The conflict between the United States and Islamic countries influenced me to associate the Islamic community with terrorist activities. Al-Qaeda was responsible for the four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks on the US on September 11. Nineteen militant Islamic extremist terrorists hijacked four commercial airlines influencing my association of terrorism with the Islamic community. It was difficult to reason with evidence that not all Muslims were involved in terrorist activities. Therefore, associating Muslims with terrorist activities is a topic I was biased about.
Associating Muslims with terrorists is a social bias portrayed through our perceptions and actions toward other individuals or communities. Social bias influences flawed perceptions and beliefs that stereotype a particular group and reduce social intelligence (Mattan et al., 2018). My perception of the Islamic community was wrong, and it discriminated against the population. Knowledge of biases allowed me to acknowledge that my perception was misguided because many Muslims are law-abiding citizens. Acknowledging biases is critical in avoiding flawed assumptions and perceptions about a community or opinion. The knowledge of discriminatory behavior has increased my awareness of social and cultural diversity in the current generation. People from diverse cultural communities have different beliefs and engage in various practices (Mattan et al., 2018). Awareness of biases allows people to accommodate and embrace differences to avoid making assumptions to achieve inclusive communities.
Knowledge of biases is also critical in research because it allows researchers to collect conclusive information. Research studies should collect data from all participants in the population, irrespective of their differences, to achieve informed decision-making. Researchers should interview people from diverse backgrounds to understand cultural differences and acknowledge other people’s opinions. Awareness of sociocultural diversity allows researchers to achieve actual representation of the population during research to achieve reliable findings.
Reference
Mattan, B. D., Wei, K. Y., Cloutier, J., & Kubota, J. T. (2018). The social neuroscience of race-based and status-based prejudice. Current Opinion in Psychology, 24, 27-34. Web.