{"id":41477,"date":"2025-04-03T20:51:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T03:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41477"},"modified":"2025-04-03T20:51:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T03:51:23","slug":"with-whom-do-i-want-to-conform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/with-whom-do-i-want-to-conform\/","title":{"rendered":"With whom do I want to conform?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sway, Unravelling unconscious bias<\/em>, by behavioral scientist, Dr. Pragya Agarwal, brings awareness to biases that exist and the discriminatory behavior that results from them. Specifically, she wanted to know why unconscious biases occur and how they are manifested within individuals[1]<\/a>. Many implicit biases are based on who is part of the in-group and out-group. Using a single criteria often relies on heuristics where the in-group decides about the out-group based on prejudices and judgements[2]<\/a>. The specific mental shortcut that goes into implicit bias would not be one that was created after careful reasoning but rather a mental shotgun, according to Dr. Daniel Kahneman, that creates an easy solution to a possibly difficult question without a lot of deliberation[3]<\/a>. For purposes of this post, an unconscious or implicit bias describes discriminatory behavior where someone responds to another based, not on their behavior but on their race, gender, ethnicity, educational, social status, or any other possibly divisive trait[4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Throughout the book, Dr. Agarwal cited scientific, behavioral, and psychological studies that shed light on different types of bias and some of the stereotypes that become the foundation of biases. \u00a0I appreciated her discussion of one common thread throughout the book; everyone has biases, whether they are implicit\/unconscious or explicit\/openly known. How an individual works to become aware of their biases then takes steps toward making thoughtful decisions that are respectful of people who might not be part of their in group is worth examining. As people take a look at the forces that form the opinions, fears, and outlooks that cause people to take an us verses them approach to interactions with others the author seeks an alternative to discrimination.<\/p>\n

The book lived up to its title in that Agarwal took apart what unconscious bias is, how it is formed, and how scientific principles are related to it[5]<\/a>. However, I am not convinced she fully succeeded in a solution to changing them. In consideration of the time and space constraints of this post I focus the rest of my discussion on the three types of conformity that undergird biases, then consider what impact hiring bias might have on my current leadership context.<\/p>\n

Conformity is an important aspect in how biases are formed. It strengthened how we feel when we agree with the views of the in-group, rewarded and accepted by it. The key is that conformity helps determine what we choose to believe and remember, thus informing our view of the world and our biases within it. There are three kinds of conformity.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Compliance conformity is demonstrated when someone believes others have more information about a topic or situation than the individual so yields to the others while in a public setting. However, strong personal opinions and beliefs might not change so the person could be very different in private. Situational compliance might not have a lasting impact on biases.<\/li>\n
  2. Identification conformity typically does not affect long-term change because it is usually used in a public setting or with a specific group. The purpose is to be accepted by the group.<\/li>\n
  3. Internalized conformity is where real change takes place. A person internalizes social and cultural concepts and practices as acceptable. This form of conformity leads to confirmation bias[6]<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With any type of conformity, being accepted by a valued group is the underlying factor.<\/p>\n

    My real concern with implicit biases is that they are based on fear of differences and the need of people to be accepted by others. Consequently, they discriminate against those unlike themselves[7]<\/a>. It makes me wonder about my leadership context. Have our interview teams been swayed by biases that are unrecognized as yet? \u00a0Our agency, with 87 employees, is significantly multiracial and multicultural. Yet only 2 men are in leadership: our finance director and thrift store manager, both fields that value agency. There could be two factors at play. I wonder if men might not apply to work at our organization because of their implicit bias about physically caring for people who need personal assistance, a task often assigned to women[8]<\/a>? Or could it be that our leadership team has implicit biases that value the relational\u00a0 qualities of women so unconsciously disregard men who apply to work in our field? These questions offer fodder where hiring stereotypes \u00a0could be considered and possible implicit biases \u00a0regarding gender role stereotypes explored in open discussions. While beneficial, I wonder if that would make any lasting change. People might just go along because they think conforming \u00a0might bring work success. There is another option.<\/p>\n

    Without being \u201cpie in the sky\u201d, I do think that the life Jesus led, again gives an example. He was not concerned about being accepted by the rulers and chief priests in power. Jesus was confident in who he was. He associated with marginalized at best and downright despised individuals. Think Zacchaeus. In Luke 19: 1-10 Jesus not only recognized this tax collector who apparently had been cheating fellow Jews, Jesus invited himself to have a meal with him. Scripture says the people were \u201cmuttering that he was going to the house of a sinner.\u201dv.7 Imagine if Jesus did not reach out to Zacchaeus, the tax collector\u2019s heart might not have changed. Yet Zacchaeus was <\/em>transformed because of Jesus. Jesus did not conform to the norms of the in group. All this is to say that as an individual we might not personally change the world, but as a follower of Jesus I have an example of how to live. As I look at my biases, could I see things differently if I stepped outside the norms of today\u2019s world and invited Jesus to lead my heart and mind in kindness and acceptance of others regardless of their otherness?<\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Pragya Agarwal, SWAY, Unravelling unconscious bias, (Dublin, Ireland: Bloomsbury Sigma, 2021),15.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Agarwal, 40.<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>, (New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 98-99.<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Agarwal, 10<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Agarwal, 11.<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> Agarwal, 33-34.<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Agarwal, 85.<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Alice Kessler-Harris, Women Have Always Worked, a Concise History,<\/em> 2ed. (Chicago, IL, University of Illinois Press, 2018), 131.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sway, Unravelling unconscious bias, by behavioral scientist, Dr. Pragya Agarwal, brings awareness to biases that exist and the discriminatory behavior that results from them. Specifically, she wanted to know why unconscious biases occur and how they are manifested within individuals[1]. Many implicit biases are based on who is part of the in-group and out-group. Using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3441],"class_list":["post-41477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-agarwal-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41478,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41477\/revisions\/41478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}