Affinity Bias: When Familiar Choices Kill Fresh Thinking

Diversity can drive innovation and lead to a more optimized workplace. One of the biggest threats to diversity is affinity bias, a form of implicit bias, which is the tendency to prefer or feel more comfortable with those who are similar to oneself. 

Affinity bias often leads us to gravitate toward people who share our background, interests, or values, reinforcing sameness at every level and making it harder to innovate, retain talent, and build a truly inclusive culture.

Affinity bias can show up in subtle ways — such as unconsciously favoring candidates who share your political views — reinforcing sameness in decision-making. Because it operates prior to conscious intention, it often goes unnoticed by CEOs, HR leaders, and HR professionals.

Here are a few examples of how affinity bias can quietly influence decisions at different levels of the organization. 

Missed Customer Opportunities 

John, the CEO of a consumer goods company, tends to surround himself with colleagues who mirror him — mainly selecting people from his alma mater and professional network as his C-suite. 

As the company grows, it begins to target a more diverse customer base, but because the executive team shares similar experiences and views, it fails to recognize emerging trends in different communities. This results in a product line that doesn’t resonate with certain customer groups, causing the company to lose potential revenue and market share to competitors who embrace diversity in their leadership. 

Here’s How CEOs Can Course-Correct:

• Proactively seek and value diverse perspectives in decision-making processes.
• Regularly assess the diversity of thought in executive teams to align with inclusive growth strategies.
• Cultivate an organizational culture that values and encourages diverse viewpoints to drive innovation and market adaptability.

Unintended Homogeneity in Hiring 

HR leader Amina believes in fostering a diverse workforce, but she hasn’t implemented the necessary tools or systems to support this goal. There are no structured evaluation forms or standardized interview processes in place, allowing hiring managers to make decisions based on their personal preferences. As a result, hiring managers continue to favor candidates with similar backgrounds and experiences, leading to biased decision-making and a lack of diversity in the workforce.

Here’s How HR Leaders Can Course-Correct:

• Implement blind evaluations across your organization to minimize bias in candidate selection.
• Require candidate evaluation forms to focus on qualifications and experience rather than personal similarities.
• Evaluate recruitment data to assess diversity and create inclusion and diversity initiatives as needed.

Exclusionary Communications

HR professional Maria prides herself on being approachable and friendly in all her employee communications, from onboarding materials to internal newsletters. But she often defaults to examples, humor, and references that resonate most with employees she feels naturally comfortable with — those who share her communication style, background, or values. As a result, her messages can unintentionally alienate employees from different cultures, generations, or life experiences, making them feel left out of the conversation.

Here’s How HR Professionals Can Course-Correct:

• Use inclusive language that avoids assumptions about age, lifestyle, family status, or background.
• Create employee surveys to identify any feelings of exclusion and work proactively to address them.

Affinity Is Not the Only Threat

Affinity bias is not the only hidden force quietly undermining workplace success. There are a number of other biases at play that can subtly influence decision-making, team dynamics, and overall organizational growth. To fully understand and address these challenges, it’s important to explore the 10 hidden biases that are shaping the workplace environment.