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Do Performance Avoidance Goals Moderate the Effect of Different Types of Stereotype Threat on Women’s Math Performance?
Abstract
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).
... This may reduce their motivation to learn math, leading to decreased academic performance and increased math anxiety. In contrast, fathers generally express the intrinsic value of higher math domains and higher confidence in their math abilities (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ma et al., 2021). Therefore, children gain confidence in their learning math through the words and actions of their fathers daily (Ma et al., 2021) rather than through negative math anxiety and other negative emotions. ...
... In addition, fathers are more likely than mothers to be actively involved in math interactions with their children as playmates. They also tended to emphasize the intrinsic value of math and confidence in learning it (Ma et al., 2021) while minimizing the discussion of negative emotions and gender stereotypes in math (Finnigan & Corker, 2016). This approach aims to assist their children in understanding the value of learning math and internalizing it as an internal motivation to learn and to alleviate their anxieties during problem-solving activities. ...
... These findings support hypothesis three, implying that fathers' positive involvement promotes children's math self-concept and reduces anxiety. Fathers often report higher confidence in their math ability and knowledge (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ma et al., 2021;Spencer et al., 1999); for example, I am good at math (Marsh, 1991). Particularly during the fathers' active involvement process, the child is consistently influenced by their belief in their ability to excel through participation in math activities (Grossmann et al., 2002;Ma et al., 2021). ...
This study explored the potential chain mediating effects of a growth mindset and math self-concept on the relationship between fathers' educational involvement and math anxiety in Chinese elementary school children. A total of 520 Chinese elementary school children completed the Father Educational Involvement Scale, Growth Mindset Scale, Math Self-Concept Scale, and Math Anxiety Scale. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and tests for chain-mediating effects using SPSS 27.0 and the Process Macro program. The results revealed the following: (1) there was a significant correlation between fathers' educational involvement, growth mindset, math self-concept, and math anxiety. (2) Paternal educational involvement can directly affect math anxiety, and it can also affect math anxiety through the mediation of growth mindsets and math self-concept. The chain-mediating effects included three pathways: the mediating role of growth mindset, the mediating role of math self-concept, and the chain-mediating role of growth mindset and math self-concept. These findings enhance our understanding of the relationship between fathers' educational involvement and math anxiety among Chinese elementary school children. They also provided essential practical guidance to alleviate math anxiety. Furthermore, it is important to recognize the significant influence of family education on the growth and development of elementary school children, with a particular emphasis on the positive contributions of fathers in the family.
... Ever since it was identified in a landmark article published by Steele and Aronson, [1] stereotype threat has been a widely accepted phenomenon in social psychology. Although the original research article on stereotype threat had African Americans as its target group, stereotype threat research has expanded to other groups, including females (e.g., [2,3]), Asian Americans (e.g., [4,5]), Hispanic Americans, [6] and others. ...
... Large-scale, preregistered studies of stereotype threat in adolescent female students have failed to detect the presence of stereotype threat in this population. [2,3] Most problematic for the theory is that studies that showed the presence of stereotype threat have not been successfully replicated in studies that closely follow the protocol of an earlier study [2,5,25] (though see [4] for a close replication that did partially support the earlier study's findings). Even under a broad definition of "replication" that includes conceptual and theoretical replications (i.e., testing whether a study's findings apply to a new population or a new setting, without closely adhering to the original study's methodology), only 30-55% of replications could reproduce the findings of an earlier stereotype threat study. ...
... Large-scale, preregistered studies of stereotype threat in adolescent female students have failed to detect the presence of stereotype threat in this population. [2,3] Most problematic for the theory is that studies that showed the presence of stereotype threat have not been successfully replicated in studies that closely follow the protocol of an earlier study [2,5,25] (though see [4] for a close replication that did partially support the earlier study's findings). Even under a broad definition of "replication" that includes conceptual and theoretical replications (i.e., testing whether a study's findings apply to a new population or a new setting, without closely adhering to the original study's methodology), only 30-55% of replications could reproduce the findings of an earlier stereotype threat study. ...
Stereotype threat is a well-known construct in psychology wherein individuals who belong to a negatively stereotyped demographic group underperform on cognitive or academic tasks due to the detrimental effects of a stereotype. Many psychologists have suggested that stereotype threat may be one of the reasons that some demographic groups are underrepresented in advanced academic programs and STEM fields. However, others have raised concerns about the quality of the stereotype threat research, suggesting that its apparent effects are inflated and that the phenomenon may be an illusion of questionable research practices and publication bias. The purpose of this proposed meta-analysis is to evaluate the existence of stereotype threat by (1) identifying the average effect size of stereotype threat studies in different types of studies, (2), investigating whether publication bias and p-hacking are present in the empirical research on stereotype threat, (3) testing for the influence of theoretical and methodological moderators, (4) assessing the overall quality of the research on stereotype threat, (5) and identifying the average effect in the methodologically strongest studies. This meta-analysis will be limited to studies that report data from African Americans because this population is a theoretically important group in stereotype threat research, and the size of score gaps between the African American and non-stereotyped populations in the United States should make the stereotype threat effect easiest to detect.
... Questions of replicability have been raised about a variety of phenomenon in psychology, including stereotype threat (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ganley, Mingle, Ryan, Ryan, Vasilyeva, & Perry, 2013) and threat-reducing interventions (Hanselman, Rozek, Grigg, & Borman, 2017;Protzko & Aronson, 2016). For example, Finnigan and Corker (2016) recently attempted a largescale replication of Chalabaev, Major, Sarrazin, and Curry's (2012), a paper that argued that inducing both stereotype threat and a performance-avoidance goal should increase women's performance and challenge appraisals, which should reduce the effects of stereotype threat for women. ...
... Questions of replicability have been raised about a variety of phenomenon in psychology, including stereotype threat (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ganley, Mingle, Ryan, Ryan, Vasilyeva, & Perry, 2013) and threat-reducing interventions (Hanselman, Rozek, Grigg, & Borman, 2017;Protzko & Aronson, 2016). For example, Finnigan and Corker (2016) recently attempted a largescale replication of Chalabaev, Major, Sarrazin, and Curry's (2012), a paper that argued that inducing both stereotype threat and a performance-avoidance goal should increase women's performance and challenge appraisals, which should reduce the effects of stereotype threat for women. Not only did Finnigan and Corker (2016) fail to replicate Chalabaev and colleagues' (2012) findings, they were also unable to reproduce the standard gender stereotype threat effect in their large sample. ...
... For example, Finnigan and Corker (2016) recently attempted a largescale replication of Chalabaev, Major, Sarrazin, and Curry's (2012), a paper that argued that inducing both stereotype threat and a performance-avoidance goal should increase women's performance and challenge appraisals, which should reduce the effects of stereotype threat for women. Not only did Finnigan and Corker (2016) fail to replicate Chalabaev and colleagues' (2012) findings, they were also unable to reproduce the standard gender stereotype threat effect in their large sample. As a result, they concluded that the effect of stereotype threat may be weaker than commonly thought (Finnigan & Corker, 2016). ...
Stereotype threat – the social psychological threat that arises when one is in a situation or doing something for which a negative stereotype about one’s group applies (Steele, 1997) – has been broadly studied throughout the social sciences over the past two decades (for reviews, see Lewis & Sekaquaptewa, 2016; Steele, 2010). It is a theory that is purported to explain variance in disparities between those who are negatively stereotyped in certain domains (e.g. racial-ethnic minorities in academics, women in mathematics) and those who are not (e.g. White men in academics; Steele, 2010). Studies on stereotype threat have been conducted hundreds of times, and have yielded mixed findings. Early studies tended to yield positive findings (for meta-analytic review, see Nguyen & Ryan, 2008) whereas more recent reanalysis (Zigerell, 2017) and replication attempts (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016) have failed to replicate findings. These conflicting accounts call into question the robustness of the paradigm, and raise two possibilities in our minds: either the strength of the evidence was weak to begin with, or something has changed over time to reduce the likelihood of finding stereotype threat effects. We test these possibilities in a pre-registered cross-temporal meta-analysis using multiple meta-analytic techniques.
... For example, Finnigan and Corker (2016) attempted to replicate Spencer et al.'s (1999) classic study on stereotype threat. In a pre-registered, highly powered study, Finnigan and Corker failed to obtain a signi cant main effect for stereotype threat, or any interaction effect found in the original work. ...
... Although this is not a comprehensive review of unjusti ed canonization, some other examples consistent with left narratives include stereotype inaccuracy (Jussim et al., 2009(Jussim et al., , 2016, stereotype threat (Finnigan & Corker, 2016), social priming (Doyen et al., 2012), the power of stereotype and expectancy biases (Jussim, 2012), the power of microaggressions (Lilienfeld, 2017), the supposedly trivial size of most gender differences (Del Guidice et al., 2012), the supposed nonexistence of leftwing authoritarianism in the democratic West (Conway et al., 2018;Costello et al., 2021), and the supposedly greater propensity of conservatives to engage in biased processing of social and political information (Ditto et al., 2019). Clark and Winegard (2020) recently hypothesized that equalitarian-friendly ndings would be overrepresented among psychology's replication failures of highly touted studies. ...
