Stereotypes of Achievement Striving Among Early Adolescents

Abstract

We conducted two studies to examine the influence of achievement-related cultural stereotypes among early adolescents. In Study 1 male and female African–American junior high school students (N=62) read hypothetical descriptions of students who displayed high or low levels of achievement striving and school engagement. Their task was to select one photograph that they believed matched each hypothetical description from a set of photos of unknown junior high school students of diverse ethnicities and both genders. We replicated our procedures in Study 2 with a more ethnically diverse sample of African–American, Latino, and Anglo junior high school students (N=197). Results indicated that all adolescents most frequently selected photos of ethnic minority males for scenarios of academic disengagement, consistent with cultural stereotypes of these young men. Photos of females across all ethnicities were selected most frequently for scenarios of achievement strivings. Findings are discussed in terms of the need for greater support for minority males in school settings and the potential impact of school programs on the attitudes and behaviors of students.

Full text

Social Psychology of Education 5: 201–224, 2001.
© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 201
Stereotypes of achievement striving among early
adolescents
CYNTHIA HUDLEY1, and SANDRA GRAHAM2
1Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, 3470 Trousdale Parkway, WPH
1001, CA 90089-0031, Los Angeles, USA
2Graduate School of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
(Received: 16 January 2001; accepted in final form: 16 October 2001)
Abstract. We conducted two studies to examine the influence of achievement-related cultural ste-
reotypes among early adolescents. In Study 1 male and female African–American junior high school
students (N=62) read hypothetical descriptions of students who displayed high or low levels of
achievement striving and school engagement. Their task was to select one photograph that they
believed matched each hypothetical description from a set of photos of unknown junior high school
students of diverse ethnicities and both genders. We replicated our procedures in Study 2 with a
more ethnically diverse sample of African–American, Latino, and Anglo junior high school students
(N=197). Results indicated that all adolescents most frequently selected photos of ethnic minority
males for scenarios of academic disengagement, consistent with cultural stereotypes of these young
men. Photos of females across all ethnicities were selected most frequently for scenarios of achieve-
ment strivings. Findings are discussed in terms of the need for greater support for minority males
in school settings and the potential impact of school programs on the attitudes and behaviors of
students.
1. Introduction
A series of classic studies by Kenneth and Mamie Clark foreshadowed both the
merit and the necessity of studying perceptions of ethnic minorities among both
ethnic minority and White children (Clark & Clark, 1939, 1940, 1947). A sub-
stantial and growing body of literature now challenges but cannot entirely refute
their conclusions of White-preference and negative self-image among Black chil-
dren (for reviews see Brand, Ruiz, & Padilla, 1974; Aboud, 1988). Importantly,
the Clarks’ work has served as the foundation for a broad range of inquiry into
perceptions of ethnicity among ethnic minority children.
Among the more prominent developments in the study of children’s perceptions
of ethnicity has been an increased interest in children’s understanding and use of ra-
cial and ethnic stereotypes. In the 1920s the journalist Walter Lippman introduced
stereotypes as scientific constructs when he defined them as ‘pictures in our heads’
(Lippman, 1922), where the pictures refer to shared beliefs about the members of
Author for correspondence: Tel.: 213 740 3473; Fax: 213 740 3671;
E-mail: hudley@usc.edu

202 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
particular groups. We similarly define stereotypes here as mental representations
of the characteristics of a particular social or cultural group that are shared among
the members of a society (Stangor & Schaller, 1996). This definition corresponds
to social or cultural, as opposed to individual, stereotypes (Tajfel, 1981). The indi-
vidual or cognitive approach in stereotype research (e.g., Hamilton & Trolier, 1986)
has examined the process of stereotype formation, storage, retrieval, and change in
individuals. However, the study of social or cultural stereotypes seeks to understand
the publicly shared content of stereotypes as one form of social knowledge. This
research tradition also examines social behavior, given the consistent empirical
relationship between an individual’s social knowledge and social behavior (Stroebe
& Insko, 1989; Yuill, 1993).
1.1. ETHNIC MINORITY CULTURAL STEREOTYPES AND ACHIEVEMENT
BEHAVIOR
Examining students’ understanding and use of cultural stereotypes may shed light
on the complex and seemingly intractable problem of academic underachievement
(Irvine, 1990) among ethnic minority youth. Academic underachievement persists
among African–American and Latino students across all geographical and social
categories in the United States (University of California, Outreach Task Force,
1997). Thus, we must look beyond the obvious inequities in educational and eco-
nomic opportunities that confront ethnic minorities (Oakes, 1985; Fine, 1991). One
line of inquiry in educational research has been investigations into the psycho-
logical and achievement-related consequences of membership in a marginalized
social group.
Achievement-related behaviors represent a particular set of social behaviors.
They are most often visible in large, organized, and regulated social contexts (e.g.,
schools) that have demonstrable social networks and hierarchies of peer groups
(e.g., Eckart, 1989; Peshkin, 1991). Thus, it is not unreasonable to expect achieve-
ment related behaviors (one form of social behavior) to be quite vulnerable to the
influences of cultural stereotypes (one type of social knowledge). In multiethnic
countries, cultural stereotypes of marginalized groups may have quite negative
consequences.
1.1.1. Stereotype Content and Availability
Cultural stereotypes of African–Americans, particularly of young males, are typic-
ally scurrilous (e.g., Niemann et al., 1994; Devine & Elliott, 1995; Krueger, 1996).
Depictions of ignorance, laziness, and violence have their genesis in this coun-
try’s historical attempts to rationalize slavery and state-sanctioned racial terrorism
(Thomas, 1997). Although many African–American youth are quite successful
in school and work hard in the process (Jones-Wilson, 1990; Sizemore, 1990),
the modern stereotypes of low intelligence, lack of achievement orientation, and
antisocial behavior persist.

