How Bias Shapes Our Habit of Underestimating Others: The Hidden Impact of Stereotypes and Prejudices

Summary: Ever had that sinking feeling someone expected less of you because of your background, age, or the way you look? Or maybe you’ve caught yourself surprised by someone’s skills just because they “didn’t seem the type”? This article dives deep into why we underestimate others, especially how bias and stereotypes sneak into our judgments—often without us noticing. I’ll show you what this looks like in real life, bring in some (sometimes embarrassing) stories from my own corporate experience, and plug in expert advice and hard data, plus actual international standards on trade certification as a parallel to show how these biases play out in systems big and small. Experts and policymakers struggle with this daily, and so do we—all of which makes being conscious about it all the more valuable.

Why This Matters: Underestimation and Its Quiet Damage

The best part about looking at underestimation is that it’s everywhere—a kind of invisible problem until someone points straight at it. Workplace promotions, academic recognition, international trade deals, and even casual group projects: bias leads to undervaluing people, opportunities, and even companies from certain backgrounds. It seems abstract until suddenly you notice entire teams in big multinationals are suspiciously lacking “diversity,” or that small exporters from lesser-known countries get more hoops to jump through for “verified trade” status than their competitors in bigger economies. And the roots? Often, stereotypes—sometimes freighted with history, sometimes born of laziness or comfort, and occasionally propped up by legal or institutional frameworks that just assume the “default” is better.

How Bias Leads to Underestimation (with Screenshots from My Own Missteps)

Step 1: The Invisible Scripts Running in the Background

Let’s say you’re reviewing candidates for a technical role. Submitting my first stack of resumes, I remember thinking I was fair—until one day my manager pointed out I’d accidentally overlooked nearly all female candidates.
The worst part? I’d convinced myself that because “the field tends to be male-dominated,” there simply weren’t qualified women. I had accepted, almost subconsciously, that candidates who didn’t fit the industry stereotype might be less capable—and my process reflected it.

This was a real wake-up call. According to McKinsey’s 2023 Women in the Workplace Report, women are consistently underrepresented and underestimated in STEM hiring, with hiring managers often citing “lack of qualified applicants”—even when large candidate pools exist.

Step 2: Stereotypes That Stick—Even in Global Trade

A radical but instructive example: not long ago, I was consulting for a logistics team verifying international trade paperwork. Products from A-country (let’s say, a developing state) were scrutinized way more harshly than those from major OECD members. Why? The assumption was that the verification documents from “lesser-trusted” countries were more likely to be forged or incomplete. This wasn’t written anywhere—but showed up in processing times and stricter standards.

When challenged, an experienced customs broker put it bluntly in a team meeting:
“We’re just hedging risk based on where goods come from. It’s not personal—it’s standard practice. The error rates are statistically higher.”
But when we dug into WTO compliance data, it turned out the variation was neither as large nor as reliably country-based as the team assumed (WTO Trade Facilitation)—in fact, many “high-risk” countries achieved improved accuracy after overhauling their customs reporting.

Step 3: Feedback Loops Create Real, Measurable Damage

It turns out that underestimation isn’t just disheartening—it’s materially costly. According to the World Customs Organization, slower or stricter verification (based on stereotypes, not actual risk) tends to decrease trade from smaller economies and firms, while “trusted traders” from major countries zip through processes (Authorized Economic Operators, WCO).

Step 4: Stereotypes and Prejudice Translate into Policy

A friend in cross-border e-commerce told me her company lost a lucrative shipment deal simply because customers in destination markets doubted their compliance certificates (“You’re registered in X country? Aren’t their rules… lax?”). She even sent me a screenshot of a rejected partnership, complete with the dismissive note about standards—even though their certifications matched top OECD requirements.

Here’s what gets missed: many international certification standards have harmonized procedures (see for instance the WCO SAFE Framework or the EU AEO Program). Yet, national authorities basically “double check” (sometimes triple check) paperwork from unfamiliar places—which isn't an official requirement but an undercurrent of bias rooted in years of stereotyping.

