Converging evidence that stereotype threat reduces working memory capacity

Although research has shown that priming negative stereotypes leads to lower performance among stigmatized individuals, little is understood about the cognitive mechanism that accounts for these effects. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that stereotype threat interferes with test performance because it reduces individuals' working memory capacity. Results show that priming self-relevant negative stereotypes reduces women's (Experiment 1) and Latinos' (Experiment 2) working memory capacity. The final study revealed that a reduction in working memory capacity mediates the effect of stereotype threat on women's math performance (Experiment 3). Implications for future research on stereotype threat and working memory are discussed.     

Stereotype threat and working memory: mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover

Stereotype threat (ST) occurs when the awareness of a negative stereotype about a social group in a particular domain produces suboptimal performance by members of that group. Although ST has been repeatedly demonstrated, far less is known about how its effects are realized. Using mathematical problem solving as a test bed, the authors demonstrate in 5 experiments that ST harms math problems that rely heavily on working memory resources--especially phonological aspects of this system. Moreover, by capitalizing on an understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which ST exerts its impact, the authors show (a) how ST can be alleviated (e.g., by heavily practicing once-susceptible math problems such that they are retrieved directly from long-term memory rather than computed via a working-memory-intensive algorithm) and (b) when it will spill over onto subsequent tasks unrelated to the stereotype in question but dependent on the same cognitive resources that stereotype threat also uses. The current work extends the knowledge of the causal mechanisms of stereotype threat and demonstrates how its effects can be attenuated and propagated.     

Do performance avoidance goals moderate the effect of different types of stereotype threat on women’s math performance?

Stereotype threat is considered to be a robust effect that explains persistent gender gaps in math performance and scientific career trajectories. Some evidence suggests stereotype threat effects are buffered by adoption of performance avoidance goals (Chalabaev, Major, Sarrazin, & Cury, 2012). With 590 American female participants, we closely replicated Chalabaev et al. (2012). Results showed no significant main or interaction effects for stereotype threat or performance avoidance goals, despite multiple controls. We conclude that effects of stereotype threat might be smaller than typically reported and find limited evidence for moderation by avoidance achievement goals. Accordingly, stereotype threat might not be a major part of the explanation for the gender gap in math performance, consistent with recent meta-analyses (Flore & Wicherts, 2015).     

儿童的性别刻板印象威胁及其干预

刻板印象威胁即令污名群体的成员在消极刻板印象领域中表现下降的一种现象, 考察儿童性别刻板印象威胁能为从源头干预性别刻板印象威胁提供可能。基于此, 从儿童性别刻板印象威胁的产生(产生条件和产生时间)、操纵、影响(对女孩的影响和对男孩的影响)及干预(多重身份、沙文主义、积极榜样和反刻板印象)进行论述。未来研究可以从地域文化、研究对象、干预措施和研究领域等方面继续拓展。     

Gender Identification Moderates Stereotype Threat Effects on Women's Math Performance

This research applies a social identity perspective to situations of stereotype threat. It was hypothesized that individuals would be more susceptible to the performance-inhibiting effects of stereotype threat to the extent that they are highly identified with the group to which a negative stereotype applies. A quasi-experimental study with male and female college students revealed that individual differences in gender identification (i.e., importance placed on gender identity) moderated the effects of gender identity relevance on women's (but not men's) math performance. When their gender identity was linked to their performance on a math test, women with higher levels of gender identification performed worse than men, but women with lower levels of gender identification performed equally to men. When gender identity was not linked to test performance, women performed equally to men regardless of the importance they placed on gender identity.     

Stereotype threat in the classroom: dejection mediates the disrupting threat effect on women's math performance

Research on stereotype threat, which is defined as the risk of confirming a negative stereotypic expectation about one's group, has demonstrated that the applicability of negative stereotypes disrupts the performance of stigmatized social groups. While it has been shown that a reduction of stereotype threat leads to improved performance by members of stigmatized groups, there is a lack of clear-cut findings about the mediating processes. The aim of the present study is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that stereotype threat causes in women working on mathematical problems. In addition, the study set out to test stereotype threat theory in a natural environment: high school classrooms. The experiment involved the manipulation of the gender fairness of a math test. The results indicate that the stereotype threat effect exists in this everyday setting. Moreover, it appears that dejection emotions mediate the effect of threat manipulation.     