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 203
Equally derogatory cultural stereotypes represent Latinos as illegal immigrants
who prefer to work at menial jobs, driving down wages while driving up the cost
of public social services (e.g., Kao, 2000). Similar to African–Americans, young
Latino males in particular are perceived as unintelligent, extremely violent and
antisocial, with little personal ambition, (Cowan, Martinez, & Mendiola, 1997;
Neimann, Pollack, Rogers, & O’Conner, 1998). The reality of high academic achi-
evement among some Latinos (Ocampo, 1991) is simply ignored.
Multiple social mechanisms transmit and reinforce these disparaging cultural
stereotypes. Perhaps chief among them are the mass media (e.g., television, films,
and newspapers) (Stangor & Schaller, 1996), which introduced the image of the
violent, uncontrollable young African–American man in D. W. Griffith’s infamous
film ‘Birth of a Nation’. This stereotype has been updated to the extremely vi-
olent (and popular) ‘gangsta’ identity in films such as ‘Boyz in the Hood’ (Bogle,
1994). The modern media image portrays young African–American and Latino
men as criminals and gang members who use automatic weapons to kill their
enemies and who denigrate achievement striving and educational attainment. These
negative images may become particularly salient for ethnic minority youth,
who are the most frequent consumers of popular media (Blosser, 1988; Kao,
2000).
1.1.2. Stereotype Endorsement
Cultural stereotypes are both intuitively and empirically relevant to academic achi-
evement among ethnic minority students, given the inimical content of stereotypes
of African–Americans and Latinos. A body of research on the content of cultural
stereotypes demonstrates that African–American adults internalize some of the
more pejorative socially shared beliefs about their own group (Allport, 1954; Clark,
1965; Neimann, O’Connor, & McClorie, 1998). Further, making racial stereotypes
salient in an academic context is sufficient to significantly depress the achieve-
ment of African–American college students (Steele, 1997). This literature seems
to suggest that cultural stereotypes may have a negative influence on achievement
motivation in childhood and adolescence.
However, the study of ethnic minority children’s own stereotype use is in its
infancy and largely limited to African–American children. The few studies con-
ducted suggest that children as young as preschool have internalized derogatory
stereotypes. African–American children associate darker skin color with negative
behaviors and characteristics; this finding has been replicated with preschoolers
(Williams & Moreland, 1976; Ramsey, 1987), school-age children (Porter, 1991;
Averhart & Bigler, 1997), and adolescents (Anderson & Cromwell, 1977). In con-
trast, when presented with characteristics other than skin color (e.g., adjective
checklists), African–American children often attribute positive characteristics to
their own group (Anderson & Cromwell, 1977; Doyle, Beaudet, & Aboud, 1988;
Aboud & Doyle, 1995; Averhart & Bigler, 1997), and this pattern increases with
age (Judd et al., 1995). Unsurprisingly, African–American children’ stereotypes of

204 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
their own group comprise both positive and negative elements, although stereo-
types may grow more positive across development.
1.2. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY AND CHILDREN’S STEREOTYPES
Social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) provides contrasting predictions for
the influence of cultural stereotypes on group members. The theory fundamentally
proposes that social groups are associated with positive or negative evaluations, and
the self-regard of individual ingroup members is based on comparisons with and
explicit differentiation from relevant outgroups. Because people strive to maintain
a positive self-regard, members of a given ingroup will be motivated to perceive
themselves as superior to relevant outgroups. Social identity theory would argue
that members of culturally or socially defined groups should hold positive ste-
reotypes of their own group and negative stereotypes of relevant outgroups. Such
ingroup bias confers positive stature on groups and their members by derogating
the relevant outgroup (Sherman, Hamilton, & Lewis, 1999).
African–American children’s previously discussed ingroup stereotypes do
not consistently display ingroup bias; similarly their perceptions of Whites are not
always consistent with the predicted outgroup derogation (Anderson &
Cromwell, 1977; Doyle, Beaudet, & Aboud, 1988; Averhart & Bigler, 1997).
Younger African–American children generally hold stereotypes of Whites that are
more positive than those for their own group. Among older children, stereotypes of
Whites contain both positive and negative elements, similar to stereotypes of their
own groups. Only studies among college students have found clear biases among
African–American youth, with stereotypes that are positive for African–Americans
and more negative for Whites (Judd et al., 1995).
Although there is scant evidence for an ingroup bias among African–American
children in the literature reviewed previously, White children hold positive views
of their own group across all stages of development, consistent with social identity
theory (Ramsey & Meyers, 1990; Bigler & Liben, 1993; Doyle & Aboud, 1995;
Black-Gutman & Hickson, 1996). White children also perceive ethnic minorities
negatively, as social identity theory predicts, and these positive and negative per-
ceptions have been found in the US as well as other parts of the world (Rutland,
1999; Augoustinos & Rosewarne, 2001). Negative perceptions of ethnic minorities
sometimes decline with the age of the perceiver (Aboud & Skeery, 1983; Doyle,
Beaudet, & Aboud, 1988; Bigler & Liben, 1993), but sometimes increase (Rutland,
1999). Recent work with White American college students revealed ingroup ste-
reotypes that were no more positive than stereotypes of African–Americans (Judd
et al., 1995).
1.3. THE CURRENT STUDY
In the studies reported here, we specifically examined the use of ethnic stereo-
types by both ingroup and outgroup members. We devised a methodology that

