Unconscious biases are beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions that form automatically; an individual’s personal life experiences and natural human cognitive limitations inform these, so they may be inaccurate or incomplete, which can result in a pattern of unintended marginalization of people from certain groups.

Unconscious biases may be one barrier, among many, to an inclusive and equitable workplace climate and, therefore, a barrier to leveraging the benefits of a diverse organization. The volatile, complex, and uncertain environments of future threats require cognitive diversity across the DoD (e.g., DoD Board on D&I, 2020; Holt & Davis, 2022). The U.S. Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum, Immediate Actions to Address Diversity and Inclusion and Equal Opportunity in the Military Services, dated July 14, 2020, specifying that “Addressing racial prejudice and bias within the force requires a combination of ongoing skill development, leadership, and accountability” (Esper, 2020, p.2)

• ​Freezing
   
• Avoidance
   
• Overcompensation
   
• Discomfort
   
• Anxiety
   
• Fear
   
• Facial expressions
   
• Tone of voice
   
• Posture
   
• Word choice
   
• Speech disruptions

Targets of Bias
 

1. Minority Stress - Prejudice and discrimination, intentional or unintentional, are fundamental causes of negative health outcomes for minority group members (Williams et al., 2019).
2. Alienation - Leaders’ biased decision making can damage morale by making members feel alienated. (Williams & Nida, 2011).
3. Pressure to Conform to the Majority - The effects of unconscious bias are particularly impactful for low-ranking individuals from demographic minority groups. These members experience much higher pressure than their non-minority colleagues to self-monitor, assimilate, and socially conform as prerequisites for professional advancement (Anderson & Gustafsberg, 1999; Ely, 1995; Hewlin, 2009; Phillips et al., 2009).
4. Coping with Bias - In the face of real or perceived bias or discrimination, one coping strategy employed by stigmatized group members is psychological disengagement, “a defensive detachment of self-esteem from outcomes in a particular domain, such that feelings of self-worth are not dependent on successes or failures in that domain” (Major et al., 1998, p. 35).

Those Who Employ Bias
 

1. Interaction Anxiety, Discomfort - Even individuals who value being non-prejudiced can unwittingly experience prejudicial thoughts, discomfort, anxiety, or even fear when interacting with others who represent socially stigmatized groups (Devine, 2015).
2. Micro-behaviors, including Micro-affirmations / Micro-aggressions (Incivilities) - Micro-behaviors are subtle statements or gestures that people often do unconsciously but that convey important underlying meaning to an observer or recipient, including impacts that can damage interpersonal trust. (Lim et al., 2008; Williams, 2021).
3. Impaired Decision Making - Unconscious biases can be a type of logical fallacy when they are based on pre-existing beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions about people and groups that people (bias holders) apply to pre-judge others (bias targets) in the absence of direct personal experience or individual information about the targets (e.g., stereotypes). (e.g., Devine, 2015).
4. Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) and Ultimate Attribution Error (UAE) - The fundamental attribution error (FAE) is a term used to describe people’s failure to recognize the external circumstances that drive human behavior or people’s tendency to underestimate the degree to which external causes influence individual behavior. (Pettigrew, 1979). 

Impact on Groups and Organizations
 

1. Unit Level - Unconscious biases may drive disengagement and stagnation, and directly impact the unit’s culture and effectiveness – compromising recruitment, retention, and morale of highly skilled members (Anand & Winters, 2008; Atewologun et al., 2018; O’Mara & Richter, 2006).
2. Compromised Unit Cohesion and Morale - Leaders speaking or acting based on their unconsciously held biases can damage trust and relationships among their members, resulting in lower unit cohesion and morale (Fish et al., 2020).
3. Organizational Level - Unconscious bias can impact the organization by impacting recruitment, interviewing, hiring, mentoring, retention, evaluation and promotions, policy implementation and enforcement, and more, all of which have profound costs for any organization, including the DoD