Which term refers to bias that operates outside of a person's awareness and contradicts their beliefs?

The term that refers to bias operating outside of a person's awareness, contradicting their conscious beliefs, is unconscious discrimination. This concept highlights that individuals may hold implicit biases that influence their attitudes and behaviors unintentionally, even if they consciously espouse egalitarian beliefs. For example, a person may believe that they treat all individuals fairly, yet still engage in discriminatory behaviors or judgments toward certain groups due to ingrained stereotypes or societal conditioning.

In contrast, social desirability bias relates to the tendency of individuals to respond to survey questions in a manner that they perceive will be viewed favorably by others, rather than reflecting their true beliefs or behaviors. Microaggressions are subtle, often unintentional, statements or actions that convey negative attitudes toward marginalized groups, but they do not capture the broader unconscious biases that affect decision-making. Sampling bias involves errors in selecting participants for a study or survey, which can lead to non-representative results but is not about individual awareness or belief contradiction. Thus, unconscious discrimination clearly aligns with the definition provided in the question.