Stereotype Threat
Supplemental Reading: Stereotype Threat
In the article “A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance,” Claude Steele discusses the empirical methods used to test a psychological theory called stereotype threat. Stereotype threat offers a new method for interpreting “group differences in standardized test scores,” particularly for African-Americans taking standardized verbal tests and for women taking standardized math tests (p. 613). It states that if someone is in a situation “for which a negative stereotype about one’s group applies,” the individual may “fear being reduced to that stereotype,” which can in turn “[hamper] their achievement” (p. 614). However, in order to experience the effects of stereotype threat, one must self-identify with the situation. This has troubling implications as it implies that those who are most likely to experience stereotype threat are probably the individuals who show the most promise in their respective field, but due to repeatedly experiencing stereotype threat may end up disidentifying with that field (p. 614). To support the theory of stereotype threat Steele and his colleagues’ research focused on “the intellectual performance in the domain in which the negative group stereotypes apply” and whether or not reducing the pressure of stereotype threat would “improve the performance of otherwise stereotype-threatened students” (p. 618). To test for stereotype threat in women’s performance in math, the researchers recruited a sample of male and female college sophomores who considered math an important part of their self-definition and gave them difficult math questions from the GRE to answer. The researchers found that the female participants underperformed as compared to their equally qualified male counterparts (p. 619). The researchers performed a similar experiment to test for stereotype threat of African-Americans on standardized tests. In the experiment white and African-American
In the article “A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance,” Claude Steele discusses the empirical methods used to test a psychological theory called stereotype threat. Stereotype threat offers a new method for interpreting “group differences in standardized test scores,” particularly for African-Americans taking standardized verbal tests and for women taking standardized math tests (p. 613). It states that if someone is in a situation “for which a negative stereotype about one’s group applies,” the individual may “fear being reduced to that stereotype,” which can in turn “[hamper] their achievement” (p. 614). However, in order to experience the effects of stereotype threat, one must self-identify with the situation. This has troubling implications as it implies that those who are most likely to experience stereotype threat are probably the individuals who show the most promise in their respective field, but due to repeatedly experiencing stereotype threat may end up disidentifying with that field (p. 614). To support the theory of stereotype threat Steele and his colleagues’ research focused on “the intellectual performance in the domain in which the negative group stereotypes apply” and whether or not reducing the pressure of stereotype threat would “improve the performance of otherwise stereotype-threatened students” (p. 618). To test for stereotype threat in women’s performance in math, the researchers recruited a sample of male and female college sophomores who considered math an important part of their self-definition and gave them difficult math questions from the GRE to answer. The researchers found that the female participants underperformed as compared to their equally qualified male counterparts (p. 619). The researchers performed a similar experiment to test for stereotype threat of African-Americans on standardized tests. In the experiment white and African-American