Kang writes that we create schemas in our unconscious minds about human beings, too. When we sort people into categories—such as by age, gender, race, and more—we unconsciously form expectations about them based on the category rather than the individual. Those expectations are based partly on our experiences with other people but are also shaped by stories, books, movies, media, and culture. Kang explains:
We see that some of the underlying cognitions [thoughts] include stereotypes, which are simply traits that we associate with a category. For instance, if we think that a particular category of human beings is frail—such as the elderly—we will not raise our guard. If we think that another category is foreign—such as Asians—we will be surprised by their fluent English. These cognitions also include attitudes, which are overall, evaluative feelings that are positive or negative. For instance, if we identify someone as having graduated from our beloved alma mater, we will feel more at ease. The term “implicit bias” includes both implicit stereotypes and implicit attitudes.