Sustained positive peer interactions with out-group members reduce implicit bias over a lifetime.

Evidence

In our workshops, we emphasize that this work is a lifelong journey in which we learn to de-link stereotypes from group identities and create reciprocal, authentic relationships across identities. The steps themselves have independent value: (1) recognizing where one’s actions are a response to stereotypes, (2) learning to “individuate” by seeking information about people’s unique characteristics while being mindful of their group identity, (3) engaging in empathic perspective-taking, (4) surrounding oneself with counterstereotypical images, and (5) engaging in peer-to-peer intergroup interactions (Godsil et al., 2014). Ways to integrate these practices into people’s lives may differ, but activities outside of work such as attending houses of worship, being part of community organizations, and seeking other opportunities to meet people as peers will be critical. In other words, prosecutors must expand the set of positive pro-social interactions with out-group members (however defined) in order to succeed in long-term bias reduction. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1394

In our workshops, we emphasize that this work is a lifelong journey in which we learn to de-link stereotypes from group identities and create reciprocal, authentic relationships across identities. The steps themselves have independent value: (1) recognizing where one’s actions are a response to stereotypes, (2) learning to “individuate” by seeking information about people’s unique characteristics while being mindful of their group identity, (3) engaging in empathic perspective-taking, (4) surrounding oneself with counterstereotypical images, and (5) engaging in peer-to-peer intergroup interactions (Godsil et al., 2014). Ways to integrate these practices into people’s lives may differ, but activities outside of work such as attending houses of worship, being part of community organizations, and seeking other opportunities to meet people as peers will be critical. In other words, prosecutors must expand the set of positive pro-social interactions with out-group members (however defined) in order to succeed in long-term bias reduction. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1394

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out the five concrete steps of the prejudice habit-breaking strategy as a named framework.
• SEED: The ‘individuate while mindful of group identity’ tension is a subtle, non-obvious psychological intervention worth its own explainer piece.
• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s research on whether professed anti-bias conviction predicts measured bias, and what interventions actually move the implicit measure versus merely stated intent.
• ADDENDUM: Supports the sincere-conviction-vs-measured-bias angle of the reader’s Bias in the Law volume: describes what behavioral (not declarative) change requires.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 1394