Admit It, You’re a Little Bit Biased
The truth is, when it comes to taking tests that require self-report, we are all a little biased to some extent. Having taken psychology courses for the past 4–5 years of my life, I never really put much consideration into the extent to which we are truly handicapping ourselves, until a few years ago, when someone in my family was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This led to his parents finding an online version of a test for diagnosing Autism. In defence of the site it came from, it did say that you should consult a medical practitioner. Regardless of that, it’s great for an initial overview to get a sense of if you think you may have a problem.
Then it all began. His parents took this online test, my mother then took it as well, and here I was trying it for myself (a little bit of a bandwagon effect going on here). Reading questions such as “It is very difficult for me to work and function in groups” and “I focus on details rather than the overall picture”, I stopped to think; I’m the one answering these questions on how I view myself, but to what extent am I being biased in my answers? For example, I don’t find it difficult to work in groups but I would rather work by myself, and sometimes I focus on details rather than the overall picture if I find it necessary. How am I supposed to answer these questions if I can go either way?
There were other questions which asked things regarding what other people think or have told you (i.e. other people frequently tell me that what I’ve said is impolite). Questions like that make you think outside of your own frame of mind, having to take into consideration what other people have told you. Most of the time this can be a solution to the problem of biasing your own responses, unless you tend to be stubborn and think that others are wrong and you just ignore their opinion. This can occur quite frequently, because the majority of us are biased when answering questions that measure social desirability.
The next time you go taking a test I definitely recommend keeping this in mind; just because you think of yourself one way, it may not be the way that you actually present yourself to others — and if multiple people keep telling you that you behave a certain way, take it upon yourself to note it. If we were all a little more honest and conscious as to the way we behave and act, it would definitely help to reduce the risk of bias when it comes to measures of self-report.
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