Sterootype Threat Chapter Summary

Summary: In Chapter 7, Steele discovered that people felt anxious under stereotype threat, but most people did not acknowledge it or they did not aware it. For example, after crossing a narrow, wobbly bridge, men tended to interpret their their feelings of anxiety as an intense attraction for interviewer. Black students who were told to finish a task which measure their intelligence would experience blood pressure rising dramatically, while they did not consciously aware of it. Steele later also indicated that the anxiety caused by identity threat would directly lead to an impaired performance in working memory, which was the memory that needed for retaining information for immediate use. He gave the case study of a group of women who expected
People might confuse love with fear because when we were frightened, our hearts beat faster, our palms sweated more, and we breathed faster and deeper. These were also the symptoms of falling in love as well. Therefore, it was not surprised that people could not notice and identity their emotions accurately. Another reason for why would the participants not stating or reporting their feeling of anxious could be not wanting to admit themselves had been under stereotype threat. Remember there was a test which black students under identity threat completed more fragments with words related to the stereotype. However, they reported less preference for things related to blacks’ culture. They might be embarrassed to confess how stressful the test had put them on. After reading this Chapter, I really sensed that stereotype threat hindered the social mobility. The low-class students, people from glassroots, and minority ethnic groups were usually discriminated or prejudiced. In order to disprove the negative stereotype that restricted them, they tended to try harder and work longer. However, it was not a blessing to them. Exposed to prolonged stress and anxious, they might suffer from health disease which the whole situation was not fair to