The Hidden Costs of Anti-Bias Education

"For decades, institutions have poured billions into programs designed to fight racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, caste discrimination, and other forms of bias. The premise has been simple: if people better understand systemic injustice, they will become more empathetic and less prejudiced. But widely used materials are rarely subjected to scientific testing. The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI sought to understand the effects of the way we teach about identity-based harm."

"The study focused on diversity training interventions that emphasize awareness of and opposition to "systemic oppression," a trend fueled by the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement and popularized by texts such as Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist. While not representative of all DEI pedagogy, "anti-racism" and "anti-oppression" pedagogy and intervention materials have seen widespread adoption across sectors like higher education and healthcare. Although designed to increase awareness, the studies reveal a more troubling psychological effect."

Institutions have invested heavily in programs aimed at reducing racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, caste discrimination, and other biases by raising awareness of systemic injustice. Widely used training materials often lack rigorous scientific testing. Many interventions adopt anti-oppressive frameworks that frame moral life as a struggle between oppressor and oppressed groups, emphasizing structural harm and collective responsibility. These diversity trainings frequently stress awareness of and opposition to systemic oppression and have been widely adopted across sectors such as higher education and healthcare. Identity-focused, accusatory messaging that highlights inherited characteristics can produce a consistent psychological backlash, increasing hostility across diverse participants and contexts.

Read at Psychology Today