What is meaning of unconscious bias? Definition of term used by Prince Harry in ITV interview, and test for it

Prince Harry has suggested that there may have been some unconscious bias in the royal family, but has denied branding any members racist, in his new ITV documentary.

The Duke of Sussex invited ITV journalist Tom Bradby to the US, where now lives with his wife Meghan Markle and their two children Archie and Lilibet, to speak to him in an exclusive interview ahead of the UK release of his memoir ‘Spare’.

During the interview, Prince Harry spoke about his desire to reconcile with his family, including his father Charles III and brother Prince William. He also accused Queen Consort Camilla of being the villain, and denied implying that there was racism in the royal family. The full transcript of the whole 90 minute interview is now available so you can read every revelation the Duke made.

During the interview, Harry spoke frequently of unconscious bias, saying that he once had a “level of unconscious bias” in himself in his twenties which he had confronted and made right. He also suggested that there had been a level of unconscious bias in the royal family, rather than racism.

But, what exactly is unconscious bias, what are examples of it and how can you test for it? Here’s what you need to know.

What is unconscious bias?

Unconscious bias occurs when what a person thinks depends on their life experiences, according to ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), which gives employees and employers free, impartial advice on workplace rights, rules and best practice.

The body states that sometimes unconscious bias can lead people to have beliefs and views about other people that might not be right or reasonable. This includes when a person thinks either better of someone because they believe they’re alike or less of someone because that person is different to them. For example, they might be of a different race, religion or age.

Unconscious bias also means that people could make a decision influenced by false beliefs or assumptions, and it is also sometimes called stereotyping. Everyone can think in a way that involves unconscious bias because everyone forms their own opinions based on their own experiences.

What types of unconscious bias are there?

There are several different types of unconscious bias. You can read more about them below.

Affinity Bias

An affinity bias refers to our tendency to gravitate toward people similar to ourselves because all tend to like people who remind us of ourselves.

Attribution Bias

Attribution bias contributes to how we assess others and their achievements in comparison to our own. When we think of our achievements, we think that we’ve earned them because of our own hard work but if we have failed we think that we’ve been adversely impacted by external factors. When we assess others, however, we often think the opposite. This means that we believe their successes are due to luck, but their failures are due to personal errors.

Beauty Bias

People do judge others based on their physical attractiveness, and this can manifest in many ways. For example, we can make judgments based on someone’s clothing or hairstyle choices.

Confirmation Bias

Different types of unconscious bias examples include confirmation bias. This is the idea that people search for bits of evidence that back up their opinions, instead of objectively looking at all of the information. Often this causes people to overlook information, focus on factors that fit only their view, or reject evidence that contradicts what they already believe.

Conformity Bias

Conformity bias is related to peer pressure. It occurs when you allow your views to be swayed by those around you because you’re seeking acceptance from a group.

What are examples of unconscious bias?

Here are some examples of each type of unconscious bias.

Affinity bias

Example: If you’re working with an employee who went to the same college or university or grew up in the same town as you, you may be more likely to talk to them rather than someone who you don’t share these things with.

Attribution bias

When someone cuts a driver off, the individual who was cut off is more likely to attribute their actions to the other driver’s inherent personality traits, such as recklessness, rudeness, incompetence, rather than the situational circumstances, such as the driver was late to work -  but if they then found themselves in the same scenario they would justify it to themselves.

Beauty bias

Someone may believe another person may be a nice person simply because of the way they present themselves. Equally, they may also believe someone is not the kind of person they wish to associate with just because of what they look like.

Confirmation bias

If someone arrives for an appointment with you 10 minutes late due to a circumstance outside of their control, but you are not aware and they don’t explain, you may automatically assume they did not keep to the agreed time because of their disorganisation. As a result, you may have a negative opinion of them.

Conformity bias

Conformity bias often occurs in recruitment. If most people feel one way about a candidate, but you feel differently, you may feel that you slowly start to align with the group’s opinions and views.

Is there a test for unconscious bias?

One of the best ways of identifying any unconscious biases in yourself is by taking an Implicit Association Test (IAT). An IAT can be used to evaluate a person’s attitudes or beliefs about a range of topics, including age, gender and race.

When doing an IAT you are asked to quickly sort words into categories that are on the left and right hand side of the computer screen. The IAT has five main parts. Broadly speaking, you have to sort words relating to the concepts, such as people’s weight, and also words relating to the evaluation such as good and bad.

What did Prince Harry say about unconscious bias in his ITV interview?

Prince Harry spoke about being accused of being a racist himself when he was in his twenties by the press.

He said: “I got called a racist when I was, you know, in my 20s by mistakes that I made. They were never intentional to harm anybody, but I recognise from that a level of unconscious bias within me that probably came from a combination of my upbringing, things I was exposed to and things that I saw in the media. And I made a choice to right that wrong.

“I knew that I wasn’t a racist. But I made an active choice to ensure that the British press and the public knew that I wasn’t because that was a horrible place to be, a horrible thing to be called. But there was a level of unconscious bias that existed within me that needed to be confronted.”

Going on to speak about his Oprah Winfrey interview with wife Meghan Markle in 2021, Prince Harry also denied implying that members of the royal family are racist. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the US chat show host that an unnamed family member made “troubling” comments about the skin colour of their unborn son Archie.

In his interview with Tom Bradby, the Duke claimed that his comments to Oprah Winfrey related to “unconscious bias” not racism. Bradby says “in the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism”, to which Harry responded “no I didn’t”, adding “the British press said that”.

He added: “Going back to the difference between what my understanding is because of my own experience, the difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different. But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”