reflected my culture which had greatly affected my impulses/answers.

I am a devout Catholic. My parents are also both Catholics and conservative. In my culture, marriage of the same sex is prohibited. There are even bills passed by our senators barring recognition of marriage involving transgender individuals, contracted in our country (the Philippines) or abroad, and one that bars recognition of marriages or domestic partnership between two people of the same biological sex contracted in countries that legally recognize such relationships. There are also anti-same sex marriage bills have been introduced and are pending before the Senate and Congress and in early 2011, one of our representatives filed a bill to amend the Philippine Family Code, to prohibit "forbidden marriages. " Specifically, this seeks to bar the Philippine state from recognizing same-sex marriages contracted overseas. Marriage as traditionally conceived in my country has always been between a man and a woman. Even concealment or covering up by a partner of his or her sexuality to his mate is a ground for annulment of marriage, homosexuality or lesbianism per se of a partner is also a ground for legal separation. Same-sex couples can live happily together. But they cannot demand that the state recognize same-sex marriages because the Constitution simply does not allow such unions. Considering the culture where I came from, the result really made sense.

Being human, in nature I am influenced by my innate biases. These biases that functions outside my rational thinking play an indispensable role in the way I sort through a couple of stimuli/attributes/labels and come up with a decision from day to day. As influenced by my own culture I can rapidly sort people into groups without thinking, it comes out naturally. I think we not only see the world as it is really is but the way our biases allows us to see it. As discussed by Anselmi et al (2013), in their study entitled, ” Implicit Sexual Attitude of Heterosexual, Gay and Bisexual Individuals: Disentangling the Contribution of Specific Associations to the Overall Measure “ the observed strong preference for heterosexual participants’ own sexual orientation was mostly driven by the attribution of positive traits to heterosexuals, rather than of negative traits to homosexuals which also applies in my case being a heterosexual. This I think greatly affected the result of my IAT.

I think my personal biases influence my interaction with people. I have more warm feeling towards heterosexual or straight than gay or homosexual individuals. But, this does not mean to say that I regard them less of a human. I really respect their preference, but as a devout Roman Catholic the inner side of me tells me that there can only be two sexes, the male and the female. Being humans, we are heavily influenced by our innate biases. I do believe that my implicit preferences can influence my work to a certain extent. For example, my attitude towards homosexuals can be slightly different than to straight individuals. In the hiring process, my implicit preference would be in favor of the heterosexual applicant over the homosexual.

One of the reason is that when there are prescribed uniforms that are implemented we had a hard time convincing the former to wear the appropriate attire. Homosexuals prefer to wear the uniforms they are comfortable with, others does not want to wear one simply because they are not at ease wearing them. Wearing the prescribed uniform is one of the mandatory government policy. Violations of which, means sanctions ranging from verbal warning up to suspension without pay or worst, dismissal from work. In performance appraisal of my subordinates, I need to talk to them and explain the result. When providing feedback, I feel more comfortable with straight employees especially women because I share the same sentiments. I am a bit awkward when talking to homosexuals/ gay employees because I am conscious whether what will I say to them will offend them and made them think that I don’t really care for them. I may not understand well the responses of the out- group. The performance evaluation is also somehow driven by rater/supervisor’s bias not by the actual performance criteria. This can be explained by the in-group and out-group thing as what we have discussed in class and in the Deep Diversity book.

If ever, I will prefer to stay in Canada and chose to work in the social science field, I think my bias regarding sexuality is not an issue. You have a different culture here where equality among hetero- and homosexuals is advocated. As of now, I’m really trying to understand your culture and trying to adapt the norms although some of which are contradictory with my culture.

To work towards the issue and examine the resolution of it, I need to become an ally to homosexuals, I need to cultivate the friendship I have with my gay/lesbian friends, examine my prejudices, look at how similar I am instead of how I am different from them.

As cited by Choudry (2016), biases are normal neurological processes that are both helpful and harmful. We should be watchful of how our bias manifests and catch ourselves in the act. We should be conscious enough to detect, interpret and lessen the effect of how bias manipulates us and affect those around us in order to nurture inclusion. As long as I am aware of my own biases and I work hard to build lines of communication I believe that I can overcome the barrier between me and my client (of different sexual orientation than mine) in the future. I need to understand their world in order to understand them better.