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 205
we believed would be meaningful to adolescent respondents and that would not
be vulnerable to the social desirability limitations of adjective checklists or free
response formats. The research activities, introduced as a study of ‘First Impres-
sions’, presented middle school students with hypothetical scenarios of students
who were high or low in achievement strivings. Using a set of photos of unknown
adolescents, our participants selected one photo that they thought best described
each hypothetical student. The stimulus photos varied the ethnicity and gender of
the unknown adolescent; all other photo characteristics (e.g., hairstyle, jewelry,
and clothing) were controlled. Thus respondents were required to make their best
guess about behaviors of these hypothetical students in the absence of any indi-
viduating information – the classic use of stereotypes (Stangor & Schallor, 1996).
In this way we were able to examine whether middle school students associated
positive or negative achievement-related stereotypes with boys and girls of various
ethnicities.
Our first study focused on African–American students. We hypothesized that
these adolescents would not associate (i.e., select photos of) other African–
American students with high achievement strivings, based on the influence of nega-
tive cultural stereotypes. Rather, these African–American adolescents would more
frequently associate other African–Americans with beliefs and actions consis-
tent with low achievement strivings. However, social identity theory would
predict the opposite pattern, that is, association of the ingroup with positive
characteristics or high achievement striving. Further, based on findings from our
previous research (Graham, Taylor, & Hudley, 1998) in which adolescents associ-
ated their own female classmates with high achievement striving, we predicted that
the pattern of associations would be influenced by gender as well as ethnicity of
the pictured students. We expected scenarios describing high achievement stri-
vings to elicit disproportionate selections of photos of girls and scenarios of low
achievement strivings to elicit disproportionate selections of photos of boys.
2. Study 1
2.1. METHOD
2.1.1. Participants
Participants (N=62) were African–American adolescents enrolled in the seventh
and eighth grades (age M=13.5) in an urban public middle school in southern
California. The school enrolled 90% African–American students and 10% Latino.
Approximately 63% of the student body qualified for the federal free and reduced
price lunch program at this school, and two-thirds of the students were drawn
from the surrounding lower-middle class community, whose residents were 87%
African–American and 13% Latino. Based on these indicators, these students could
be classified as a mix of lower-middle and lower SES.
Adolescents comprised a random sample, stratified by GPA to ensure a bal-
anced, representative sample across a broad range of academic achievement levels.

206 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
Students attaining a GPA of 3.2 or better were eligible to be selected as high
achievers (35%). Those with a GPA between 2.9 and 2.2 were eligible as medium
achievers (31%), and those with a GPA below 2.0 were eligible as low achievers
(34%). As well, the sample was balanced by gender (47% female and 53% male).
All adolescents were fully proficient in English, of average intelligence, and none
were receiving special education services at the time of the study. Informed par-
ental consent was obtained for all students prior to their participation in the study
activities.
2.1.2. Procedures
Adolescents were seen in groups of 10–15 students outside of the regular classroom
during the school day. The experimenters, three African–American females, intro-
duced the task as a study of ‘First Impressions’ with the following instructions:
“Many times people form opinions, good or bad, about others after meeting
or seeing them only once, and before knowing very much about them. We call
these opinions first impressions. For example, you might form first impressions
of a new teacher on the first day of school before classes begin, or of new
neighbors on the first day they move in next door to you. In this survey, we
are interested in how students your age form first impressions about other kids
they do not know. We will show you sets of pictures of boys and girls your age
whom you do not know. You will also be presented with short descriptions that
could fit any of the kids in the pictures. Your task is to form a first impression
– that is, pick the student who you think best fits the description”.
One experimenter then read aloud six short, hypothetical scenarios, each describing
a student who displayed a specific set of attitudes or behaviors.
Four of the scenarios presented attitudes and behaviors consistent with achieve-
ment striving; two described high levels and two described low levels of achieve-
ment striving. One scenario portrayed high achievement strivings in the proximal
school context as follows:
‘This is a student who does very well in school. The person gets good grades,
works hard on class assignments, and can often be seen in the library doing
schoolwork. This is someone who pays attention in class and participates in
class discussions’.
The other high achievement scenario focused on planning for a more distal goal,
describing a student who enrolled in challenging classes, ‘plans to get a college
degree’, and someday attain a professional career.
The two scenarios of low achievement striving followed a similar pattern. One
scenario focused on the proximal school context by describing a student who fooled
around in class, ignored homework assignments, sometimes cut classes, and did
not carry books. The other low achievement striving scenario included more distal

