Testing Stereotype Threat Theory Predictions for Math-Identified and Non-Math-Identified Students by Gender

This study follows in the tradition of Cullen, Hardison, and Sackett (2004) by testing the generalizability of stereotype threat theory findings from laboratory to applied settings. Like Cullen et al., the authors developed models of the pattern of relationships between Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) math scores and English grades that would be expected for math-identified and non-math-identified men and women if stereotype threat were operating to suppress the scores of math-identified women during SAT test administration. The study builds on Cullen et al. by creating an alternative measure of "identification" with the math domain that is premised on high school students' intention to major in math or a math-related discipline during college. Results using this alternative measure of identification were not supportive of predictions arising from stereotype threat theory, reinforcing Cullen et al.'s call for caution in generalizing stereotype threat theory lab findings to real-world testing environments.     

Domain identification predicts black students’ underperformance on moderately-difficult tests

Although stereotype threat theory suggests that, in stereotype threat settings, negatively-stereotyped students who are highly domain-identified risk underperforming on difficult tests but can perform well on easy tests, it is unclear how these students will perform on moderately-difficult tests in stereotype threat settings. The present study found that the higher black students’ verbal identification the worse their performance on a moderately-difficult verbal test in an ability-diagnostic setting. The students’ verbal identification did not relate to their performance in a non-diagnostic setting. The discussion addresses the need for research to determine the mediators between high domain identification and underperformance, and whether it is beneficial for students to be less domain identified.     

The Effects of Demographic Variables and Stereotype Threat on Black/White Differences in Cognitive Ability Test Performance

The present study examined whether a set of demographic variables and stereotype threat could explain African-American/White mean differences in cognitive ability test performance. African Americans and Whites were found to significantly differ in stereotype threat and educational attainment of participants' fathers (i.e., father education). In moderate support of our study hypothesis, stereotype threat and father education partially mediated race differences in cognitive ability test scores. Implications for study findings are discussed, and limitations of the study are noted.     

A threat in the computer: the race implicit association test as a stereotype threat experience

Three experiments test whether the threat of appearing racist leads White participants to perform worse on the race Implicit Association Test (IAT) and whether self-affirmation can protect from this threat. Experiments 1 and 2 suggest that White participants show a stereotype threat effect when completing the race IAT, leading to stronger pro-White scores when the test is believed to be diagnostic of racism. This effect increases for domain-identified (highly motivated to control prejudice) participants (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, self-affirmation inoculates participants against stereotype threat while taking the race IAT. These findings have methodological implications for use of the race IAT and theoretical implications concerning the malleability of automatic prejudice and the potential interpersonal effects of the fear of appearing racist.     

On interpreting stereotype threat as accounting for African American-White differences on cognitive tests

C. M. Steele and J. Aronson (1995) showed that making race salient when taking a difficult test affected the performance of high-ability African American students, a phenomenon they termed stereotype threat. The authors document that this research is widely misinterpreted in both popular and scholarly publications as showing that eliminating stereotype threat eliminates the African American-White difference in test performance. In fact, scores were statistically adjusted for differences in students' prior SAT performance, and thus, Steele and Aronson's findings actually showed that absent stereotype threat, the two groups differ to the degree that would be expected based on differences in prior SAT scores. The authors caution against interpreting the Steele and Aronson experiment as evidence that stereotype threat is the primary cause of African American-White differences in test performance.     

The difference isn't black and white: stereotype threat and the race gap on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

This study addresses recent criticisms aimed at the interpretation of stereotype threat research and methodological weaknesses of previous studies that have examined race differences on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM). African American and White undergraduates completed the APM under three conditions. In two threat conditions, participants received either standard APM instructions (standard threat) or were told that the APM was an IQ test (high threat). In a low threat condition, participants were told that the APM was a set of puzzles and that the researchers wanted their opinions of them. Results supported the stereotype threat interpretation of race differences in cognitive ability test scores. Although African American participants underperformed Whites under both standard and high threat instructions, they performed just as well as Whites did under low threat instructions.     

An Examination of Stereotype Threat in a Motivational Context

This study was conducted to explore 2 potential boundary conditions of the stereotype threat effect. First, we sought to determine if threat would occur for a test administered in a motivational context where consequences were linked to test performance. Second, we examine if the threat elicited by 1 test would generalize to a different measure administered in the same testing session. Using a 2 (control vs. threat) × 2 (order of administration of a personality and intelligence test) × 2 (Black vs. White) between-subjects design, we found that threat can influence test scores, but the relationship between threat and test scores is dependent on both domain identity and racial identity. Interestingly, we found that changes in racial identity (assessed before and after the test) had a significant and positive relationship with cognitive ability test performance for Black test-takers, but not for Whites. It seems that Black individuals who dis-identified themselves from their race (during the course of the testing) were able to perform better on the cognitive ability test. Finally, we find that those in the threat condition performed significantly better on the personality test than those in the control condition, suggesting that threat can generalize and influence performance on tests for which no stereotype exists. Implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.     

Stereotype threat and group differences in test performance: a question of measurement invariance

Studies into the effects of stereotype threat (ST) on test performance have shed new light on race and sex differences in achievement and intelligence test scores. In this article, the authors relate ST theory to the psychometric concept of measurement invariance and show that ST effects may be viewed as a source of measurement bias. As such, ST effects are detectable by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. This enables research into the generalizability of ST effects to real-life or high-stakes testing. The modeling approach is described in detail and applied to 3 experiments in which the amount of ST for minorities and women was manipulated. Results indicate that ST results in measurement bias of intelligence and mathematics tests.     