This chapter is a critical, theoretical, and empirical review of political bias. Herein it roundly criticizes the manner in which the social sciences have allowed political biases to undercut the validity and credibility of their scholarship. It is a theoretical review because the chapter presents two complementary and synergistic models of academic bias (one about its manifestations, the other about its processes). It is empirical because the chapter then uses those models to review the now vast evidentiary case for political bias, and because this chapter presents new data providing further evidence of such biases. This chapter also highlights when proposed manifestations of political bias are plausible but not yet demonstrated – thereby also identifying potential directions for future empirical research.
... Par ailleurs, nous n'avons pas non plus obtenu de preuves solides des effets de menace du stéréotype sur la performance, effet classique trouvé à de nombreuses reprises dans la littérature (pour des méta-analyses voir Nguyen & Ryan, 2008 ;Pennington et al., 2016). Toutefois, ce dernier résultat est cohérent avec les difficultés de réplications parfois rencontrées dans la littérature (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016 ;Pennington et al., 2018 ;Pennington et al., 2019) mais également avec les méta-analyses plus récentes indiquant que l'effet de menace du stéréotype a pu être surestimé (e.g., Zigerell, 2017). Steele (1997) décrit la menace du stéréotype comme une menace situationnelle qui peut affecter tout individu membre d'un groupe pour lequel il existe un stéréotype négatif applicable dans une situation donnée. ...
... Ainsi, aux yeux des participantes, la tâche pouvait être considérée comme diagnostique du domaine négativement stéréotypé mais les contrôles de manipulations ne semblent pas apporter de fortes données dans ce sens. semblables (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016 ;Flore, Mulder, & Wicherts ;Ganley et al., 2013 ;Pennington et al., 2018 ;Pennington et al., 2019). En outre, une méta-analyse récente (Zigerell, 2017) suggère que les effets de menace du stéréotype pourraient être bien moins importants que ceux rapportés par Nguyen et Ryan (2008), voire inexistants. ...
Tous les groupes sociaux font face à des stéréotypes négatifs à leur encontre. Ces stéréotypes peuvent parfois représenter un poids pour les individus qui en sont la cible tel que proposé par la théorie de la menace du stéréotype. La menace du stéréotype correspond à la crainte d’être jugé en accord avec un stéréotype négatif associé à son groupe ou encore de le confirmer par son comportement. De nombreuses recherches se sont portées sur les conséquences de la menace du stéréotype. Toutefois, ces dernières portent majoritairement sur les conséquences en termes de performances cognitives. Dans cette thèse, nous faisons l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’agression constitue également une conséquence de la menace du stéréotype. À travers une série d’études, nous avons étudié l’agression comme conséquence de la menace du stéréotype. Ces études ont été menées sur différentes populations afin de déterminer si l’agression était observable chez l’ensemble des individus ou chez les individus appartenant à des groupes stéréotypés comme agressifs. Au cours de ce travail, nous avons aussi exploré le rôle potentiel de mécanismes cognitifs (i.e., accessibilité des pensées hostiles, contrôle de soi) et émotionnels (i.e., colère) dans le lien entre menace du stéréotype et agression. Dans leur ensemble, les résultats ne nous permettent pas de valider de manière consistante notre hypothèse de départ. Toutefois, la prise en compte de la multiplicité des menaces du stéréotype (i.e., la menace est-elle dirigée vers soi ou vers le groupe ?) semble être une piste prometteuse à explorer. Plus largement, nous discutons la nécessité de prendre en compte non seulement la multiplicité des menaces du stéréotype mais également celle des groupes stigmatisés et le contexte sociétal dans lequel ils s’inscrivent.
... For example, Finnigan and Corker (2016) attempted to replicate Spencer et al.'s (1999) classic study on stereotype threat. In a pre-registered, highly powered study, Finnigan and Corker failed to obtain a signi cant main effect for stereotype threat, or any interaction effect found in the original work. ...
... Although this is not a comprehensive review of unjusti ed canonization, some other examples consistent with left narratives include stereotype inaccuracy (Jussim et al., 2009(Jussim et al., , 2016, stereotype threat (Finnigan & Corker, 2016), social priming (Doyen et al., 2012), the power of stereotype and expectancy biases (Jussim, 2012), the power of microaggressions (Lilienfeld, 2017), the supposedly trivial size of most gender differences (Del Guidice et al., 2012), the supposed nonexistence of leftwing authoritarianism in the democratic West (Conway et al., 2018;Costello et al., 2021), and the supposedly greater propensity of conservatives to engage in biased processing of social and political information (Ditto et al., 2019). Clark and Winegard (2020) recently hypothesized that equalitarian-friendly ndings would be overrepresented among psychology's replication failures of highly touted studies. ...
This chapter is a critical, theoretical, and empirical review of political bias. It is “critical” in that it roundly criticizes the manner in which the social sciences have allowed political biases to undercut the validity and credibility of their scholarship. It is a theoretical review because the chapter presents two complementary and synergistic models of academic bias (one about its manifestations, the other about its processes). It is empirical because the chapter then uses those models to review the now vast evidentiary case for political bias, and because this chapter presents new data providing further evidence of such biases. This chapter also highlights when proposed manifestations of political bias are plausible but not yet demonstrated – thereby also identifying potential directions for future empirical research.
... While exact replications of stereotype threat studies remain rare (see Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Gibson et al., 2014;and Moon & Roeder, 2014, for exceptions), it is apparent that stereotype threat research shares many of characteristics found in research that does not replicate, including small sample sizes, high researcher flexibility in creating studies and analyzing data, and strong social incentives to find statistically significant effects (Warne, 2020). ...
... However, stereotype threat adherents should be warned: so far, pre-registered studies have not supported the theory. Finnigan & Corker's (2016) pre-registered replication of an earlier study showed no evidence for stereotype in females, as did Flore et al.'s (2018) pre-registered study with the largest sample size ever for an experimental study on the topic (n = 1,036 female teenagers) and two replications of a study of stereotype effects in Asian females (Gibson et al., 2014;Moon & Roeder, 2014). The null effects shown in pre-registered studies, including replications, indicate that there is no strong evidence for the existence of gender stereotype threat effects. ...
Recently, Picho-Kiroga (2021) published a meta-analysis on the effect of stereotype threat on females. Their conclusion was that the average effect size for stereotype threat studies was d = .28, but that effects are overstated because the majority of studies on stereotype threat in females include methodological characteristics that inflate the apparent effect size. In this response, I show that Picho-Kiroga et al. (2021) committed fundamental errors in their meta-analysis that undermine confidence in the article and warrant major corrections. But even if the data were not flawed, the conclusion that Picho-Kiroga et al. (2021) should have reached is that their results are most consistent with a population effect size of zero. There is no compelling evidence that stereotype threat is a real phenomenon in females.
... In recent years, there have been concerns of reported publication bias that pollutes the stereotype threat literature (Flore & Wicherts, 2015;Zigerell, 2017), such that only positive effects in support of the stereotype threat effect are published, and null effects are relegated to the "file drawer". These concerns have been amplified given the recent reappraisal of stereotype threat theory in relation to the replication crisis (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Forscher et al., 2019;Ganley et al., 2013;Jurs et al., 2019;Pennington et al., 2019), with some researchers finding null effects for replication attempts of classic stereotype threat studies (Ganley et al., 2013;Stoet & Geary, 2012). ...
... As Lewis and Michalak (2019) note, many of the recent failed replications in stereotype threat work have focused specifically on the gender-math performance effect (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ganley et al., 2013;Stoet & Geary, 2012). In response to this, Lewis and Michalak (2019) suggest that stereotype threat effects may be difficult to replicate in modern times due to the dissipation of pervasive negative stereotypes about women's math abilities in comparison to men. ...
Throughout pregnancy and into the immediate postpartum period, women are generally perceived to be incompetent, stressed, and forgetful. However, the neuropsychological “baby brain” literature remains unclear and contradictory. Across two studies, we provide the first experimental tests of whether perceived cognitive impairment in pregnancy can be explained by stereotype threat theory, which proposes that awareness of negative stereotypes about one’s ingroup can harm performance. In Study 1 (N = 364), we tested stereotype threat effects in a 2 (stereotype threat versus no threat) × 3 (pregnant women versus new mothers versus never-pregnant female control) design. We observed a main effect of group on memory performance (pregnant women and new mothers performed worse than controls), but no other main or interactive effects. Study 2 (N = 409) aimed to extend these research questions with mathematics ability, memory, and attention as the dependent variables. Again, we found that a stereotype threat manipulation did not impair pregnant women and new mothers’ cognitive performance, nor was there any interactive effects. Groups also did not differ in their performance. We discuss these results in the context of stereotype threat mechanisms, calling into question whether a stereotype threat paradigm can be applied effectively to pregnancy-related stereotypes. This work has implications for the advancement of stereotype threat as a theory and contributes to the reappraisal of the utility of stereotype threat as a way of understanding how stereotypes affect performance.