Girls' math performance under stereotype threat: the moderating role of mothers' gender stereotypes

Previous research on stereotype threat in children suggests that making gender identity salient disrupts girls' math performance at as early as 5 to 7 years of age. The present study (n = 124) tested the hypothesis that parents' endorsement of gender stereotypes about math moderates girls' susceptibility to stereotype threat. Results confirmed that stereotype threat impaired girls' performance on math tasks among students from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Moreover, mothers' but not fathers' endorsement of gender stereotypes about math moderated girls' vulnerability to stereotype threat: performance of girls whose mothers strongly rejected the gender stereotype about math did not decrease under stereotype threat. These findings are important because they point to the role of mothers' beliefs in the development of girls' vulnerability to the negative effects of gender stereotypes about math.     

Stereotype Threat Effects on Learning From a Cognitively Demanding Mathematics Lesson

Stereotype threat—a situational context in which individuals are concerned about confirming a negative stereotype—is often shown to impact test performance, with one hypothesized mechanism being that cognitive resources are temporarily co‐opted by intrusive thoughts and worries, leading individuals to underperform despite high content knowledge and ability (see Schmader & Beilock, 2012 ). We test here whether stereotype threat may also impact initial student learning and knowledge formation when experienced prior to instruction. Predominantly African American fifth‐grade students provided either their race or the date before a videotaped, conceptually demanding mathematics lesson. Students who gave their race retained less learning over time, enjoyed the lesson less, reported a diminished desire to learn more, and were less likely to choose to engage in an optional math activity. The detrimental impact was greatest among students with high baseline cognitive resources. While stereotype threat has been well documented to harm test performance, the finding that effects extend to initial learning suggests that stereotype threat's contribution to achievement gaps may be greatly underestimated.     

Stereotype threat,test anxiety,and mathematics performance

We investigated the combined effects of stereotype threat and trait test anxiety on mathematics test performance. Stereotype threat and test anxiety interacted with each other in affecting performance. Trait test anxiety predicted performance only in a diagnostic condition that prevented stereotype threat by stereotype denial. A state measure of fear of the test mediated this influence. However, stereotype threat reduced the performance of low test-anxious participants to the level of high test-anxious participants. Thus, stereotype threat affected persons low in test anxiety but not persons high in test anxiety. Both phenomena apparently share common mechanisms through which they impair performance.     

民族刻板印象威胁效应

Steele和Aronson (1995)最早提出刻板印象威胁的概念,指出这种威胁使个体担心自己会验证所属群体的消极刻板印象.民族刻板印象威胁表现为个体行为表现下降并影响民族交往.民族刻板印象威胁效应的主要机制是工作记忆受损和不认同.通过提供内群体榜样和进行非评价性测试,可以有效地减轻刻板印象威胁效应.未来研究要准确界定种族、族群和民族的概念,考察民族刻板印象威胁与性别刻板印象威胁的区别,研究不同民族的刻板印象威胁效应.     

Stereotype threat in classroom settings: The interactive effect of domain identification,task difficulty and stereotype threat on female students' maths performance

Background. Stereotype threat research revealed that negative stereotypes can disrupt the performance of persons targeted by such stereotypes. This paper contributes to stereotype threat research by providing evidence that domain identification and the difficulty level of test items moderate stereotype threat effects on female students' maths performance. Aims. The study was designed to test theoretical ideas derived from stereotype threat theory and assumptions outlined in the Yerkes–Dodson law proposing a nonlinear relationship between arousal, task difficulty and performance. Sample. Participants were 108 high school students attending secondary schools. Method. Participants worked on a test comprising maths problems of different difficulty levels. Half of the participants learned that the test had been shown to produce gender differences (stereotype threat). The other half learned that the test had been shown not to produce gender differences (no threat). The degree to which participants identify with the domain of maths was included as a quasi‐experimental factor. Results. Maths‐identified female students showed performance decrements under conditions of stereotype threat. Moreover, the stereotype threat manipulation had different effects on low and high domain identifiers' performance depending on test item difficulty. On difficult items, low identifiers showed higher performance under threat (vs. no threat) whereas the reverse was true in high identifiers. This interaction effect did not emerge on easy items. Conclusions. Domain identification and test item difficulty are two important factors that need to be considered in the attempt to understand the impact of stereotype threat on performance.     