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 207
goals by portraying a student who had no plans for further education or future
employment, did not care about grades or schoolwork, and so ‘does just enough
to get by’ in school. Two filler scenarios, not analyzed here, were unrelated to
academic achievement. No reference was made to the hypothetical student’s gender
in any of the six scenarios.
After each scenario was read, participants were shown a different set of 12 color
photographs (3 ×5 inch) of junior high school students, each identified only by
a number. Each set contained photos of two boys and two girls each of Latino,
African–American, and Anglo ancestry. The photos were obtained in an entirely
different city in southern California, where junior high school students volunteered
for the task and obtained informed parental consent. Photographs were portrait
images of adolescents’ head and shoulders only, all taken on a similar backdrop.
All volunteers were photographed in plain T-shirts, and no salient variations in
students (e.g., tattoos, unusual hairstyles) were visible.
Each set of 12 photos was mounted on heavy poster board and adolescents
were instructed to think of the boards as pages from a middle school yearbook.
There were six different photo sets, one to correspond to each of the six scenarios.
The photo set-scenario pairing was randomized for each participant. On each pic-
ture board the 12 photos (two African–American boys and two African–American
girls, two Latinos and two Latinas, two Anglo boys and two Anglo girls) were
randomly arranged such that the two same ethnicity/same gender photos were never
mounted horizontally next to one another.
Prior to data collection, an ethnically diverse panel of freshmen students at
a major university in southern California (N=15) rated the photos on physical
attractiveness, using a scale of 1–5. Of the total pool of photos (N=41), 63%
received an average rating of ‘3’. The final pool of photos (n=34) from which
we constructed our stimulus materials all received mean ratings ranging between 3
and 4.
Participants were asked to select the actual student just described in the sce-
nario, who attended another school, from the set of available photo choices. The
adolescents privately recorded the number of the photograph that they felt best
matched the scenario, using a separate page for each scenario. The entire procedure
lasted about 20 min.
2.2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
2.2.1. Analysis Strategy
Our goal was to determine whether male and female African–American respond-
ents disproportionately chose photos of peers who were the same ethnicity and
gender or who were different. In the first stage of the analysis, we tested overall
differences in photo choice separately for each gender with one-way chi-square
tests to determine if some photo types were more likely than others to be selected
(e.g., African–American female, Latino male). If significant, the chi-square was
then followed by tests of significant differences between observed and expected

208 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
cell frequencies, using the z-statistic. Positive zscores indicate more observed
than expected frequencies – that is, over-selecting a particular photo type relative
to expected frequencies if choices were equally distributed among all photo types.
Negative zscores document fewer observed than expected frequencies (i.e., under-
selecting).
We conducted four preliminary analyses to assess the degree of association
between the two high achievement striving and the two low achievement striv-
ing scenarios (proximal and distal), separately for each gender. This was done to
determine if it would be appropriate to combine responses and conduct a single
analysis for high achievement striving and another for low achievement striving.
We computed the λstatistic of association (Goodman & Kruskal, 1954), which
specifies the proportional reduction in error that is achieved when predicting the
values of a variable by taking into consideration the values of a second variable.
Values for λrange between 1 and 0. If λis 1, the values of one variable perfectly
predict the values of the second (or a 100% reduction in error) ; a λof 0 indic-
ates that values of one variable have no bearing on specifying the values of the
second (or a 0% reduction in error). λin the four scenario analyses, using the
proximal scenario to predict categories of the distal scenario, ranged from .18 to
.33, indicating 18 to 33% reduction in error (all p’s <.10). As this represents rea-
sonable consistency across story types, we present scenario responses aggregated
by story type and analyzed separately within gender, beginning with high achieve-
ment scenarios.
2.2.2. High Achievement Scenarios
The top two panels of Figure 1 show the percentage choice of each photo type for
the combined high achievement scenarios. Choices of African–American female
respondents are displayed in the upper left panel, and choices of African–American
male respondents are in the upper right panel. In each panel, the bars represent the
photos as a function of the ethnicity of the pictured student. Black bars depict
African–American photos, diagonal bars represent Latino photos, and white bars
represent White photos. Bars on the left in each panel represent photos of females;
bars on the right represent photos of males.
For both male and female respondents, the chi-square test was significant, in-
dicating differential selection across the six photo types: for female respondents,
χ2(5) =50.83, p<.001; and for male respondents, χ2(5) =74.54, p<.001.
Female respondents (Figure 1, left upper panel) more frequently selected photos
of girls than of boys (93% v.s. 7% of choices) to describe someone who tries hard
in school. The observed choice of photos of Anglo girls significantly exceeded
frequencies that would be expected if choices were equally distributed across all
photos: z=4.93, p<.001. The zscores for selections of boys’ photos were all
negative and significant, revealing that girls significantly under-selected photos of
African–American (z=−2.79, p<.01), Latino (z=−2.79, p<.01), and Anglo
boys (z=−2.47 p<.05), relative to expected cell counts.

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 209
Figure 1. Percent of photo choice as a function of gender and ethnicity of student photographs
in high and low achievement scenarios: Study 1 (African–American adolescents).
Similar to female respondents, male respondents (right upper panel) more fre-
quently selected photos of girls than of boys to match descriptions of academically
engaged students (91% v.s. 9%). More than half of these choices went to African–
American girls; only the selection of African–American girls significantly exceeded
frequencies expected if choices were equally distributed across all photos: z=6.93,

