Symbolic interactionism is a micro-

level theory that focuses on the relationships

among individuals within a society.
Communication—the exchange of meaning
through language and symbols—is believed to
be the way in which people make sense of their
social worlds.
George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) is
considered a founder of symbolic
interactionism though he never published his
work on it (LaRossa and Reitzes 1993).
Sociologist George Herbert Mead believed that
people develop self-images through interactions
with other people. He argued that the self, which is
the part of a person's personality consisting of self-
awareness and self-image, is a product of social
experience.
Definitions of Bias
(noun) A tendency (either known or unknown) to
prefer one thing over another that prevents
objectivity, that influences understanding or
outcomes in some way.

Examples of Bias
A bias towards respecting male teachers more than
female teachers.
Judging a group negatively because of their
ethnicity.
Not accounting for students with disabilities when
designing a test.
Framing a question on a survey to ensure a desired
response
Our biases affects us and our decision-making processes in a number of
different ways:

Our Perception – how we see people and perceive reality.

Our Attitude – how we react towards certain people.
Our Behaviors – how receptive/friendly we are towards certain people.
Our Attention – which aspects of a person we pay most attention to.
Our Listening Skills – how much we actively listen to what certain
people say.
Our Micro-affirmations – how much or how little we comfort certain
people in certain situations.
8 types of Bias
Conformity Bias
Based on a famous study that’s been around for
decades, conformity bias relates to bias caused by
group peer pressure. In the study, a group of people is
asked to look at the picture on the left and say which
line in Exhibit 2 matches the line in Exhibit 1. One
individual is told to say what they think. The rest of
the group is told to give the wrong answer.
Beauty Bias
This is the view that we tend to think
that the most handsome individual will
be the most successful. But this can also
play out in terms of other physical
attributes a person may have.
 Affinity Bias
This plays out a lot in terms of recruitment! Affinity bias
occurs when we see someone we feel we have an affinity
with, like we attended the same college, we grew up in
the same town, or they remind us of someone we know
and like.

Halo Effect
Halo is when we see one great thing about a person and
we let the halo glow of that significant thing affect our
opinions of everything else about that person. We are in
awe of them due to one thing.
 Horns Effect
The Horns effect is the direct
opposite of the Halo effect. The
Horns effect is when we see one
bad thing about a person and we
let it cloud our opinions of their
other attributes.

Similarity Bias
Naturally, we want to surround
ourselves with people we feel are
similar to us. And as a result, we
tend to want to work more with
people who are like us.
 Contrast Effect
This plays out regularly in
recruitment, particularly amongst
recruiters who spend large amounts
of time sifting through CV after CV
or conducting interview after
interview.
Attribution Bias
This is the most common form of bias in the
recruitment process as it affects how we access
other people. When we do something well we
tend to think it’s down to our own merit and
personality. When we do something badly we
tend to believe that our failing is down to
external factors like other people that adversely
affected us and prevented us from doing our
best.
Egocentrism is the inability to differentiate
between self and other. Although egocentrism and
narcissism appear similar, they are not the same.
A person who is egocentric believes they are the
center of attention, like a narcissist, but does not
receive
gratification by one's own admiration .
Allocentrism is a collectivistic personality attribute whereby people center their attention
and actions on other people rather than themselves. It is a psychological dimension which
corresponds to the general cultural dimension of collectivism. In fact, allocentrics "believe,
feel, and act very much like collectivists do around the world." Allocentric people tend to
be interdependent, define themselves in terms of the group that they are part of, and
behave according to that group's cultural norms. They tend to have a sense of duty and
share beliefs with other allocentrics among their in-group. Allocentric people appear to see
themselves as an extension of their in-group and allow their own goals to be subsumed by
the in-group's goals. Additionally, allocentrism has been defined as giving priority to the
collective self over the private self, particularly if these two selves happen to come into
conflict.
Definition of Bigotry
(noun) Extreme intolerance of the beliefs and
opinions of an individual or group, particularly
racial or religious.

Examples of Bigotry
Preventing a qualified candidate from getting a job
or promotion because of bigoted views of their race.
Verbally harassing an individual after learning
about their religious beliefs.
Prejudice is when a person negatively pre-judges another person or
group without getting to know the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings
behind their words and actions. A person of any racial group can be
prejudiced towards a person of any other racial group. There is no
power dynamic involved.

Bigotry is stronger than prejudice, a more severe mindset and often

accompanied by discriminatory behavior. It’s arrogant and mean-
spirited, but requires neither systems nor power to engage in.
The difference between bigotry and bias is that bigotry is
intolerance or prejudice, especially religious or racial;
discrimination (against); the characteristic qualities of a bigot
while bias is (countable uncountable) inclination towards
something; predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference,
predilection.
Any Questions?