外来务工女性刻板印象威胁的应对策略与认同管理

为了探讨外来务工女性群体刻板印象威胁的应对策略和认同管理,从天津市WX社区通过滚雪球抽样方法选取124名外来务工女性作为被试,采用问卷调查的形式,测查了外来务工女性群体刻板印象应对策略和认同管理模式,尤其考察了认同基线水平、认同融合、否定策略和榜样策略对于应对和认同管理的有效性。结果表明：（1）外来务工女性群体具有双重认同趋势;具有较高城市认同融合的外来务工女性群体具有显著的认同维护倾向;（2）不同印象管理水平的外来务工女性对否定策略的使用差异性很小,反而是刻板印象威胁的长期性和暴露性是引发否定策略的重要因素;（3）角色榜样成功的应得性对外来务工女性城市认同感的提高具有积极效应;（4）城市务工年数和收入成为这一群体城市认同的主要影响因素。     

Stereotype internalization and women’s math performance: The role of interference in working memory

It has long been argued that stigmatized individuals can ultimately internalize the stereotype alleging their inferiority. The present article investigated whether the internalization of the reputation of math inferiority that targets women can affect their math performance and whether this influence is caused by a disruption of working memory. A first study showed that stereotype endorsement had a significant impact on women’s statistic performance by lowering their self-evaluation of math ability even when controlling for prior achievement. A second study was designed to assess the possibility that the lower math performance displayed by women with low self-evaluation of math ability was due to interference in working memory. Using a dual task paradigm, this study showed that indeed women with low math self-evaluation displayed more errors and spent more time solving additions than women with high math self-evaluation, but mainly on difficult items of the dual task. The findings, which are congruent with an explanation in terms of a temporary disruption of working memory, are discussed.     

Hostile environments, stereotype threat, and math performance among undergraduate women

This study examined the impact of hostile environments and stereotype threat on women’s math performance. A hostile environment was created with a derogatory cartoon related to women's math ability. Stereotype threat was removed by informing women participants that “men and women perform equally” on the math test. Results showed that hostile environments and stereotype threat significantly interacted leading to differential math performance for number of math problems attempted and answered correctly. Additionally, women in hostile and stereotype threat conditions experienced differential emotional reactions during the math test. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical importance. This article was based on the first author’s Master’s thesis. Parts of this study were presented at the American Psychological Society 10th Annual Conference (1998) in Washington D.C. The authors would like to thank David Mueller, Jason Joly, and Chris Termini for their help in collecting and entering data. We would also like to thank Eddie Clark and Michael Leippe for their helpful feedback and guidance on this paper.     

Hostile environments, stereotype threat, and math performance among undergraduate women

This study examined the impact of hostile environments and stereotype threat on women’s math performance. A hostile environment was created with a derogatory cartoon related to women's math ability. Stereotype threat was removed by informing women participants that “men and women perform equally” on the math test. Results showed that hostile environments and stereotype threat significantly interacted leading to differential math performance for number of math problems attempted and answered correctly. Additionally, women in hostile and stereotype threat conditions experienced differential emotional reactions during the math test. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical importance. This article was based on the first author’s Master’s thesis. Parts of this study were presented at the American Psychological Society 10th Annual Conference (1998) in Washington D.C. The authors would like to thank David Mueller, Jason Joly, and Chris Termini for their help in collecting and entering data. We would also like to thank Eddie Clark and Michael Leippe for their helpful feedback and guidance on this paper.     

Stereotype threat and arousal: effects on women's math performance

Theories of arousal suggest that arousal should decrease performance on difficult tasks and increase performance on easy tasks. An experiment tested the hypothesis that the effects of stereotype threat on performance are due to heightened arousal. The authors hypothesized that telling participants that a math test they are about to take is known to have gender differences would cause stereotype threat in women but not in men. In the experiment, each participant took two tests--a difficult math test and an easy math test. Compared to women in a "no differences" condition, women in the "gender differences" condition scored better on the easy math test and worse on the difficult math test. Men's performance was unaffected by the manipulation. These data are consistent with an arousal-based explanation of stereotype threat effects. Data were inconsistent with expectancy, evaluation apprehension, and persistence explanations of the stereotype threat phenomenon.     