210 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
p<.001. As well, like female respondents, male respondents significantly under-
selected boys as academically engaged in all ethnic groups (z=−2.11, −3.32, and
−2.71, p<.05 for African–American, Latino, and Anglo males, respectively).
2.2.3. Low Achievement Scenarios
The bottom two panels of Figure 1 show the photo choice data for low achievement
striving scenarios. Significant differences in photo selections were again evident
for both female, χ2(5) =47.93 and male, χ2(5) =50.00 (both psp<.001) re-
spondents. But for this scenario, participants preferred boys’ rather than girls’
photos.
For female respondents (left lower panel), the significant chi-square was due to
the over-selection of photos of Latino boys as an academically disengaged student:
z=6.22, p<.001. A full 50% of female respondents’ choices were photos of
Latino boys; the rates of selecting photos of African–American and Anglo boys
were substantially less and did not differ from expected frequencies. The percent-
age choice of all photos of females was small; however, only photos of Anglo
females were significantly under-selected: z=−2.14, p<.05.
Similarly for male respondents (right lower panel), the preferred choices were
photos of Latino, followed by African–American and Anglo boys. These percent-
ages revealed over-selection of photos of Latinos (z=4.82, p<.001) and African–
Americans (z=2.71, p<.01) as academically disengaged, but not photos of Anglo
boys (z<1). Finally, only 13% of the total choices went to photos of girls, who
were under-selected in all three ethnic groups (z=−2.41, −3.02, and −2.11,
p<.05 for photos of African–American, Latina, and Anglo girls, respectively).
2.2.4. Discussion
These data provide partial support for our hypotheses based on the findings of
Graham et al. (1998) and call into question predictions derived from social identity
theory. As expected, high achievement strivings overall were much more associ-
ated with girls than with boys. Additionally, we documented that these adolescents
selected photos of African–Americans for low rather than high achievement striv-
ings. However, this effect was evident only for photos of boys, thus providing
only mixed support for the idea that African–American youth do not associate
achievement strivings with members of their ethnic group. Rather, we found a more
complex interaction with gender, indicating that school disengagement was more
associated with photos of ethnic minority boys. Female respondents strongly over-
selected Latinos, and male respondents over-selected both Latino and Black boys.
These findings are quite consistent with cultural stereotypes of ethnic minority
boys.
These findings do not support in-group favoritism given that photos of Anglo
girls in particular were over-selected by our female respondents for scenarios of
high achievement strivings and under-selected for low achievement scenarios. As
well, male respondents over-selected photos of African–American boys for scen-

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 211
arios of low achievement striving. The only evidence of out-group derogation can
be found in the selection pattern for photos of Latinos; our respondents over-
selected these photos given low achievement striving scenarios and under-selected
photos of Latinos given high achievement scenarios. However, these results were
true only for photos of boys; thus the data again are more aligned with cultural
stereotype effects.
Our findings are consistent not only with the negative stereotypes of ethnic
minority males but also with important features of students’ experiences at school.
Females consistently complete more years of secondary school than males – not
just in the United States (US Census Bureau, 1996) but throughout the western
industrialized world (Griffin, 2001). Further, teachers are typically female, 73%
overall and 89% at the elementary level in the United States (NCES, 1997), provid-
ing greater numbers of feminine role models for school achievement. Given these
mutually reinforcing pieces of social information, it is perhaps not surprising that
our participants more often selected females rather than males for scenarios of high
levels of achievement striving.
However, these data offer as many questions as answers. Our sample was lim-
ited to a single school in an ethnically homogeneous neighborhood. Thus, we were
unable to examine the achievement-related perceptions of African–American youth
in more ethnically diverse settings. As well, our sample did not allow us to exam-
ine stereotypes about achievement striving among other ethnic minority students
and majority group students. We wanted to fill a gaping void in the literature by
examining the self-stereotypes of other ethnic minorities, and we wondered how
prevalent these strong gender effects on perceptions of achievement striving might
be among youth of other ethnicities. To answer these questions, we replicated our
research at two ethnically diverse schools located in highly diverse neighborhoods
and included participants from the three ethnic backgrounds represented in the
photos.
3. Study 2
3.1. METHOD
3.1.1. Participants
Participants (N=197) were African–American, Latino, and Anglo adolescents
enrolled in the seventh and eighth grades in two urban public middle schools in
southern California. Neither of the two schools had served as the site for the pre-
vious study. School 1 enrolled students from a broad range of ethnic backgrounds
(48% Latino, 36% African–American, 12% Anglo, and 4% Asian). Our recruited
sample consisted of 41% African–American, 36% Latino, and 23% Anglo adoles-
cents. School 2 included primarily Anglos (51%) and Latinos (41%) and a small
proportion of African–Americans (8%). Our sample at that site contained 37%
each of Anglo and Latino adolescents and 26% African–Americans. Students were
drawn in comparable numbers from the two sites (n’s =95 and 102, respectively),

212 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
and the gender distribution across the two sites was approximately equal (44%
male and 56% female). Overall, the adolescents at School 1 were significantly
older than those at School 2 (13.7 v.s. 12.9) (F[1,195] =71.50, p<.001); however,
there were no systematic age differences by gender or ethnicity within each school.
Based on indicators similar to those used in Study 1, adolescents attending both
schools represented a range of middle to low SES.
Participants were again stratified by GPA to ensure a representative sample
across academic achievement levels, using the same selection criteria employed
in Study 1. The resulting sample was 39% high achievers, 35% medium achievers,
and 26% low achievers, drawn equally from each site and from each ethnic group.
All adolescents were fully fluent in English.
3.1.2. Procedures
The photo stimuli and the scenarios related to achievement were the same as those
used in Study 1. As well, all procedures, including the pairing of photo set with
scenario, were identical to those employed in Study 1. Data were collected by two
female experimenters – one African–American and one Anglo.
3.2. RESULTS
We again conducted preliminary analyses separately for each ethnic-gender group
of participants to assess the degree of association between responses within the
two story types (i.e., high or low achievement striving). Twelve (two for each of
six participant groups) λstatistics of association (Goodman & Kruskal, 1954) were
generated; values ranged from .10 to .25 (10–25% reduction in error). Thus, we
again aggregated responses across high achievement striving scenarios as well as
across low achievement striving scenarios. Additional preliminary analyses of the
full sample using logit log-linear techniques (Knoke & Burke, 1980) assessed pos-
sible differences in photo choice by school. Tests of the interactions of photo choice
with the independent variables (gender, ethnicity, and school) revealed that none of
the three-way interactions involving school (i.e., photo choice ×school ×gender
and photo choice ×school ×ethnicity) significantly enhanced the fit of the log-
linear model to the data. In addition, tests of all three-way effects for each scenario
type, using the L2statistic, were not significant (all p’s >.05). Thus, we collapsed
the data across school.
3.2.1. High Achievement Scenarios
Figure 2 shows the photo choices for the combined high achievement scenarios.
The top three panels display the data for female respondents in each of the three
ethnic groups, and the bottom three panels show the choices of male respondents in
each of the three ethnic groups. As in Study 1, the bars represent percentage choice
as a function of gender and ethnicity of the selected photo.
All of the chi-square tests were significant, largely replicating the gender pref-
erences that were documented in Study 1 (all χ2values greater than 40.0, df =5,