... Second, fathers often report higher self-concepts of mathematics ability and more intrinsic value of the domain of mathematics (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Spencer et al., 1999). Research has supported the negative gender stereotype, i.e., women have weaker math abilities, and gender differences in the emotions they experience in mathematics (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Luong & Knobloch-Westerwick, 2017;Spencer et al., 1999). ...
... Second, fathers often report higher self-concepts of mathematics ability and more intrinsic value of the domain of mathematics (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Spencer et al., 1999). Research has supported the negative gender stereotype, i.e., women have weaker math abilities, and gender differences in the emotions they experience in mathematics (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Luong & Knobloch-Westerwick, 2017;Spencer et al., 1999). Additionally, studies have shown that females reported more maladaptive emotions, such as anxiety, shame, and hopelessness, and less enjoyment (Frenzel et al., 2007;Goetz et al., 2013). ...
Math anxiety is highly prevalent and thus has received considerable attention. However, only a few cross-sectional studies have examined the influence of parent–child relationships on math anxiety. We conducted a longitudinal study to test the effect of father–child and mother–child relationships on the math anxiety of children. Our sample comprised 287 elementary students who reported their father–child relationship, mother–child relationship, and math anxiety at two time points 1 year apart. Family cohesion was used as the indicator of the parent–child relationship. Cross-lagged models indicated that the father–child relationship, rather than the mother–child relationship, predicted the math anxiety of children, even after controlling for the gender of children, age of children, learning anxiety of children, social anxiety of children, learning motivation of children, math performance of children and math anxiety of parents. This study highlights the importance of the father–child relationship in the math anxiety of children.
... Another norm has involved treating publication of statistically significant results as synonymous with establishing a scientific fact (Gelman, 2016). Of course, the recent history of failed replications (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Open Science Collaboration, 2015;Yap et al., 2017) shows that, even when something is published, and based on a "statistically significant" finding, the finding may or may not be replicable or valid. What's worse, even if the finding is valid, the conclusions or interpretations may not be (Jussim et al., 2016). ...
... The extent to which these practices have produced invalid or overstated conclusions (Path i) is unclear, in part, because psychological scientists do not agree on what constitutes successful versus failed replications (compare Gilbert, King, Pettigrew, & Wilson, 2016to Open Science Collaboration, 2015. Nonetheless, the mounting number of close pre-registered replications that find weak or no evidence of the original phenomenon muddies the credibility of the entire field (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Yap et al., 2017). 2 ...
A crescendo of incidents have raised concerns about whether scientific practices in psychology may be suboptimal, sometimes leading to the publication, dissemination, and application of unreliable or misinterpreted findings. Psychology has been a leader in identifying possibly suboptimal practices and proposing reforms that might enhance the efficiency of the scientific process and the publication of robust evidence and interpretations. To help shape future efforts, this paper offers a model of the psychological and socio-structural forces and processes that may influence scientists' practices. The model identifies practices targeted by interventions and reforms, and which practices remain unaddressed. The model also suggests directions for empirical research to assess how best to enhance the effectiveness of psychological inquiry.
... Early research has generally supported the existence of stereotype threat effect in various domains (Nguyen & Ryan, 2008;Spencer et al., 2016). More recently, however, the failure to replicate the findings of influential studies (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Pennington et al., 2019) as well as low average effect sizes in certain domains (Shewach et al., 2019) led to severe skepticism about the existence of stereotype threat effects. Nevertheless, the majority of failed replication studies as well as meta-analyses have focused on the domain of gender stereotypes in test performance (e.g., math, cognitive ability), an area that stereotypes might be dissipating over time (Lewis Jr. & Michalak, 2019). ...
This paper aims to investigate the role of stereotype threat and the moderating role of gender stigma consciousness on women’s leadership aspiration, leadership career goal, social self-esteem, and negative affect across two experimental studies in Türkiye. We expected the detrimental effects of streotype threat to be experienced by those with high gender stigma consciousness. The first study, involving 130 female undergraduates (M age = 20.7, SD = 4.4), presented implicit stereotype threat and showed that the threat increased the interest of team membership and women low in stigma consciousness reported higher leadership career goals than those high in stigma consciousness. The second study, conducted with 90 female undergraduates (M age = 20.6, SD = 1.6), presented explicit stereotype threat and showed that the explicit threat had negative effect on leadership aspiration, and women high in stigma consciousness felt more negative affect and less social self-esteem due to threat than those who were low. The present research contributes to the women’s leadership literature by identifying for the first time the role of stigma consciousness in the motivational and affective consequences of stereotype threat.
... Recently, some stereotype threat findings (e.g., effects of negative stereotype awareness on women's math performance) have been called into question due to null results of replication studies (Finnigan and Corker, 2016;Flore et al., 2018). Research on stereotype threat in the domain of religion is still relatively new, and it remains to be seen whether these effects replicate over time. ...
In many Western societies, religious people (particularly Christians) are underrepresented in STEM fields, relative to their numbers in the general population. We review existing literature that supports two broad types of explanations for religious underrepresentation in STEM, focusing primarily on Christians in the US. First, Christianity and science may actually conflict or be perceived by Christians to conflict with one another, which reduces Christians' engagement in STEM fields. Second, science and scientists may be portrayed, and Christians stereotyped, in ways that lead Christians to believe they would not belong in STEM. We argue that it is critical to further investigate these explanations, as doing so will shed light on how to broaden participation and engagement in science among a sizeable chunk of the population. We conclude our review by discussing promising directions for future research and implications for non-Christian religions, as well as in contexts outside the West.
... Rather than being powerful and pervasive, self-fulfilling prophecies are usually weak, fragile, and fleeting (Jussim 2012). Pre-registered tests of gender-based stereotype threat have, so far, all failed (Finnigan and Corker 2016;Flore et al. 2018). Microaggression research is characterized by strong claims but weak evidence (Cantu and Jussim 2021;Lilienfeld 2017). ...
This chapter reviews evidence regarding the radicalization of academia. It is organized into the following major sections: A review of the evidence on the psychology of left-wing extremism and left-wing authoritarianism; a review of selected real-world events emblematic of left-wing extremism and authoritarianism in the American academy; we then review national surveys of Americans and American professors, which show that both the mainstream left and far left are massively overrepresented in the American academy, and this skew seems to be in the process of becoming even more extreme. This is then followed by a review of surveys showing that scholars on the right report far greater experiences of a hostile work environment than do scholars on the left and substantial minorities and sometimes majorities of scholars on the left express willingness to purge and punish their opponents. Evidence provided by surveys of academics also shows that academia is increasingly populated by demographic groups less supportive of free speech and academic freedom. As individuals hostile to free speech and academic freedom ascend into leadership positions in major academic organizations and institutions, they can be expected to implement policies reflecting that hostility. A review of recent developments at major universities, the National Institutes of Health, the apex science journal Nature, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology confirms this expectation. We end by reviewing some of the ways the radicalization of the American academy has produced ideological corrupt and demonstrably invalid scholarship. We end by making some recommendations for reversing these trends but we are not optimistic that any will actually be adopted to any significant degree.
... The initial studies had small enough sample sizes that scientists should have known to consider their findings and claims preliminary rather than definitive. Because of the unreliability of small N studies (Fraley & Vazire, 2014), and the potential for publication biases and unreported flexibility in data analysis (Jussim et al., 2019), no one should be surprised to discover that every preregistered attempt to replicate the effect of stereotype threat on women's performance in math has failed to do so (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Flore et al., 2018). We know of no preregistered published studies on the role of stereotype threat in racial/ethnic differences in achievement, and, as such, any claims about it should be considered unverified. ...
The target article highlights research known to have promoted unjustified politicized claims. It also points out that, although researcher political biases might account for this, there are often alternative explanations. It then discusses areas of research in which those alternative explanations are unlikely, so that the best explanation is political bias. The target article is fundamentally correct. Nonetheless, we argue that political bias is a characteristic of the claims made in research articles rather than primarily a characteristic of scientists. Inasmuch as some claim is not wrong simply by virtue of supporting an ideological narrative, to detect politically biased research, we identify four questions to be answered. Test 0 is necessary but not sufficient to infer political bias. If Test 0 is passed, then at least one of Tests 1, 2, or 3 must also be passed. Test 0: Does the study vindicate some political narrative? Test 1: Did they misinterpret or misrepresent their results in ways that unjustifiably advance a particular politicized narrative? Test 2: Do the authors systematically ignore papers and studies inconsistent with their ideology-affirming conclusions? Test 3: Did they leap to ideology-affirming conclusions based on weak data? We close with recommendations for preventing politically biased conclusions.
