Non‐conscious bias in medical decision making: what can be done to reduce it?
Open accessAbstract
Context Non-conscious stereotyping and prejudice contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Contemporary training in cultural competence is insufficient to reduce these problems because even educated, culturally sensitive, egalitarian individuals can activate and use their biases without being aware they are doing so. However, these problems can be reduced by workshops and learning modules that focus on the psychology of non-conscious bias. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF NON-CONSCIOUS BIAS: Research in social psychology shows that over time stereotypes and prejudices become invisible to those who rely on them. Automatic categorisation of an individual as a member of a social group can unconsciously trigger the thoughts (stereotypes) and feelings (prejudices) associated with that group, even if these reactions are explicitly denied and rejected. This implies that, when activated, implicit negative attitudes and stereotypes shape how medical professionals evaluate and interact with minority group patients. This creates differential diagnosis and treatment, makes minority group patients uncomfortable and discourages them from seeking or complying with treatment. Pitfalls in cultural competence training Cultural competence training involves teaching students to use race and ethnicity to diagnose and treat minority group patients, but to avoid stereotyping them by over-generalising cultural knowledge to individuals. However, the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Servic…
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The presence of implicit biases among healthcare professionals and the effect on quality of clinical care is a cause for concern.
“The presence of implicit biases among healthcare professionals and the effect on quality of clinical care is a cause for concern [13–15].”
From Implicit bias in healthcare professionals: a systematic review (2017) · cites this paper as [14]
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“…biases, and (b) providing instruction on strategies they can use to either reduce the activation of implicit associations, or control how those associations influence judgment and behavior (Blair et al., 2011; Burgess et al., 2007; Stone & Moskowitz, 2011; Teal, Gill, Green, & Crandall, 2012).”
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- Authors
- Stone, J., & Moskowitz, G. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Arizona (US)
- Lehigh University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stone, Jeff
- Venue
- Medical Education
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-07-14
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 768-776
- ISSN
- 0308-0110 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2923
- OpenAlex
- W1767618000
- Cited by
- 247
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 28.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Medical Education (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University Libraries (University of Maryland) (submittedVersion)
- Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (University of Maryland College Park)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cultural Competency in Health Care
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Keywords
- implicit bias, prejudice, racial and ethnic disparities in health care, cultural competence training, clinical decision-making, stereotype suppression, perspective taking
- MeSH terms
- Attitude of Health Personnel, Education, Medical, Health Personnel, Humans, Minority Groups, Physician-Patient Relations, Prejudice, Social Perception, Stereotyping, Cultural Competency, Healthcare Disparities
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