刻板印象威胁：新议题与新争议

刻板印象威胁是指当个体或群体感知到情境中有关所属群体消极刻板印象存在时, 由于担心和焦虑反而会验证自己或所属群体的消极刻板印象这一过程。大量的实证研究证实, 消极刻板印象的存在会损害个体或群体在相关领域的表现。但新近研究在影响因素中出现了许多新的议题, 如外溢效应、交互作用力和系统性等。在刻板印象威胁的应对和干预策略中也突破了以往的研究路线, 围绕认同融合与认同分离、否定策略的适用性、促进效应与窒息效应、角色榜样策略的矛盾性、认同转换策略和弱化群体边界的有效性以及群体互动改善效果等展开了新的讨论与纷争。通过对这些新议题和新讨论的梳理与阐释, 提出了未来研究可尝试的路径。     

A Review of the Stereotype Threat Literature and Its Application in a Neurological Population

Stereotype threat is a situational phenomenon, leading to test performance decrements, in which a member of a stigmatized group feels pressured by the possibility of confirming or being judged by a negative stereotype. This review article highlights the progression of research in the stereotype threat field, and its relevance to neurological populations. Early studies focused on demonstrating this effect in African American, women, and elderly populations. Since this time, research has continued to focus on these populations but has moved to elucidating stereotype threat's mediating psychological factors, studying the impact of individual differences in response to stereotype threat, and attempting to reduce its overall effect. A proposal for further study in neurological populations, under the framework of stereotype threat, comprises the last portion of the paper. It is argued that this social psychological phenomenon may, at least in part, account for poor neuropsychological test performance for neurologically compromised individuals.     

The consequences of stereotype threat on the academic performance of White and non-White lower income college students

This research examined whether socioeconomic stereotypes produce stereotype threat among lower, middle, or upper income college students who are either White or non-White. Before completing an academic test, participants were either told that the purpose of the research was to understand why lower income students generally perform worse on academic tests or to examine problem-solving processes. Results showed that lower income students exposed to stereotype threat experienced greater test anxiety and performed worse on the academic test than their middle income and higher income counterparts. However, lower income students who experienced stereotype threat exerted as much effort on the test as lower income students who did not experience stereotype threat. Nonetheless, they were less likely to identify with school-related subjects. Stereotype threat and reduced performance did not influence lower income students’ self-esteem. Participant race did not influence these findings. The research is discussed in light of cognitive dissonance theory. Portions of the results were presented at the 2004 American Psychological Society Conference, Chicago, IL. Lisa A. Harrison is an assistant professor of psychology at California State University, Sacramento. Her research interests include stereotypes and prejudice, gender role norms and female athletes, and the influence of social identity on judgments of interpersonal violence. E-mail: lharriso@csus.edu Chiesha M. Stevens is currently working toward her MA in industrial/organizational psychology at California State University, Long Beach Adrienne N. Monty is currently working toward her MA in psychology at California State University, Sacramento Christine Coakley received her BA in psychology from California State University, Sacramento where she is currently working toward her MA in industrial/organizational psychology. Her research interests include stereotype threat, optimism, motivation and employee burnout in special education. E-mail: Sac78629@saclink.csus.edu     

Stereotype threat strengthens automatic recall and undermines controlled processes in older adults

The threat of being judged stereotypically (stereotype threat) may impair memory performance in older adults, thereby producing inflated age differences in memory tasks. However, the underlying mechanisms of stereotype threat in older adults or other stigmatized groups remain poorly understood. Here, we offer evidence that stereotype threat consumes working memory resources in older adults. More important, using a process-dissociation procedure, we found, for the first time, that stereotype threat undermines the controlled use of memory and simultaneously intensifies automatic response tendencies. These findings indicate that competing models of stereotype threat are actually compatible and offer further reasons for researchers and practitioners to pay special attention to age-related stereotypes during standardized neuropsychological testing.