Ducks in a Row: Unconscious Actions
by Miki Saxon
Do you pride yourself on your interviewing skills; on your ability to filter out your own prejudices, such as an ugly tie or the fact that you can’t stand blondes? Do you allow outside events to influence your interview evaluations?
If you answered ‘no’ a researcher in Canada has news for you.
Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier examined University of Toronto medical school admission interview reports from 2004 to 2009. After correlating the interview scores with weather archives, he determined that candidates who interviewed on foul-weather days received ratings lower than candidates who visited on sunny days. In many cases, the difference was significant enough to influence acceptance.
Wow. Bad weather just took on a whole new meaning.
These unconscious attitudes impact far more than interviewing; they color all our actions at work, at home and out in the world.
Being human means being vulnerable to unconscious and often illogic actions and reactions, but it also means finding a way to compensate for them.
How? By monitoring research, such as Redelmeier’s, and staying hyper-awareness of the foibles embedded in your MAP.
It doesn’t mean eliminating them, just being aware enough to offset their impact.
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/