... When we ran the study online (during the pandemic) the stereotype threat results were not replicated. This inability to detect stereotype threat effects online is in line with other studies that did not replicate decreased math performance due to stereotype threat online (Finnigan and Corker, 2016;Kahalon et al., 2020). Although the study was bolstered by being preregistered and having a large sample, we did not find the expected buffering effect on stereotype threat (perhaps because there was no threat to buffer-no main effect for threat). ...
Introduction
Activating people’s sense of attachment security can buffer against psychological threats. Here we tested whether security priming can also buffer the adverse effects of stereotype threat among women.
Method
Three studies (a pilot study (N = 79 women, 72 men), a laboratory study; N = 474 women, and an online study; N = 827 women) compared security priming to neutral and positive affect priming.
Results
The pilot study revealed that women exposed to attachment security primes (e.g., the word “love”) had better math performance than women exposed to neutral primes (e.g., “boat”). Men’s math performance did not differ across priming conditions. Study 1 revealed that women showed better math performance in the attachment security priming condition than in the neutral or positive (e.g., “luck”) priming conditions. The effect was observed among women high on math identification. In Study 2, despite an effect of security priming on the manipulation check [higher State Adult Attachment Measure (SAAM) security score], security did not buffer stereotype threat effects.
Discussion
Our findings provide partial support to the idea that security priming (an interpersonal process) can buffer stereotype threat (an intergroup process). Theoretical and practical implications related to attachment security priming and stereotype threat are discussed.
... Given the prominent contribution of stereotype threat, or social identity threat more generally, to the gender disparity in STEM, a large number of replication studies have been conducted to refine the theory and calibrate the magnitude of the effects. According to metaanalyses (Flore & Wicherts, 2015;Nguyen & Ryan, 2008), large and significant findings were concentrated among earlier and small-sample studies, whereas recent reanalysis and replication attempts failed to replicate earlier findings (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ganley et al., 2013;Shewach et al., 2019;Stoet & Geary, 2012;Zigerell, 2017). Notably, many replication attempts do not cast doubt on the existence of the effect per se but provided clarification on the robustness of the phenomenon in different contexts. ...
We studied how gendered beliefs about intellectual abilities transmit through peers and differentially impact girls' academic performance relative to boys'. Study 1 (N = 8,029; 208 classrooms) exploited randomly assigned variation in the proportion of a child's middle school classmates who believe that boys are innately better than girls at learning math. An increase in exposure to peers who report this belief generated losses for girls and gains for boys in math performance. This peer exposure also increased children's likelihood of believing the gender-math stereotype, increased the perceived difficulty of math, and reduced aspirations among girls. Study 2 (N = 547) provided proof of concept that activating a gender-math performance gap among college students reduces women's math performance but not verbal performance. Men's task performance was not affected. Our findings highlight how the prevalence of stereotypical beliefs in one's ambient and peer environment, even when readily contradictable, can shape children's beliefs and academic ability.
... Note that these ability-based stereotypes extend to other domains as well, such as sports ability (e.g.,Fredricks & Eccles, 2005). 3 Some studies have called into question the replicability of early stereotype threat studies (e.g.,Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Ganley et al., 2013).Lewis and Michalak (2019) are conducting a meta-analysis to examine whether stereotype threat effects were initially overestimated or are decreasing over time (presumably due to societal changes in stereotypes or widespread awareness of stereotype threat). ...
Broader, more diverse representation in mass media is frequently imagined as a tool for reduction of harmful stereotypes at scale. Increasingly, entertainment media in the United States feature representations that challenge or counter prevailing stereotypes. However, emergence of a high-choice media environment offers and facilitates the opportunity to be selective about the entertainment one consumes. Using a US sample, we show that entertainment media selection is predicted by preexisting beliefs — greater endorsement of a particular stereotype predicted a decrease in the selection of shows featuring representations challenging that stereotype. Findings indicate that those who could benefit most from these representations are less likely to be exposed to them, undermining the utility of mass media in the widespread reduction of harmful stereotypes.
... There is no significant correlation between parent-child relationship and mathematical anxiety level [19], but the parentchild relationship is significantly negatively correlated with mathematical anxiety level. One reason for this is that fathers are more dominant than mothers in influencing their children's academic or math performance [19], and fathers generally reported higher self-concepts and assessments of their own mathematical abilities, as well as more intrinsic value in the field of mathematics [55],and the positive development of the father-son relationship makes the children feel the importance of mathematics through the father's daily behavior and dialogue, thus reducing the level of mathematics anxiety [56].Another reason is that fathers tend to be more excited, surprised, stimulated and temporarily destabilize their children while encouraging them to take and face risks in a safe environment. This relationship is called the "father-child activation relationship" [57]. ...
Nowadays, mathematics anxiety of adolescents is a common problem in the field of education, but serious mathematics anxiety will have a negative impact on the physical and mental development and academic progress of adolescents . Therefore, this study will analyze and summarize relevant literature on math anxiety, and explore the influencing factors and intervention measures of math anxiety from the aspects of individuals, families and schools. In terms of influencing factors, individuals (gender difference, learning style and personal motivation), families (parent-child relationship and parenting style) and schools (internal school atmosphere and teachers' teaching strategies) will have an impact on math anxiety. Then, this study put forward the corresponding intervention measures for the influencing factors mentioned above. Firstly, in the aspect of individual, cognitive behavioral therapy, intensive breathing training and expressive writing can be used to effectively interfere with teenagers' mathematical anxiety. Secondly, for the math anxiety caused by family reasons, by carrying out math practice activities based on father-son relationship, parents can give their children more full academic support, which can effectively reduce the math anxiety level. Thirdly, from the point of view of schools and teachers, we can effectively intervene the math anxiety level of teenagers by changing the learning environment of students. Finally, the paper also points out the shortcomings and limitations of the existing research, which provides sufficient theoretical support and help for the future comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the overall structure of mathematical anxiety and effective improvement of mathematical anxiety.
... Relevant to the egoism and altruism debate, the claim that deliberate perspective taking of needy others increases empathetic concern has been heavily challenged (McAuliffe et al., 2020), as has bystander apathy, relevant to the bystander effect (Philpot et al., 2020). It is unlikely that stereotype threat and intelligence mindsets, frequent topics in feminist philosophy and social political philosophy, can explain performance outcomes outside of lab contexts after controlling for publication bias (Bahník & Vranka, 2017;Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Flore & Wicherts, 2015;Shewach et al., 2019). Frequent objects of theorizing in philosophy of mind and philosophy of cognitive science, such as ego depletion (Hagger et al., 2016) or backfire effect (Wood & Porter, 2019) fail to replicate. ...
The replication crisis is perceived by many as one of the most significant threats to the reliability of research. Though reporting of the crisis has emphasized social science, all signs indicate that it extends to many other fields. This paper investigates the possibility that the crisis and related challenges to conducting research also extend to philosophy. According to one possibility, philosophy inherits a crisis similar to the one in science because philosophers rely on unreplicated or unreplicable findings from science when conducting philosophical research. According to another possibility, the crisis likely extends to philosophy because philosophers engage in similar research practices and face similar structural issues when conducting research that have been implicated by the crisis in science. Proposals for improving philosophical research are offered in light of these possibilities.
... The current results align with additional recent findings in the literature on stereotype-threat research showing that the stereotype-threat effect is not as robust as thought before. As it stands, results based on replications and registered reports, with larger studies showing null effects, provide little to weak support for stereotypethreat theory (Agnoli et al., 2021;Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Flore et al., 2018;Gibson et al., 2014;Moon & Roeder, 2014). Moreover, meta-analyses highlighted evidence for publication bias, with positive findings being more likely to end up in the more easily accessible research literature than negative findings (Flore & Wicherts, 2015;Shewach et al., 2019;Zigerell, 2017). ...
When cognitive and educational tests are administered under time limits, tests may become speeded and this may affect the reliability and validity of the resulting test scores. Prior research has shown that time limits may create or enlarge gender gaps in cognitive and academic testing. On average, women complete fewer items than men when a test is administered with a strict time limit, whereas gender gaps are frequently reduced when time limits are relaxed. In this study, we propose that gender differences in test strategy might inflate gender gaps favoring men, and relate test strategy to stereotype threat effects under which women underperform due to the pressure of negative stereotypes about their performance. First, we applied a Bayesian two-dimensional item response theory (IRT) model to data obtained from two registered reports that investigated stereotype threat in mathematics, and estimated the latent correlation between underlying test strategy (here, completion factor, a proxy for working speed) and mathematics ability. Second, we tested the gender gap and assessed potential effects of stereotype threat on female test performance. We found a positive correlation between the completion factor and mathematics ability, such that more able participants dropped out later in the test. We did not observe a stereotype threat effect but found larger gender differences on the latent completion factor than on latent mathematical ability, suggesting that test strategies affect the gender gap in timed mathematics performance. We argue that if the effect of time limits on tests is not taken into account, this may lead to test unfairness and biased group comparisons, and urge researchers to consider these effects in either their analyses or study planning.
