Explicit bias refers to

• A. Unconscious attitudes.
• B. Conscious prejudice or beliefs that an individual holds about a particular group.
• C. Outcomes of bias that are accidental.
• D. Attitudes that do not influence behavior.

Answer: (B)

Explicit bias is holding conscious prejudice or beliefs about a group. Because these attitudes are in awareness, a person can recognize, articulate, and even endorse them openly, which means they may act on those beliefs deliberately in judgments, words, or decisions. This differs from implicit bias, which consists of attitudes that exist outside awareness and can influence behavior without conscious realization. The idea of outcomes of bias refers to the results rather than the bias itself, and attitudes that do not influence behavior would not capture the potential for conscious beliefs to shape actions when someone chooses to act on them. In settings like patient care, recognizing explicit bias helps explain how conscious beliefs can affect interactions and decisions.