In times of insecurity and uncertainty, we identify more strongly with the groups we belong to "political, racial, generational, you name it" and view outsiders with heightened levels of suspicion. This "us vs. them" mindset may have been advantageous to our ancient ancestors, but for citizens of a multicultural nation in an interconnected world, it's dangerous and self-defeating.

So if our brains are wired to distinguish between our friendly, welcoming "in-group" and the untrustworthy, threatening "out-group," is there any way to reduce the resultant bias? Actually, yes, and it's a simple one: We can expand the way we define our "group."

The latest research along these lines comes from a team led by psychologist W. Anthony Scroggins of the University of California, Santa Barbara. In the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Scroggins and team report that unconscious bias toward African Americans can be reduced by simple reminders of your shared membership in some other, non-racial group.

"It is relatively easy to make shared group memberships salient," the researchers write, "because blacks and non-blacks share age, gender, occupational, political affiliation, college, and multiple other social category memberships." Pointing out such commonalities, they add, could be "a particularly appealing, practical approach to reducing bias."