PhiloPsycho Freedom

A common bias that comes up in even the most fair-handed of people is what is referred to as the "similar-to-me bias" (also known as the similar to me error). I suppose you could view this as a form of error, but bias seems more apt. This bias happens when we judge someone who seems like us, whether in appearance or behaviour, more favourably than we should.

This makes sense, right? We've thought out the world, we think we know how things work, and we tend to think we're smarter than someone who has a differing opinion from ours. They just haven't seen everything we have! We have better powers of deduction! Of course! So when we find someone who is similar to us, particularly in their views, we view them as a more capable person, more likeable, and all the rest.

One of my professors this term pointed out how this bias can play out in everyday life: If you look at people lined up somewhere (a grocery store, say), you'll notice that the more similar two people appear, the closer they'll stand. I don't mean this in an intimate way, or that they even know each other, either. Two strangers who look like they have similar backgrounds tend to stand close together. Though, this is only anecdotally shown, but not experimentally.

One of the more detrimental areas that this bias can show up is in job interviews. Though managers are usually trained to watch for such biases, they can still pop up. There's not much you can do with this. You'll be hard-pressed to imitate an interviewer with features you can't change (gender, race, socioeconomic status, etc.), but making an effort can’t hurt, right?

So, keep this bias in mind when making judgments of other people. The message is in the neighbourhood of Mr.Rogers, but just because something is different doesn't mean it is bad. Embrace our differences, people! That's all for today.