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 213
Figure 2. Percent of photo choice as a function of gender and ethnicity of student photographs in high achievement scenarios: Study 2 (multi-ethnic
adolescents).

214 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
p<.001). Female and male respondents across the three ethnic groups more fre-
quently selected photos of girls than of boys (85% v.s. 15%) to match descriptions
of academically engaged students.
Next we examined patterns of photo choice within each of the six ethnic-gender
groups of respondents to explore in-group and out-group biases. We turn first to fe-
male respondents in the upper three panels of Figure 2. African–American females
(left upper panel) selected photos of African–American, Latina, and Anglo girls at
roughly equal rates. However, only their selection of photos of African–American
and Anglo girls significantly exceeded expected frequencies (respectively, z=3.61
and 3.87, p<.01). Selections of photos of African–American and Latino but not
Anglo boys were significantly below expected frequencies (respectively, z=−3.52
and −3.52, p<.01).
In contrast, Latina respondents (middle upper panel) showed a preference for
photos of Anglo rather than Latina or African–American girls. Only choices of
Anglo girls’ photos were significantly greater than expected (z=5.93, p<.001).
Again, selection of photos of ethnic minority but not Anglo boys was significantly
below expected frequencies (z=−3.38 and −3.38, p<.01 for African–American
and Latino boys respectively).
Finally, Anglo female respondents (right upper panel) displayed a preference
only for Anglo girls’ photos. Again, only choices for Anglo girls’ photos exceeded
the expected cell frequencies: z=5.13, p<.001. Following the pattern of our
other females, selections of photos of ethnic minority but not Anglo boys were
again significantly below expected frequencies (z=−2.40 and −2.73, p<.05 for
African–American and Latino boys, respectively).
For male respondents, we turn to the lower three panels of Figure 2. All males
favored girls’ photos for high achievement striving, in a manner similar to female
respondents. African–American males (left lower panel) over-selected photos of
girls within their own group (z=4.97, p<.001), and significantly under-selected
Latinos (z=4.97, p<.001), similar to results from Study 1. Latino respondents
(middle lower panel) showed a clear preference for photos of Anglo girls (z=7.75,
p<.001), and significantly under-selected ethnic minority boys but not Anglo
boys (z=−3.06 and −2.73, p<.01 for photos of Latino and African–American
boys, respectively). Anglo males (right lower panel) were also consistent with
their female counterparts in over-selecting only photos of Anglo girls (z=5.00,
p<.001) and under-selecting only ethnic minority boys’ photos (z=−3.27 and
−2.65, p<.01, African–American and Latino photos, respectively).
3.2.2. Low Achievement Scenarios
The low achievement scenario data are shown in Figure 3, and these findings also
largely replicate the general pattern found in Study 1 (all chi-square tests greater
than 32.0, p<.001). Both female and male respondents of all three ethnic groups
overwhelmingly selected male photos as descriptive of someone who exerts little
effort in school (86% v.s. 14%).

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 215
Figure 3. Percent of photo choice as a function of gender and ethnicity of student photographs in low achievement scenarios: Study 2 (multi-ethnic
adolescents).

216 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
The top three panels of Figure 3 reveal that female respondents of all three eth-
nic groups most frequently selected African–American and Latino male photos as
descriptive of the unengaged student. Each ethnic group of female respondents sig-
nificantly over-selected photos of African–American and Latino boys (all zscores
greater than 2.83). African–American females also significantly under-selected
photos of Anglo boys (z=−2.20, p<.05).
There was a similar preference for minority boys’ photos in the data from male
respondents (bottom three panels), although the data were more complex in certain
ways. African–American males (left lower panel) chose other African–American
boys’ and Latino boys’ photos more than Anglo boys’ photos, but only Latino
choices significantly exceeded expected frequencies: z=4.19, p<.01. Latino male
respondents (middle lower panel) significantly over-selected only boys’ photos of
their own ethnic group as academically disengaged (z=6.11, p<.001) with a
full 50% of total selections. Similarly, Anglo males (right lower panel) strongly
preferred Latino (z=8.68, p<.001) photos. Thus, for all three groups of male
respondents, being a male and a Latino was most associated with low achievement
strivings.
In sum, the gender effects of Study 1 with an African–American sample were
replicated in Study 2 with a multiethnic sample recruited from multiethnic schools.
Behavior consistent with achievement striving was associated with being an adoles-
cent girl and behavior consistent with an absence of striving was linked to being an
adolescent boy. Furthermore, minority boys, particularly Latinos, were overwhelm-
ingly selected by everyone, including Latinos themselves, for low achievement
striving scenarios.
4. General discussion
Is there evidence of in-group favoritism and out-group derogation in these data,
as predicted by social identity theory? Our results suggest answers that differ for
different ethnic groups. Overall, African–American males preferred same-ethnicity
girls’ photos to match the high achievement scenarios, but African–American fe-
males did not. These female respondents preferred same ethnicity boys’ photos
for low achievement scenarios, but male respondents preferred Latino photos for
low achievement scenarios. All Latinos significantly over-selected Anglo girls’
photos for high achievement and Latino boys’ photos for low achievement scenar-
ios. Anglo girls and boys preferred photos from their own ethnic group for high
achievement and Latino photos for low achievement scenarios. Thus, only Anglo
respondents displayed in-group favoritism; African–Americans displayed a bias
toward only females of their ethnic group.
Concerning out-group derogation, all participant groups preferred ethnic minor-
ity boys but not girls, for low achievement scenarios. Latino participants displayed
a bias against their in-group, a pattern not at all consistent with social identity
theory. Thus, both studies demonstrate a similar relationship between perceived

