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Mindful maths: Reducing the impact of stereotype threat through a mindfulness exercise.

Ulrich W Weger, Nic Hooper, Brian P Meier, Tim Hopthrow

Centre for Research on Social Climate, University of Kent, Canterbury CT27NP, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury CT27NP, United Kingdom.

Journal Article: Consciousness and Cognition (impact factor: 2.14). 11/2011; 21(1):471-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.10.011

Abstract

Individuals who experience stereotype threat - the pressure resulting from social comparisons that are perceived as unfavourable - show performance decrements across a wide range of tasks. One account of this effect is that the cognitive pressure triggered by such threat drains the same cognitive (or working-memory) resources that are implicated in the respective task. The present study investigates whether mindfulness can be used to moderate stereotype threat, as mindfulness has previously been shown to alleviate working-memory load. Our results show that performance decrements that typically occur under stereotype threat can indeed be reversed when the individual engages in a brief (5 min) mindfulness task. The theoretical implications of our findings are discussed.

Source: PubMed

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Keywords

5 min
 
brief
 
cognitive pressure
 
mindfulness
 
moderate stereotype threat
 
performance decrements
 
present study investigates
 
respective task
 
theoretical implications
 
wide range
 
working-memory
 
working-memory load