... Focusing on the positive aspects of mathematics education can prove to be beneficial, not only in the context of preventing math anxiety, but also in making mathematics a field of knowledge accessible to many, and not reserved only for the mathematically gifted students. This is especially important in view of the research on gender stereotypes in mathematics (Bieg et al., 2015) and the threat that this stereotype poses among girls (Finnigan & Corker, 2016). ...
The aim of the study is to analyze mathematical resilience from theoretical and practical perspectives. The paper is based on a review of the literature. Research on mathematics education has revealed a large proportion of students with math anxiety whose achievements in math are worsening. Such results encourage a discussion on preventing math anxiety. Research on the resilience of children and adolescents has accelerated in recent decades, resulting in the formulation of the concepts of school and mathematical resilience. The article presents the ecological model of mathematical resilience. The role of parents and teachers in promoting mathematical resilience is also described. The paper presents areas where students can self-foster mathematical resilience. The conclusions are related to the importance of strengthening mathematical resilience in education.
... Stated differently, such knowledge adds to the generalizability of the constructs under study and how it does or does not provide evidence for the original effect . In discussions about failed replications in psychology, theory failure, hidden moderators, and questionable research practices are often debated (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;LeBel et al., 2017) with little attention to the foundational issue of measurement. ...
Currently there is little guidance for navigating measurement challenges that threaten construct validity in replication research. To identify common challenges and ultimately strengthen replication research, we conducted a systematic review of the measures used in the 100 original and replication studies from the Reproducibility Project Psychology (Open Science Collaboration, 2015). Results indicate that it was common for scales used in the original studies to have little or no validity evidence. Our systematic review demonstrates and corroborates evidence that issues of construct validity are sorely neglected in original and replicated research. We identify four measurement challenges replicators are likely to face: a lack of essential measurement information, a lack of validity evidence, measurement differences, and translation. Next, we offer solutions for addressing these challenges that will improve measurement practices in original and replication research. Finally, we close with a discussion of the need to develop measurement methodologies for the next generation of replication research.Public Significance: Over the past decade psychologists have been calling for methodological reform to increase the rigor and replicability of psychological science, which has been accompanied by progress in improving transparency and statistical practices. This paper presents rigorous measurement practices as foundational for generating knowledge from psychological science that can be translated to inform policy, develop interventions, and improve people’s lives. We review one of the largest sets of replication studies ever conducted to understand how measurement can be improved and develop measurement practices for the next generation of replication research.
... Stated differently, such knowledge adds to the generalizability of the constructs under study and how it does or does not provide evidence for the original effect . In discussions about failed replications in psychology, theory failure, hidden moderators, and questionable research practices are often debated (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;LeBel et al., 2017) with little attention to the foundational issue of measurement. ...
Currently there is little guidance for navigating measurement challenges that threaten construct validity in replication research. To identify common challenges and ultimately strengthen replication research, we conducted a systematic review of the measures used in the 100 original and replication studies from the Reproducibility Project Psychology (Open Science Collaboration, 2015). Results indicate that it was common for scales used in the original studies to have little or no validity evidence. Our systematic review demonstrates and corroborates evidence that issues of construct validity are sorely neglected in original and replicated research. We identify four measurement challenges replicators are likely to face: a lack of essential measurement information, a lack of validity evidence, measurement differences, and translation. Next, we offer solutions for addressing these challenges that will improve measurement practices in original and replication research. Finally, we close with a discussion of the need to develop measurement methodologies for the next generation of replication research. Public Significance: Over the past decade psychologists have been calling for methodological reform to increase the rigor and replicability of psychological science, which has been accompanied by progress in improving transparency and statistical practices. This paper presents rigorous measurement practices as foundational for generating knowledge from psychological science that can be translated to inform policy, develop interventions, and improve people's lives. We review one of the largest sets of replication studies ever conducted to understand how measurement can be improved and develop measurement practices for the next generation of replication research. CONSTRUCT VALIDITY AND REPLICATION 3
... As Chambers (2017) noted "the academic culture in psychology places little emphasis in repeating the experimental methods of other psychologists." We believe that given the recent presence of null results for stereotype threat effects on females' mathematical performance, both in adults (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Pennington et al., 2019) and adolescents (e.g., Flore et al., 2018), replications would be the best instrument to test the reliability of stereotype threat studies. The generalizability of stereotype threat effects could be tested in different settings (lab and/or school settings) and different cultures (different nations and, within a nation, different levels of status for women/girls). ...
Many studies have found that males, on average, perform better than females in mathematics, although the size of this gender gap is small and varies considerably across countries. Stereotype threat has been
proposed as a principal cause of this gender gap. From this perspective, females’ performance is affected by fear of confirming a negative stereotype about females’ mathematical ability and this stereo-type can be activated by an experimental manipulation that reminds females of the stereotype. Yet, evidence of a stereotype threat effect on mathematics performance in childhood and adolescence has been mixed. The present study replicated a highly cited study of stereotype threat among Italian adolescents with a much larger sample of Italian ninth grade (89 male, 75 female, mean age = 14.2) and eleventh grade (84 male, 80 female, mean age = 16.2) public high school students. Performance in tests administered both before and after the experimental manipulations were analyzed with a series of logistic mixed-effects models. Model comparisons confirmed that males performed better than females, but the probability of a stereotype threat effect was infinitesimal. We conclude that Italian adolescent gender differences in mathematics may not be explained by stereotype threat effects.
... It is notable that Black and Latina girls' gender stereotype threat was associated with mathematics anxiety, whereas White girls' racial/ethnic stereotype threat, not their gender stereotype threat, was associated with mathematics anxiety. This finding may explain why several prior studies utilizing a sample of predominantly (> 80%) Asian and White female participants failed to find gender stereotype threat effects (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016). Recent studies as well as the current study's data show that girls tend to outcompete boys in scholarly achievements, including mathematics GPA (Parker et al., 2018), which might have significantly reduced the negative implications of girls' gender stereotype threat. ...
As stereotype threat was initially examined in experimental settings, the effects of such threats have often been tested by temporarily manipulating social identity threats. This study expands the literature by examining 9th-grade adolescents’ naturalistic stereotype threat, using data from the National Study of Learning Mindsets in the United States (n ~= 6,040, age: 13–17, Mage = 14.31, 6.9% Black boys, 6.5% Black girls, 13.1% Latinos, 12.3% Latinas, 31.5% White boys, 29.7% White girls). The results indicate that Black and Latinx students experience higher levels of stereotype threat in high school mathematics classrooms than do their White peers. When students perceive that their teachers have created fixed mindset climates, they experience greater stereotype threat. Stereotype threat, in turn, negatively Black and Latino boys and White girls’ later achievement via anxiety. These findings highlight the importance of creating mathematics classrooms that cultivate a growth mindset and minimize social identity threat.
... It should be noted that recent studies have failed to replicate stereotype threat effects (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Flore et al., 2018;Sunny et al., 2017) however this was only one of the theorized causal relationships between the field-specific ability beliefs hypothesis and the gender disparities which exists in STEM areas. Considering the abundance of evidence illustrating either the lower self-concept reported by women, or the general under valuing of their self-reports (e.g., Blatchford, 1997;Langan et al., 2008;Torres-Guijarro & Bengoechea, 2017), there is still substantial merit in exploring young people's self-perceptions relative to field-specific abilities in an attempt to understand gender representation in higher education. ...
Males are generally overrepresented in higher education engineering. However, the magnitude of this variance differs between countries and engineering fields. Evidence associated with the field-specific ability beliefs hypothesis suggests that perceptions of intelligence held by actors within engineering affects the engagement of underrepresented groups. This study examined perceptions of an intelligent engineer held by undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students in Ireland and Sweden, countries selected based on their levels of female representation in engineering education. It was hypothesised that there would be a significant difference in perceptions between countries. A survey methodology was employed in which a random sample of Irish and Swedish university students completed two surveys. The first asked respondents to list characteristics of an intelligent engineer, and the second asked for ratings of importance for each unique characteristic. The results indicate that an intelligent engineer was perceived to be described by seven factors; practical problem solving, conscientiousness, drive, discipline knowledge, reasoning, negative attributes, and inquisitiveness when the data was analysed collectively, but only the five factors of practical problem solving, conscientiousness, drive, discipline knowledge and negative attributes were theoretically interpretable when the data from each country was analysed independently. A gender × country interaction effect was observed for each of these five factors. The results suggest that the factors which denote intelligence in engineering between Irish and Swedish males and females are similar, but differences exist in terms of how important these factors are in terms group level definitions. Future work should consider the self-concepts held by underrepresented groups with respect to engineering relative to the factors observed in this study.