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 217
achievement striving, ethnicity, and gender that is inconsistent with social identity
theory, except in the case of Anglo participants. Given the diverse samples and
the absence of any individuating information in the picture stimuli, we believe that
our findings capture culturally shared stereotypes of achievement, ethnicity, and
gender.
4.1. THE CONSEQUENCES OF NEGATIVE CULTURAL STEREOTYPES
A notable difference in students’ selection preferences in Study 2 was the rate at
which some males selected photos of Anglo boys for scenarios of high achieve-
ment striving. Anglo and Latino males in Study 2 selected photos of Anglo boys
at rates similar to those for minority girls. This finding is contrary to Study 1,
where African–American respondents’ selection rates for photos of Anglo and
minority males were equally low for scenarios of high achievement (see top pan-
els of Figure 1). Interestingly, this effect in Study 2 was the strongest for Anglo
males themselves, suggesting that among male adolescents, Anglos may be more
likely than African–Americans or Latinos to identify achievement strivings as more
typical of their own ethnic/gender group. This response is highly consistent with
cultural stereotypes of Anglo males as achievers and leaders.
A troubling similarity in adolescents’ selection preferences in the two studies
was the high selection rate for photos of Latinos for low achievement scenarios
and the low selection rate for ethnic minority males overall for high achieve-
ment scenarios. Study 2 included approximately one-third Latino participants (33%
of the males, 36% of the females), and these students apparently agree with the
perception that achievement strivings are not typical of male members of their
ethnic group. Recall that African–Americans displayed a similarly gendered pat-
tern of photo choices in Study 1. Consistent with the pervasive negative cultural
stereotypes of ethnic minority boys, our ethnic minority participants saw academic
engagement as typical of their own females far more often than their males. In con-
trast, gender differences were least pronounced for Anglo adolescents, as described
above.
Cultural stereotypes that portray ethnic minority boys as intellectually incom-
petent and socially belligerent (Irvine, 1990; Ford, 1993; Steele, 1997) are widely
known to their targets (Brown, 1995) and are likely to influence targets’ behavior
(Steele, 1992). Thus, the debilitating burden of these stereotypes may partially ex-
plain minority students’ underachievement, particularly for ethnic minority boys.
In general, throughout the western industrialized world boys tend to be at greater
risk for academic failure and school dropout (Hudley, 1995; Griffin, 2001). Ethnic
minority boys in particular may also be coping with negative stereotypes of their
academic abilities with a process of psychological disengagement (Major et al.,
1998) or disidentification (Steele, 1997). These adolescents may devalue academic
striving and define their self-concepts in a manner that makes the stereotype of
low intelligence less personally relevant. In other words, they may avoid achieve-
ment striving and school engagement to stave off possible confirmation of negative

218 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
stereotypes and to protect their self-esteem (Schmader, Major, & Gramzow, 2001).
The effects of academic disengagement may be more specific to ethnic minority
boys because negative stereotypes of low ability and poor school adjustment more
often reference minority boys than girls.
4.2. ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS
We would be remiss in not acknowledging another widely shared theoretical ex-
planation for minority student underachievement that is also directly related to
social perception. The cultural ecological perspective suggests that each cultural
group in a pluralistic society tends to perceive their identity according to the means
of their initial incorporation into that society (Ogbu, 1978, 1993). Involuntary
minority groups, that is those who have been incorporated into the dominant so-
ciety without their consent (slavery, conquest) (Ogbu, 1992), see the dominant
culture as a tool used against them for the purpose of oppression. As a result,
these groups are likely to engage in cultural inversion, or the tendency to regard
certain behaviors and symbols as characteristic of the dominant group (e.g., aca-
demic motivation, school success) and not appropriate for members of their own
group. From this perspective, working hard for school success may connote for
some minority students that one is ‘acting white’, or supplanting one’s own eth-
nic identity with that of the dominant culture (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Tatum,
1997). Therefore, adolescents of involuntary minority groups may reject achieve-
ment striving and displays of efforts in schools settings to preserve their cultural
identity.
However, a cultural ecological explanation that addresses the ethnic group as
a whole is unable to explain the marked gender differences we found in photo
selections. Using this framework, all members of involuntary minorities, both boys
and girls, should be equally likely to perceive achievement striving as inappropri-
ate for their own group. Our data, consistent with recent research conducted with
Asians (Goto, 1997) and with ethnic minorities in Europe (Kromhout & Veder,
1996), do not support the theorized typology of minority status. For example,
African–American girls and especially boys readily selected photos of females
from their own ethnic group for scenarios of high achievement striving. Cultural-
ecological theory, among the first to offer a culturally and historically contextu-
alized understanding of minority underachievement, must now use empirical data
to qualitatively differentiate and elaborate its basic theoretical premises. It may
be that incorporating students’ understanding of the social context (e.g., stereo-
type use) in which they must achieve will be an appropriate direction in which to
move.
4.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
Although this study has identified gender as an important moderating variable in
perceptions of minority underachievement, our results should be interpreted with

