Snyder: The Biases You Don't Know You Have

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 | 0

At the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, there are two entrance doors to the exhibits, marked "Prejudiced" and "Unprejudiced."

Teddy Snyder

Try to walk through the Unprejudiced door, and you will find that you can’t. All of us are prejudiced in some way.

Implicit bias

When we hear a news story about a shooter or a fraudster, the first thing many of us think is, "Was it one of ours? What was the race, ethnicity, age, the home town?" We want to know if this person fits into our preconceived notions about “others” or whether this reflects badly on ourselves.

The term "implicit bias" refers to unconscious biases we don’t even realize we hold. Many negotiators are meticulous in their language and actions, which could reflect bias, to make no differentiation among clients or opponents. And yet, these unconscious concepts can get in the way of settlement.

Perception, stereotypes, behavior

You may perceive people of certain groups to be less honest, smart or cooperative than people in other groups. These perceptions are often based on stereotypes you have absorbed from family, education or other socialization, or from media. You may generalize about people in a certain group based on limited personal experience.

Biased perception and stereotyping can alter your behavior. You may be more or less willing to accommodate, disclose information or collaborate depending on whether others are from your own or a different group. You may make lowball offers or outrageous demands because of a preconceived notion of how your negotiating opponent will react.

A neutral setting helps

One way to circumvent the impediments to settlement caused by implicit bias is to use the services of professional neutral. Part of my job as a mediator is to guide the parties to negotiate based on the relevant law and facts rather than bias.

Facts can include information about a party’s past behavior. Also important is a person’s family situation and how external threats, such as insecure employment or immigration status, could affect his bargaining position. Facts do not include assumptions based on factors such as sex or ethnicity.

Timely settlement saves all parties time and money. One way the mediator helps parties reach a settlement is to avoid the influence of implicit biases on the negotiation.

Attorney Teddy Snyder mediates workers' compensation cases throughout California. She can be contacted through snydermediations.com.