... As for stereotype threat, a recent slew of studies has failed to find evidence that situations likely to induce threat do in fact hamper females' performance in maths or other cognitive domains. The studies in question include several meta-analyses (Flore & Wicherts, 2015;Stoet & Geary, 2012), a number of large, pre-registered replications (Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Flore et al., 2019) and an analysis of 5.5 million chess games played in international tournaments, which found that women's performance was better, rather than worse, under conditions of stereotype threat (Stafford, 2018; although see Smerdon et al., 2020). Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, a recent study failed to replicate the finding that stereotype threat impairs men's performance on tests of language ability (Chaffee et al., 2020). ...
It is a well-known and widely lamented fact that men outnumber women in a number of fields in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). The most commonly discussed explanations for the gender gaps are discrimination and socialization, and the most common policy prescriptions target those ostensible causes. However, a great deal of evidence in the behavioural sciences suggests that discrimination and socialization are only part of the story. The purpose of this paper is to highlight other aspects of the story: aspects that are commonly overlooked or downplayed. More precisely, the paper has two main aims. The first is to examine the evidence that factors other than workplace discrimination contribute to the gender gaps in STEM. These include relatively large average sex differences in career and lifestyle preferences, and relatively small average differences in cognitive aptitudes – some favouring males, others favouring females – which are associated with progressively larger differences the further above the average one looks. The second aim is to examine the evidence suggesting that these sex differences are not purely a product of social factors but also have a substantial biological (i.e. inherited) component. A more complete picture of the causes of the unequal sex ratios in STEM may productively inform policy discussions.
... It is notable that Black and Latina girls' gender stereotype threat was associated with mathematics anxiety, whereas White girls' racial/ethnic stereotype threat, not their gender stereotype threat, was associated with mathematics anxiety. This finding may explain why several prior studies utilizing a sample of predominantly (>80%) Asian and White female participants failed to find gender stereotype threat effects (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016). Recent studies as well as the current study's data show that girls tend to outcompete boys in scholarly achievements, including mathematics GPA (Parker et al., 2018), which might have significantly reduced the negative implications of girls' gender stereotype threat. ...
As stereotype threat was initially examined in the tradition of experimental research, the effects of stereotype threat have often been tested by temporarily manipulating social identity threat mainly among college students. To extend the literature to adolescents’ naturalistic experience of stereotype threat, we examined 9th grade adolescents’ stereotype threat using National Study of Learning Mindsets data (n~= 6,040; 48.5% girls). Black and Latino boys experienced higher levels of stereotype threat in high school mathematics classrooms, as compared to black/Latino girls and white peers. When students perceived their teachers to create fixed mindset climate, students experienced greater stereotype threat. Stereotype threat, in turn, negatively predicted later achievement via heightened anxiety among black/Latino boys and white girls. The findings highlight the importance of forming mathematics classrooms that cultivate growth mindset and minimize the threat to students’ social identity.
... Although effect size estimates among ethnic and racial minorities tend to be moderate to large (Nadler & Clark, 2011;Nguyen & Ryan, 2008;Spencer et al., 2016), recent metaanalytic estimates of effects among women tend to be modest in size. Such findings have led some scholars to question the validity of stereotype threat theory as a whole (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016;Flore & Wicherts, 2015;Ganley et al., 2013). Moreover, likely due to the relative difficulty in recruiting large numbers of African American participants (Cundiff, 2012), very few peer-reviewed studies have actually examined stereotype threat among Black people specifically, despite the prominence of this group in the original theorizing (Nadler & Clark, 2011;Nguyen & Ryan, 2008;Steele & Aronson, 1995). ...
Stereotype threat theory argues that reminders of negative stereotypes about one’s stigmatized identity can undermine performance, but few studies have examined this phenomenon among Black Americans. Drawing from the literature on the impact of mass media on stereotype activation, we examine whether exposure to rap music induces stereotype threat among Black men. In two studies, incidental exposure to violent/misogynistic rap, but not conscious hip-hop or pop music, impaired Black (but not White) men’s cognitive performance (Experiments 1 and 2), but only when the artist was ostensibly Black (vs. White; Experiment 2). These effects were conditionally mediated by stereotype activation, such that listening to a Black (but not White) rapper activated negative stereotypes about Black people for both Black and White participants but only impaired performance among Black participants (Experiment 2). This suggests that exposure to some forms of artistic expression may activate culturally shared stereotypes and obstruct academic success among stigmatized groups.
... Stereotype threat, or the concern that one might be the target of demeaning stereotypes, has been shown to disrupt performance across a variety of domains (Steele, Spencer, & Aronson, 2002). For example, women perform more poorly in mathematics when they are told that the test they are about to take yields typical sex differences than when they think the test does not yield sex differences (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999; but see Finnigan & Corker, 2016, for a well-powered failure to replicate this finding). Such findings garnered a great deal of attention when they were initially published but have been criticized as unlikely to emerge in the real world when motivation to succeed is high (Cullen, Hardison, & Sackett, 2004). ...
... These interventions, along with others, were sometimes thought to work by inoculating against stereotype threat. But as Thompson (2017) notes, some meta-analyses raise doubts about whether stereotype threat is a genuine phenomenon (Finnigan & Corker 2016;Flore & Wicherts 2015;Ganley et al. 2013;Stoet & Geary 2012). This raises questions about whether other interven-exposing female students to role models, exposing female students to philosophy from an earlier age, boosting students' sense of belonging, and expanding the scope of jobs marketed towards philosophy students. ...
... Even if we restrict citations to 2013 and later, the counts are 2340 and 548. The first paper finding stereotype threat effects among women in math (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999) has been cited over 3800 times; a failed replication with a far larger sample size (Finnigan & Corker, 2016), a mere 33. If we restrict citations to 2017 and later, the counts are, respectively, 941 and 30. ...
... suggesting that we failed to induce stereotype threat in the positive stereotype condition. This finding is consistent with previous reports that stereotype threat effects are difficult to induce online (Finnigan & Corker, 2016). Hence, we decided to run Study 2 again, this time in the laboratory. ...
Two studies examined the effects of exposure to positive gender stereotypes on performance in counter-stereotypical domains and
pursuit of agentic and communal goals. Exposure to stereotypes about women’s communality (Study 1, N = 108) led to impaired math
performance among women, regardless of their math identification. Exposure to stereotypes about men’s agency (Study 2, N = 129) led to
impaired performance in a test of socio-emotional ability among men high in domain identification. Moreover, among women with high math
identification, exposure to the communality stereotype increased the pursuit of agentic goals. Among men, exposure to the agency stereotype tended to decrease the pursuit of communal goals. These results are consistent with accumulating evidence for the “dark side” of positive stereotypes, yet, for women, they also point to active attempts to counteract them.
... Meta-analytic tests for small-study bias suggest this problem may be true of the stereotype threat literature 35,36 . Moreover, large-scale studies of the effects of stereotype threat on women taking math tests have found small to near-zero effects of threat on performance 37,38 . Taken together, the meta-analytic analyses and evidence from large studies suggest that the extant research is inconclusive regarding the size and existence of a stereotype threat effect 30 . ...
According to stereotype threat theory, the possibility of confirming a negative group stereotype can evoke feelings of threat, leading people to underperform in the very domains in which they are stereotyped as lacking ability. This theory has immense theoretical and practical implications, but many studies supporting it include small samples and varying operational definitions of the “stereotype threat” construct. We address the first challenge by leveraging a standing network of psychology labs to recruit a large Black student sample (anticipated N = 2360) from multiple US sites (anticipated N = 22). We address the second challenge by identifying three threat-increasing procedures and three threat-decreasing procedures that could plausibly affect performance. We then use an adaptive Bayesian design to determine which operationalization of “stereotype threat” yields the strongest evidence for underperformance. This project has the potential to advance our knowledge of a scientifically and socially important topic: whether and under what conditions stereotype threat affects Black students in the US.
... Alternatively, it is possible that learning about gender stereotypes is not universally empowering. Gender stereotypes about STEM are gradually fading in the United States (Miller, Nolla, Eagly, & Uttal, 2018), and some researchers have recently failed to replicate stereotype threat effects (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016). In open-ended responses, several participants in the present experiment wrote that they were unaware of gender stereotypes about STEM prior to participating in the intervention. ...
Female role models show promise for inoculating women against the harmful impact of stereotypes impugning their ability in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM, e.g., Dasgupta in Psychol Inq 22(4):231–246, 2011). We conducted a test of an intervention to leverage the benefits of STEM role models. Female STEM majors (N = 72) in their first year of college were exposed to same-sex role models on two occasions. They completed measures of stereotypes and other STEM outcomes at the beginning of their first semester (pre-manipulation) and again at the end of their first semester (post-manipulation). Women who were assigned to engage in a process of reflective identification with the STEM role models (i.e., reflect on their similarity in a writing passage) showed greater change in implicit and explicit stereotypes compared to women who were exposed to STEM role models, but did not engage in reflection. Among women exposed to role models, role model identification was negatively related to explicit stereotypes and positively related to STEM outcomes including GPA in STEM courses.