Stereotype threat and feedback seeking in the workplace

This study examined stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) in workplace settings and investigated relationships of stereotype threat to feedback seeking and feedback acceptance. Results from a sample of 166 African American managers showed that solo status in the work group predicted perceptions of stereotype threat. In addition, stereotype threat related positively to indirect feedback seeking and discounting of performance feedback from superiors. These findings have important implications for understanding the causes of group differences in job performance.     

Improving adolescents' standardized test performance: An intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat

Standardized tests continue to generate gender and race gaps in achievement despite decades of national attention. Research on “stereotype threat” (Steele & Aronson, 1995) suggests that these gaps may be partly due to stereotypes that impugn the math abilities of females and the intellectual abilities of Black, Hispanic, and low-income students. A field experiment was performed to test methods of helping female, minority, and low-income adolescents overcome the anxiety-inducing effects of stereotype threat and, consequently, improve their standardized test scores. Specifically, seventh-grade students in the experimental conditions were mentored by college students who encouraged them either to view intelligence as malleable or to attribute academic difficulties in the seventh grade to the novelty of the educational setting. Results showed that females in both experimental conditions earned significantly higher math standardized test scores than females in the control condition. Similarly, the students—who were largely minority and low-income adolescents—in the experimental conditions earned significantly higher reading standardized test scores than students in the control condition.     

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.     

Predicting Stereotype Threat,Test Anxiety,and Cognitive Ability Test Performance: An Examination of Three Models

As the classroom and workplace, among other contexts, become more diverse in their population characteristics, the need to be aware of specific factors impacting testing outcome issues correspondingly increases. The focus in this study, among other purposes, was to identify possible interactions between examinee's individual-difference characteristics (e.g., personality) and characteristics of the testing environment on test anxiety reactions and cognitive ability test performance. This study assessed reactions and performance in 4 different testing conditions through a path-analytic testing of 3 well-established theoretical models of stress appraisal and coping (i.e., cognitive appraisal, personality trait, and transactional). The transactional model, incorporating both personality and testing condition factors, was best in predicting the variance associated with the cognitive ability test scores, the 3 test anxiety score indexes (i.e., social derogation, physical tenseness, and cognitive obstruction), and the stereotype threat scores. With personality traits, for example, agreeableness was a relatively strong and consistent predictor of all study measures. Regarding testing condition factors, only the manipulation of stereotype threat level (low or high) produced some significant accounting of variance. Higher perceived stereotype threat levels were generally associated with heightened stereotype threat belief perceptions, lower cognitive ability test scores, and, interestingly, reduced feelings of cognitive obstruction in test anxiety.     

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 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.     

Examining the effects of stereotype threat on test-taking behaviors

This study examines the relationship between stereotype threat and individual test-taking behaviors. Previous research has examined the impact of stereotype threat on test scores, but little research has examined the impact of stereotype threat on the test-taking behaviors impacting those scores. Using a pre-post experimental design, stereotype threat was manipulated and test-taking behaviors (e.g., time spent per item, response changes) were measured while completing verbal ability items before and after the manipulation. The results indicated that stereotype threat minimally impacted time-related test-taking behaviors, but did impact behaviors related to response changes. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

The role of performance-avoidance goals and worry in mediating the relationship between stereotype threat and performance

To understand the process underlying stereotype threat better, we developed and tested a model integrating the extant stereotype threat research with insights from achievement goal theory. The core tenet of this model is that stereotype threat impairs performance through performance-avoidance goal adoption and worry about one’s performance. To test this model, women under stereotype threat and not under threat reported their test-related achievement goals before completing a difficult math test. In addition, participants reported their state test anxiety, including worry, immediately before or after completing the math test. Results revealed that performance-avoidance goals and worry mediated the effect of stereotype threat on performance. Contributions of this model to the stereotype threat literature are discussed.     

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.     

Different groups, different threats: a multi-threat approach to the experience of stereotype threats

Two studies demonstrated that different negatively stereotyped groups are at risk for distinct forms of stereotype threats. The Multi-Threat Framework articulates six distinct stereotype threats and the unique constellations of variables (e.g., group identification, stereotype endorsement) that elicit each stereotype threat. Previous research suggests that different negatively stereotyped groups systematically vary across these stereotype threat elicitors; a pilot study confirms these differences. Across two studies, groups that tend to elicit low stereotype endorsement (religion, race/ethnicity, congenital blindness) were less likely to report experiencing self-as-source stereotype threats (stereotype threats requiring stereotype endorsement) and groups that tend to elicit low group identification (mental illness, obesity, blindness later in life) were less likely to report experiencing group-as-target stereotype threats (stereotype threats requiring group identification). This research suggests that traditional models may overlook the experiences of stereotype threats within some groups and that interventions tailored to address differences between stereotype threats will be most effective.     

The social construction of race: biracial identity and vulnerability to stereotypes

Multiracial individuals are more likely to have a heightened awareness of race as a social construct than monoracial individuals. This article examines the impact that a heightened awareness of race as a social construct has on the relationship between racial stereotypes and performance. Study 1 finds that multiracial individuals reported subscribing less to the notion that race biologically determines ability. Study 2 finds that monoracial individuals show stereotype activation, whereas multiracial individuals show stereotype inhibition in reaction to race salience. Study 3 draws on the work on stereotypes and performance to test the susceptibility of multiracial individuals to racial stereotypes about ability. The authors find that Asian/White and Black/White multiracial individuals were less susceptible to racial stereotypes than monoracial individuals. Whereas monoracial participants showed significant performance changes in reaction to race salience, multiracial individuals did not. Study 4 finds that emphasizing the social construction of race buffers individuals from stereotype threat effects.     

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