Theory and Research on Stereotypes and Perceptual Bias

Abstract

This article presents theory and selected research on stereotyping and cognitive automaticity as a didactic resource base for multicultural counselor educators. Multicultural trainers can use this information in the classroom to establish the existing scientific evidence indicating that perceptual processes taking place outside of conscious awareness give rise to biased perceptions involving racial or ethnic categories. The objective of this didactic resource is to impress upon counseling trainees the importance of coming to terms with racial prejudice and biases often hidden from conscious scrutiny. In addition to the didactic material, several experiential exercises designed to elicit awareness of biases in personal attitudes and beliefs toward culturally diverse groups are presented. Suggestions for future research are also included.

Make It Personal: A Qualitative Investigation of White Counselors’ Multicultural Awareness Development

“…Within the tripartite model of multicultural counseling competence (Arredondo et al, 1996; Sue et al, 1982), knowledge is the understanding of the sociopolitical realities of clients from diverse backgrounds and skills are the abilities to create and employ culturally appropriate intervention strategies (Sue et al, 1992). Central to this scholarship is the third and most ambiguous aspect of the model (Abreu, 2001)—multicultural awareness. Multicultural awareness specifies our responsibility to recognize our biases and stereotypes, and to actively broaden these toward a multicultural perspective (Sue et al, 1992).…”

“…Accounts of White counselors have suggested that they have become aware of their own racism by applying it to incidents of oppression in their own lives (Weeber, 1999), which suggests that experiential learning may facilitate a fuller and deeper multicultural awareness (Carter, 2003; Chao et al, 2010; Sevig & Etzkorn, 2001). The process of developing awareness, however, creates discomfort, anxiety, anger, fear, ambivalence (Abreu, 2001; Carter, 2003; Mio & Barker-Hackett, 2003; Sevig & Etzkorn, 2001), and is deeply introspective (Porter, 1995). Notably, White students’ increasing awareness of unearned White privilege and racism may contribute to feelings of White guilt (Soble et al, 2011; Spanierman et al, 2008).…”

The Impact of Mindfulness and Meditation Practice on Client Perceptions of Common Therapeutic Factors

“…Mindfulness is a process of observing present moment experience nonjudgmentally without attachment to a particular point of view, resulting in freedom from automatic, habitual views of the self and others (J. R. Martin, 1997). In contrast, when in a nonmindful, "automatic pilot" mode, the individual views various experiences through the lens of judgment, labels, and cognitive schemas informed by past experience (Abreu, 2001;Brown et al, 2007). For example, a counselor operating in an automatic, nonmindful mode may judge a client's frequent comments about his mother as an Oedipal complex and relate to the client as if the client were someone with an Oedipal complex.…”

“…For example, a counselor operating in an automatic, nonmindful mode may judge a client's frequent comments about his mother as an Oedipal complex and relate to the client as if the client were someone with an Oedipal complex. As all humans do, this counselor is viewing the client's situation through the lens of the counselor's training and past life experiences (Abreu, 2001). In contrast, a counselor trained in mindfulness practices might notice his tendency to view the client in a particular way.…”

A Narratology of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Clients’ Experiences Addressing Religious and Spiritual Issues in Counseling

“…Authors have suggested that experiential activities may be helpful in increasing cognizance of covert or implicit biases (Abreu, 2001;Boysen, 2010). Boysen (2010), for example, recommended the use of the Immediate Association Test (IAT) in the classroom.…”