... Alternatively, it is possible that learning about gender stereotypes is not universally empowering. Gender stereotypes about STEM are gradually fading in the United States (Miller, Nolla, Eagly, & Uttal, 2018), and some researchers have recently failed to replicate stereotype threat effects (e.g., Finnigan & Corker, 2016). In open-ended responses, several participants in the present experiment wrote that they were unaware of gender stereotypes about STEM prior to participating in the intervention. ...
Objectives: The aim of this field experiment was to test the effect of a social psychological intervention on an ethnically diverse sample of first-year college women majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We hypothesized that grade point averages in STEM courses would be higher in the intervention condition relative to the control condition. Furthermore, we tested competing hypotheses about the moderating role of belonging to either a well-represented (WR) or underrepresented minority (URM) ethnic group in STEM. Method: The sample (N = 199) included 115 women from WR ethnic groups and 84 women from URM ethnic groups who were randomly assigned to condition. Women in the intervention were educated about the harmful impact of gender stereotypes in STEM and provided with effective strategies for coping with stereotype threat. At the end of their first year, we obtained participants’ academic transcripts. Results: At the end of their first year in college, URM women in the intervention condition had higher grade point averages in their STEM courses than URM women in the control condition. The intervention had no effect on WR women. Conclusions: The present research demonstrates the importance of intersectional approaches to studying the experiences of women in STEM.
Are women smarter than men? Or is it the other way around? Other than intelligence, are other mental abilities different between women and men, and if so, do these differences matter when it comes to education, vocations, or any other practical matters? Here is the short story: women and men do not differ much, if at all, on average g-factor scores, but there are differences on certain cognitive abilities that may be relevant to education, vocational choice, and success in various walks of life. Of course, the long story is more complex and includes compelling evidence about sex differences in the brain and the basic question about where the differences come from. And there is a practical question: should any of these findings inform social and educational policy in some way?
In this revised and updated edition of Hunt's classic textbook, Human Intelligence, two research experts explain how key scientific studies have revealed exciting information about what intelligence is, where it comes from, why there are individual differences, and what the prospects are for enhancing it. The topics are chosen based on the weight of evidence, allowing readers to evaluate what ideas and theories the data support. Topics include IQ testing, mental processes, brain imaging, genetics, population differences, sex, aging, and likely prospects for enhancing intelligence based on current scientific evidence. Readers will confront ethical issues raised by research data and learn how scientists pursue answers to basic and socially relevant questions about why intelligence is important in everyday life. Many of the answers will be surprising and stimulate readers to think constructively about their own views.
Stereotype threat theory states that female and minority test-takers underperform on cognitive tests because they experience pressure by negative stereotypes about their group's performance. The theory hypothesizes that this effect is larger for test-takers who strongly identify with an academic domain, and for whom the test is the most difficult. These moderators can create treatment-by-covariate interactions when premeasured performance (e.g., the SAT) serves as covariate, as is common practice in stereotype threat experiments. In this preregistered Bayesian meta-analysis, we used the raw data from 31 stereotype threat studies involving 3357 negatively stereotyped participants to investigate whether stereotype threat effects are moderated by premeasured performance. Results yield evidence for no moderation. Correlations between premeasured performance and test scores are similar across conditions, indicating uniformity of stereotype threat with respect to premeasured performance. This suggests that domain identification or test difficulty as both operationalized by premeasured performance fail to moderate stereotype threat effects, and that previous findings on the effect of these moderators may be false positives.
Racially charged incidents between the police and Black civilians have sparked massive protests over racial disparities in policing. This has led many to stereotype police officers as racists, and officers themselves are aware of this. By integrating and extending prior theoretical models, this paper proposes a novel theoretical model of the various paths through which the activation of stereotype threat – officers’ fear of confirming the ‘racist police officer’ stereotype – can influence when and why White police officers display negative interpersonal behavior during routine encounters with Black civilians. The model theorizes that the activation of stereotype threat, coupled with the contextual anxiety inherent in police encounters, heightens officers’ anxiety and self-regulatory effort, leading to cognitive depletion and regulatory failure. This results in decreased empathy, ultimately ending with officers confirming the racist police officer stereotype. The paper reviews social psychological and criminal justice literature to support this theory and discusses the theoretical, practical, and research implications.
Despite the explosive growth in stereotype threat (ST) research over the decades, a substantive amount of variability in ST effects still cannot be explained by extant research. While some attribute this unexplained heterogeneity to yet unidentified ST mechanisms, we explored an alternate hypothesis that ST theory is often misspecified in experimental research design, which introduces experimental noise (and hence variability) in stereotype threat effects unlikely to be explained by extant moderators. This study used multilevel meta-analysis to examine the impact of ST misspecification in research design on ST outcomes. Results revealed that ST effects were artificially inflated in studies that failed to include essential conditions necessary for its occurrence. Because most studies in the meta-analysis had either excluded or partially included these conditions, findings from this study suggest that ST effects on women’s performance might be smaller than previously reported in primary and secondary (meta-analytic) studies.
“They all pose as though their real opinions had been discovered and attained through the self-evolving of a cold, pure, divinely indifferent dialectic… whereas, in fact, a prejudiced proposition, idea, or ‘suggestion,’ which is generally their heart's desire abstracted and refined, is defended by them with arguments sought out after the event. They are all advocates who do not wish to be regarded as such, generally astute defenders, also, of their prejudices, which they dub ‘truths,’—and VERY far from having the conscience which bravely admits this to itself...”
--Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.
Scientists are humans. They are smart, ambitious humans, with a peculiar desire to explain and understand the world and a set of principles and procedures that help steer them toward truth. They are humans nonetheless. Their psychology is therefore human psychology.
Psychological discoveries in the social sciences—human errors, heuristics, biases, motivations, psychological needs—all apply to scientists in similar if not equal (or possibly even greater) measure.
This study contrasted the effects of two task messages, evaluative or non-evaluative, on mathematics performance, affect, and intrinsic task motivation. One hundred-twenty secondary-school students aged 17–21 years were delivered one of the two messages, or assigned to a control condition, before completing a mathematics task, measures of message appraisals (challenge and threat), affect (pleasantness, arousal, dominance), and a behavioural indication of intrinsic task motivation. The evaluative message raised performance only in males, while for females both messages decreased intrinsic motivation for the task, probably due to stereotype threat. Implications for future research and educational practices are discussed.
• HIGHLIGHTS
• In a low-value context, an evaluative message favoured male mathematics performance
• Males increased arousal after an evaluative message
• A challenge appraisal was linked with male performance
• Females decreased intrinsic motivation after evaluative and non-evaluative messages
The results of a process of research-training and educational experimentation, conducted at the comprehensive school "Melanzio-Parini" of Castel Ritaldi, are presented here. In a multiannual relationship of research-training it was decided, with the teachers involved, to introduce and monitor active teaching and for skills. The main idea is to increase the learning of all primary school children, while increasing the motivation to learn, curiosity, involvement and active participation. In this paper we present what has been achieved, over the last year, towards mathematics. This year's work is a part of a multiannual course of action research, which followed the paradigma of research-training, oriented to the formation/transformation of educational and didactic action and to the promotion of teacher reflexivity, characterized by doing research in school with the full participation of teachers 1. Active didactics, skills teaching, use of games and multiple references to the reality and to the experience of children in first and third grades of primary school, have been implemented. Before and after the didactic intervention the effects in relation to the acquisition of numerical knowledge, the skills related to the written operations, the accuracy and the automation of the procedures to work with numbers were detected. The results in the dimension in question , evaluated by AC-MT 6-11 2 , show an increase in the above mentioned dimensions, suggesting that these didactics may have had a direct effect on the subjects' learning.
Riassunto-
Vengono qui presentati i risultati di un processo di ricerca formazione e di sperimentazione didattica condotta presso l'Istituto comprensivo "Melanzio-Parini" di Castel Ritaldi. In un rapporto pluriennale di ricerca for-mazione si è deciso, con le insegnanti coinvolte, di introdurre e monitorare didattiche attive e per competenze. L'idea guida è quella di incrementare gli apprendimenti di tutti i bambini della scuola primaria accrescendo, al contempo, la motivazione ad apprendere, la curiosità, il coinvolgimento e la partecipazione attiva. In questo con-tributo, in particolare, viene presentato ciò che è stato realizzato, nel corso dell'ultimo anno, nei confronti della matematica. Il lavoro di quest'anno rientra in un percorso pluriennale di ricerca azione, che ha seguito il paradigma della ricerca formazione, orientata alla formazione/trasformazione dell'agire educativo e didattico e alla promozione della riflessività dell'insegnante, caratterizzata dal fare ricerca nelle scuole con la piena partecipazione degli inse-gnanti 3. Sono stati implementati percorsi di didattica attiva, didattica per competenze, utilizzo di giochi e riferimenti plurimi alla realtà e all'esperienza dei bambini delle classi prime e terze della scuola primaria. Prima e dopo l'inter-vento didattico sono stati rilevati gli effetti in relazione all'acquisizione di conoscenze numeriche, alle abilità relative alle operazioni scritte, all'accuratezza e all'automatizzazione delle procedure per lavorare con i numeri. I risultati, ottenuti sulle dimensioni citate sono stati valutati attraverso il test AC-MT 6-11 4 e mostrano un incremento nelle dimensioni sopracitate, suggerendo che tali didattiche possano avere avuto un effetto diretto sugli apprendimenti dei soggetti. 1 Cfr. G. Asquini (a cura di), La ricerca-formazione. Temi, esperienze e prospettive, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2018. 2 Cfr. C. Cornoldi, D. Lucangeli, M. Bellina, AC-MT (6-11). Test di valutazione delle abilità di calcolo e soluzione di problemi-Gruppo MT, Trento, Erickson, 2012. 3 Cfr. G. Asquini (a cura di), La ricerca-formazione. Temi, esperienze e prospettive, cit. 4 Cfr. C. Cornoldi, D. Lucangeli, M. Bellina, AC-MT (6-11). Test di valutazione delle abilità di calcolo e soluzione di problemi-Gruppo MT, cit.
