Walden University Influence of Personal Bias and Worldview Discussion

Imagine a residential property owner who only speaks one language–English. The property owner, who happens to be of European descent, is finding it difficult to effectively communicate with his gardener. He welcomes a new tenant to his property, and he learns that this tenant is of Mexican descent. Upon learning this detail about his new tenant, the property owner says, “Great, you can help me communicate better with my gardener.” This comment is well intentioned from the perspective of celebrating the new tenant’s ethnic heritage, but it illustrates dominant worldviews in that it assumes that a) all individuals of Mexican heritage speak Spanish, and b) Spanish is the language of “the help.” Although there was no explicitly racist or negative intention behind the landlord’s comment, the subtle accumulation of these types of comments can lead to deep tensions between the tenant and the landlord. How might this kind of scenario be relevant in professional psychology settings? Also, how might your own personal biases in relation to the experiences of those with whom you interact impact your professional practice?

For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources. Then consider how your own personal biases and worldviews might potentially lead you to commit microaggressions. Think about how these personal biases and worldviews might conflict with your professional practice and present an ethical challenge based on APA guidelines.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 an example of how your own personal biases and worldviews might conflict with your professional practice and potentially lead you to commit microaggressions. Finally, explain how these biases and worldviews might present an ethical challenge to your professional practice based on APA guidelines.

Be sure to support your post with specific references to the Learning Resources.