Comparing National Standards for "Verified Trade": A Quick Table

Country/Region	Scheme Name	Legal Basis	Main Executing Body	Unique Features or Challenges
EU	Authorised Economic Operator (AEO)	Regulation (EU) No 952/2013	EU Customs Authorities	Strict mutual recognition, but skepticism toward non-EU certifications
USA	Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)	19 CFR Part 240	U.S. Customs and Border Protection	Rigorous background checks; limited trust in lesser-known jurisdictions
China	China Customs AEO	Customs Law of PRC, Article 18	General Administration of Customs	Mutual recognition with select countries; still faces trust gaps globally
Brazil	OEA – Operador Econômico Autorizado	IN RFB 1.598/2015	Receita Federal do Brasil	Recognition delays in Europe/North America due to skepticism

Full links to the above official schemes:
- EU AEO
- US C-TPAT
- China Customs Information
- Brazil OEA

A Real-World Case: Dispute Between A and B Countries Over Recognition

A telling incident happened a couple of years ago between an Eastern European country (call it A) and a Western European counterpart (call it B) over mutual AEO recognition. Country A had upgraded its customs infrastructure and certifications exactly in line with the WCO SAFE Framework. Yet, when exporters tried to clear goods into B, customs authorities flagged almost every shipment for “random” checks—far exceeding the rate for fellow EU countries.

A specialist from Country A’s trade ministry vented to me at a conference: “We did everything by the book, but in the meetings, their officials kept raising doubts—‘But are your inspectors really up to our standards?’ We passed all the technical audits, but the perception stuck.” Much later, a joint audit finally confirmed A’s processes matched every EU requirement, but it took nearly 18 months—and a loss of several big contracts. (See details from European Commission reports on AEO mutual recognition.)

Expert View: When Stereotypes Outpace Data

In a podcast interview I ran last year, Dr. Petra Kovac (EU customs consultant) put it in perspective: “Institutions are made up of people—and people, even experienced ones, can default to risk-averse thinking that follows old stereotypes, not current evidence. Overcoming that is a slow process that needs both top-down policy and bottom-up shifts in mindset.”

What Can Be Done? (From Personal Fumbles to Policy Shifts)

Truth be told, I’m far from immune to these habits—and I work in what’s supposed to be one of the most objective fields. If in a technical hiring process (which should be “just the data!”) I found my assumptions skewing results, it’s no surprise systemic processes run by overworked officials do too. Here’s a few practices that actually worked for our teams:

• Blind reviews: Stripping identifying information led me to shortlist more candidates from “non-traditional” backgrounds.
• Random audits: We instituted random checks even on trusted sources; the actual fail rate difference dissolved over time.
• Third-party verification: Inviting neutral, cross-border observers broke some logjams in our trade certification disputes.

On a larger scale, organizations like the OECD and WTO now push hard for harmonization exactly because these biases slow down everything from global supply chains to innovation—in fact, the OECD published a whole line of trade best practice guidelines to address this (OECD Trade Facilitation).

Conclusion and Friendly Reflection

Underestimating others isn’t always a product of malice—it’s often “just the way things are done.” But step back, and you realize: the slow-moving wheels of bureaucracy, the preferences of a hiring manager, or the assumptions of a customs inspector can be the difference between success and exclusion for individuals, companies, and even countries.

So, what to do next? Start by catching yourself making easy assumptions and swapping old scripts for real data. If you’re in a position of influence—whether reviewing a job application or reviewing trade certificates—question the standards you’re applying and check if they’re rooted in facts, or just in habit. The stakes, as global trade disputes keep showing us, are far from trivial.

Final tip: Go reread your process manuals and ask, “Would this requirement exist if the applicant’s country, gender, or background were different?” If the answer isn’t a clear “yes”—there’s probably bias under the hood. And if you want to see what the big boys are trying, check out WCO’s overview on authorized economic operators here.