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 219
caution. We have identified our ethnic minority participants as either African–
American or Latino and classified all of them as relatively low SES. However,
our labels may mask substantial within-group heterogeneity. Our methods did not
capture important individual differences in students’ experiences with racism and
discrimination, nor did we have access to family level data on students’ economic
circumstances. We derived ethnic identifications from students’ school records,
which typically offer a forced choice among limited ethnic/racial categories. This
strategy may have minimized our ability to identify students of biracial back-
grounds, for whom issues of ethnicity and identity are relatively unknown (but see
Root, 1996). These limitations underscore the complexities of studying ethnicity
and bias but must not deter us from constructing culturally grounded theory and
methodology.
Although this study focused on stereotypes of ethnic minority males in the
achievement domain, stereotypes of ethnic minority females are no less perni-
cious. For example, there is growing evidence that African–American females are
stereotyped as aggressive and domineering (i.e., lacking in traditional feminine
qualities) and promiscuity and obesity are frequently endorsed stereotypes about
Latinas (e.g., Weitz & Gordon, 1993; Nieman et al., 1994; Landrine, 1999). The
long-term consequences of these negative gendered perceptions for the adjustment
of adolescent girls of color are unknown and remain unaddressed in the social
psychological literature.
4.4. IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE
Cultural stereotypes about ethnic minority males and females may be pervasive,
but they are neither inevitable nor immutable. The interaction of ethnicity and
gender found in our results suggests that, in certain settings, gender may serve as
a protective factor at school for ethnic minority females. Clearly, ethnic minority
males are more likely than females to encounter debilitating stereotypes of their
limited academic abilities and less likely to find role models for high achieve-
ment in schools. Schools should, therefore, create opportunities to highlight the
intellectual achievements of minority males, both among their student bodies and
within the larger society. African–American males in particular have demonstrated
high levels of achievement motivation in specially tailored programs that provide a
curriculum emphasizing the intellectual achievements of African–Americans that
is taught by African–American male teachers (Hudley, 1995, 1997b).
An entire student body might also benefit from specific, school-wide activities.
An oral history project might highlight the contributions of men in an urban com-
munity. Assemblies featuring motivational and career awareness speakers (other
than sports figures and entertainers) might be complemented with opportunities for
more personal interaction with minority male achievers. Negative stereotypes of
ethnic minority men are constantly on display in popular culture, and schools must
actively work to provide alternatives to these damaging messages for the benefit of
all of their students, not just minority males.

220 CYNTHIA HUDLEY AND SUNDRA GRAHAM
4.4.1. Programming to Ameliorate Stereotyping
Individuals can also successfully be trained specifically to avoid the automatic
association of negative stereotypes with particular ethnic groups (Kawakami et al.,
2000). Cooperative learning strategies grounded in social psychological principles,
such as jigsaw learning, emphasize shared responsibility and superordinate goals.
Such teaching techniques have been successful in reducing prejudice and stereo-
types in school settings (see review in Wolfe & Spencer, 1996). Further, many
anti-racism and multicultural education programs in elementary and secondary
schools incorporate specific training to expose the misconceptions inherent in ste-
reotypes and prejudices. These programs share a set of principles that includes
examining both similarities and differences across and within groups, acknow-
ledging the unique differences of each individual, involving members of diverse
backgrounds as equal-status contributors, beginning with children at an early age,
and engaging in systematic and continuous self-reflection (Hawley & Jackson,
1995). Although these programs typically have a broader goal, the elimination of
racism and the celebration of diverse cultures, they will also be useful in rectifying
the use of negative stereotypes.
Finally, work has been done to develop strategies that specifically work to re-
duce the debilitating effects of stereotypes on stereotyped minorities themselves.
Basic research in the laboratory (Steele, 1997; Croizet, Desert, Dutrevis, & Leyens,
2001) suggests that best practices will involve school environments being struc-
tured to reduce the accessibility and the threat of negative stereotypes, given that
situational factors are more easily altered than internal beliefs of both targets and
perpetrators. Therefore, schools should emphasize a student’s identity as an indi-
vidual rather than a member of a stereotyped group, promote caring student-teacher
bonds, provide optimally challenging work rather than remediation, stress the in-
cremental nature of intelligence (Dweck, 1986), and allow students to consistently
and publicly affirm their competence in academic tasks. Such strategies, under
the rubric of ‘wise schooling’ (Steele, 1997), have proven effective with ethnic
minority college freshmen.
As all societies become increasingly multicultural, the need to effectively solve
the puzzle of minority underachievement increases. Societies must construct both
school contexts and cultural contexts that value and affirm the potential of all stu-
dents. In the face of increased global economic pressures and escalating population
shifts, young minority residents represent a constituency whose success is critical
to global stability.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by a University of California Academic Senate
Research Grant to Cynthia Hudley and a National Science Foundation award to
Sandra Graham. Appreciation is extended to the faculty and students who particip-
ated in this study, as well as to research assistants Brenda Britsch, Dan Dimmitt,
and Michelle Ziskind.

STEREOTYPES OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING 221
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