7 Different Types of Bias and How to Work Through Them

Prejudice refers to a tendency or preference toward a particular group, idea, or concept that affects our decisions and judgments.

Our experiences, culture, social norms and personal beliefs often shape these beliefs. The way we act on these biases can be either conscious or unconscious and can lead to prejudice or discrimination.

“Prejudice can play a significant role in everyday interactions and relationships, often affecting our thoughts, attitudes, and behavior with others,” says David Yadosh, LPC, a licensed professional counselor at BetterHelp. “This can result in misinterpretation or neglect of facts and can change how we perceive people or events in our lives.”

In this article, we outline common types of biases, and discuss the symptoms of each type and ways to overcome them.

Why it’s important to assess your biases

In order to recognize and act on bias, it is important for us to challenge our assumptions and unconscious stereotypes that we carry out on a daily basis. This can be done by seeking diverse perspectives, enjoying new experiences, and advocating for equal opportunities and treatment for everyone.

Of course, it also helps to understand the types of biases we’re apt to fall prey to so we can recognize and correct them in real time.

How to work through confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek information that confirms our current beliefs. In doing so, we ignore information that contradicts our beliefs, which can lead us to the wrong side.

Symptoms of confirmation bias may include:

• Seeking information that confirms our beliefs
• Ignoring or rejecting information that contradicts our beliefs
• Failing to consider alternative opinions

“This bias can be harmful because it can prevent individuals from considering alternative perspectives and lead to closed-mindedness,” warns Yadosh.

Attribution bias

Attribution bias is a cognitive distortion where we see the behavior of others as being influenced by internal motivation – such as morals and character, while considering your own behavior to be influenced by external factors, such as circumstances and environment.

Symptoms of attribution bias may include:

• Constantly blaming others for problems or failures
• Being overly critical of others
• Forgive your mistakes without reflection

“Simply put, one gives oneself a break to attribute one’s own mistakes or shortcomings as inevitable but will intentionally hold others responsible for similar mistakes or shortcomings,” explains Kerry Francisco, director of family programming at APN.

She says this is intellectually dangerous because it leads to unfair judgments of others. It can also make it difficult to learn from our mistakes because this bias prevents us from taking responsibility for our actions.

Compatibility Bias

Conformity bias occurs when we readily agree with—or conform to—the opinions and behaviors of others in a group setting, even when it conflicts with our own personal beliefs or knowledge.

Symptoms of comorbidity may include:

• Agree with others by consensus even when you disagree internally
• Not sharing your thoughts and feelings for fear of being “ostracized” or judged in a group setting
• Join a group that is acting irresponsibly or cruelly when you know internally that the behavior is wrong.

“This is usually an unconscious process that we go through in an attempt to avoid social rejection or status. This bias can be harmful because it can prevent individuals from expressing their true thoughts and opinions and can lead to group tanks, where the desire for consensus drowns out critical thinking,” says Yadosh.

Beauty bias

Beauty bias is a subconscious or conscious tendency to treat traditionally beautiful people better or worse than those who are not as attractive.

Symptoms of beauty bias include:

• You judge others on their appearance
• You make assumptions about the capabilities of a conventionally attractive person
• You treat others better or worse based on their appearance

For example, you might give favorable treatment to a beautiful person, or consider them more funny or interesting. This is called the halo effect, and studies show that people have a tendency to do it even after thinking about it.

That said, you can treat an abusive person less kindly or make harsh judgments about them without even knowing it.

Gender bias

Gender bias refers to the tendency to stereotype or discriminate against people based solely on their gender. Not only does this affect our ability to socialize in meaningful ways, it can also lead to unequal opportunities and treatment for others.

Signs of gender bias may include:

• Making assumptions or judgments based on gender
• Use of gender-specific language
• Treating individuals differently based on their gender

Ageism

Similarly, ageism is the tendency for us to make judgments or assumptions about another person simply because of their age.

This has a negative impact on people who are either young or old, as we unconsciously stereotype their abilities or the “known characteristics” of their race.

Signs of age may include:

• Judging a person’s ability or intelligence based on age
• Not interacting with someone because they are a different age
• Being rude or dismissive of others because of their age

Ageism and its impact on mental health

The aging population has serious implications for mental health, physical health and overall quality of life, says Yadosh. This can hinder their ability to socialize, find employment or make meaningful friendships.

For young people, it can also affect their ability to be taken seriously in professional settings. It is also called “Yangism”.

The opposite effect

On the contrary, the effect is hidden on us. This is a cognitive bias where comparing two things affects your perception of both.

Other symptoms of the opposite effect include:

• Comparing one person to another
• Failure to focus on objective criteria when making decisions
• Not considering the context of your assessment

How can it have the opposite effect in everyday life?

Here are some examples of what the opposite effect looks like in the real world:

• If you see someone dressed casually and standing next to someone, casual clothing can look more professional than it is. This may not seem significant, but it shows an important effect.
• In another example, if a particularly impressive candidate immediately If someone is later interviewed for a job, they may be judged more harshly than if someone had interviewed them alone. This creates space for thoughts to flow.

“The contrast effect highlights that our thoughts are not based entirely on objective measurements but can be influenced by the context in which we experience them,” explains Francisco. “This may lead to biased perceptions and judgments of individuals compared to others.”