If interviewers are prejudiced against women or Hispanics, for example, a face-to-face interview will predictably result in discrimination. Reliance on tests, or on actual or past performance, can promote equality.

Cass Sunstein’s quote addresses the issue of prejudice and discrimination in the context of hiring and interviews. He argues that if interviewers are prejudiced against certain groups, such as women or Hispanics, it is highly likely that this bias will affect the outcome of a face-to-face interview. Sunstein suggests that reliance on tests or past performance as assessment tools could help mitigate such biases and promote equality. This implies that objective measures of competence and achievement are less likely to be influenced by personal or racial biases, making them a better predictor of success and promoting fairer outcomes.

The origin of this quote comes from Cass Sunstein, a well-known legal scholar and former advisor to President Obama, who has written extensively on issues of behavioral economics, law, and public policy. Sunstein has focused much of his career on how societal structures and laws can be designed to reduce inequality and foster more equitable outcomes. In this quote, he discusses how unconscious bias can affect decision-making, particularly in situations like job interviews, and how reliance on more objective criteria could help level the playing field.

Sunstein’s argument is grounded in the idea that human decision-making is often influenced by implicit biases, which can unfairly disadvantage certain groups. By promoting the use of tests and performance-based assessments, he advocates for methods that rely more on measurable, objective data rather than subjective impressions. This approach, he believes, has the potential to reduce discrimination and enhance the fairness of decisions related to hiring and promotions, leading to a more equitable outcome for all applicants, regardless of their gender or background.

Ultimately, Sunstein’s quote calls for a shift in how decisions are made in settings where bias can influence outcomes, such as in employment and interviews. By promoting equality through the use of objective criteria, he suggests that we can take a meaningful step toward reducing discrimination and ensuring that all individuals are judged based on their true merits and abilities, rather than being unfairly judged because of their gender or ethnicity.