The stereotype threat literature primarily comprises lab studies, many of which involve features that would not be present in high-stakes testing settings. We meta-analyze the effect of stereotype threat on cognitive ability tests, focusing on both laboratory and operational studies with features likely to be present in high stakes settings. First, we examine the features of cognitive ability test metric, stereotype threat cue activation strength, and type of nonthreat control group, and conduct a focal analysis removing conditions that would not be present in high stakes settings. We also take into account a previously unrecognized methodological error in how data are analyzed in studies that control for scores on a prior cognitive ability test, which resulted in a biased estimate of stereotype threat. The focal sample, restricting the database to samples utilizing operational testing-relevant conditions, displayed a threat effect of d = -.14 (k = 45, N = 3,532, SDδ = .31). Second, we present a comprehensive meta-analysis of stereotype threat. Third, we examine a small subset of studies in operational test settings and studies utilizing motivational incentives, which yielded d-values ranging from .00 to -.14. Fourth, the meta-analytic database is subjected to tests of publication bias, finding nontrivial evidence for publication bias. Overall, results indicate that the size of the stereotype threat effect that can be experienced on tests of cognitive ability in operational scenarios such as college admissions tests and employment testing may range from negligible to small. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Empirical evidence indicates that women philosophers tend to submit their work to journals substantially less often than their male colleagues. This paper points out that this difference in submission behavior comes with other specific aspects of women philosophers’ behavior, such as a tendency to be reluctant to participate in discussions, to be willing to do work low in prestige, and to specialize in certain research topics, and it argues that these differences can be understood as indirect effects of social biases: namely, effects on the working behavior of members of targeted social groups. Recent findings from philosophy journals’ book review sections and from other academic disciplines known to suffer from gender problems, especially from STEM disciplines, lend additional weight to this hypothesis.
This research tests how experiencing stereotype threat before a dyadic interaction affects women's engagement with peers during a dyadic math task. In a pilot study (N = 167; M age = 20.1 years), women who completed a manipulation of stereotype threat (a socially evaluative math task in front of male evaluators) experienced greater subjective threat than did men. In Studies 1A and 1B, math-identified female undergraduates completed the stereotype threat or control (doing math alone) manipulation and then completed a collaborative math task with another female or male student (who completed the control task). Sympathetic nervous system responses were collected to measure physiological linkage—the effect of participants’ physiological states on their partners’ subsequent physiological states—as an indicator of attention to the partner. We also measured the number of math-related questions participants asked their partners and task performance. In Study 1A (female-female dyads; N = 104; M age = 19.9 years), threatened women asked more questions than controls did and became physiologically linked to their partners when those partners were speaking about math. Threatened women performed comparably to controls. In Study 1B (female-male dyads; N = 140; M age = 20.0 years), threatened women did not ask more questions of their male partners than controls did, nor did they show physiological linkage to their male partners. Women performed worse than men did, regardless of condition. When working with a female, experiencing stereotype threat outside of a working interaction leads women to engage more; this effect does not occur when with a male.
Stereotypes about gender differences in math and English ability are pervasive. Negative math ability-based stereotypes push women out of math fields and may simultaneously push women into English fields. Conversely, negative English ability-based stereotypes may push men out English fields and into math fields. The current research decomposes math and English stereotypes in order to examine the relationship between the four independent components of these stereotypes (i.e., the stereotypic men-math association, the counterstereotypic men-English association, the counterstereotypic women-math association, and the stereotypic women-English association) and students’ sense of fit in math and English. 371 undergraduate men and women from a private university located in the Southern United States participated in the current study. Participants completed the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) to assess the independent stereotype components, followed by composite measures of sense of fit in math and English. For women, the women-math association and the women-English association (i.e., ingroup components of stereotypes), and not the men-math and men-English associations (i.e., outgroup components of stereotypes), predicted sense of fit in math and English. For men, only the men-math association predicted sense of fit in English. We discuss the implications of these findings for interventions aimed at improving students’ sense of academic fit.
A host of academic outcomes have been investigated as consequences of stereotype threat for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including attrition and decreased academic performance. However, the role of a potentially important precursor to these negative outcomes—academic procrastination—remains unclear. The present research sought to address this issue. University students (N = 223) enrolled in biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology courses participated in the study. Mastery approach, mastery avoidance, and performance avoidance achievement goals were hypothesized to moderate the effect of stereotype threat on academic procrastination. Results indicated significant interactions for women but not for men; however, interactions were not in the hypothesized direction for the avoidance goal moderators. Mastery approach goals exerted a significant buffering effect on the stereotype threat–academic procrastination relationship, but, contrary to prediction, both mastery avoidance and performance avoidance goals exerted a significant buffering effect. Implications for career-related outcomes among women in STEM are discussed.
The present research examined whether gender–science stereotypes were associated with science identification and, in turn, science career aspirations among women and men undergraduate science majors. More than 1,700 students enrolled in introductory science courses completed measures of gender–science stereotypes (implicit associations and endorsement of male superiority in science), science identification, and science career aspirations. Results were consistent with theoretically based predictions. Among women, stronger gender–science stereotypes were associated with weaker science identification and, in turn, weaker science career aspirations. By contrast, among men stronger gender–science stereotypes were associated with stronger science identification and, in turn, stronger science career aspirations, particularly among men who were highly gender identified. These two sets of modest but significant findings can accumulate over large populations and across critical time points within a leaky pipeline to meaningfully contribute to gender disparities in STEM domains.
Competence-based stereotypes can negatively affect women's performance in math and science (referred to as
stereotype threat), presumably leading to lower motivation. The authors examined the effects of stereotype threat on interest, a motivational path not necessarily mediated by performance. They predicted that working on a computer science task in the context of math-gender stereotypes would negatively affect undergraduate women's task interest, particularly for those higher in achievement motivation who were hypothesized to hold performance-avoidance goals in response to the threat. Compared with when the stereotype was nullified, while under stereotype threat an assigned performance-avoidance (vs. -approach) goal was associated with lower interest for women higher in achievement motivation (Study 1), and women higher (vs. lower) in achievement motivation were more likely to spontaneously adopt performance-avoidance goals (Study 2). The motivational influence of performance-avoidance goals under stereotype threat was primarily mediated by task absorption (Study 3). Implications for the stereotyped task engagement process (Smith, 2004) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Men and women score similarly in most areas of mathematics, but a gap favoring men is consistently found at the high end of performance. One explanation for this gap, stereotype threat, was first proposed by Spencer, Steele, and Quinn (1999) and has received much attention. We discuss merits and shortcomings of this study and review replication attempts. Only 55% of the articles with experimental designs that could have replicated the original results did so. But half of these were confounded by statistical adjustment of preexisting mathematics exam scores. Of the unconfounded experiments, only 30% replicated the original. A meta-analysis of these effects confirmed that only the group of studies with adjusted mathematics scores displayed the stereotype threat effect. We conclude that although stereotype threat may affect some women, the existing state of knowledge does not support the current level of enthusiasm for this as a mechanism underlying the gender gap in mathematics. We argue there are many reasons to close this gap, and that too much weight on the stereotype explanation may hamper research and implementation of effective interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Stereotype threat research has demonstrated that stereotypes can harm student performance in the face of public evaluation by peers or an experimenter. The current study examined whether stereotypes can also threaten in private settings. Female students completed a math test in 3-person groups, which consisted of either 2 other women (same gender) or 2 men (minority). In addition, students either believed their performance would be broadcasted to their peers (public) or not (private). Results revealed that minority students performed worse than same-gender students in both public and private environments. This finding supports the concept of threatening intellectual environments and shows how far reaching the effects of stereotypes can be. The authors discuss these findings in relation to research on tokenism and to stereotype threat and its educational implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Three studies explored gender differences in mathematics performance by investigating the possibility that men and women have different concerns when they take standardized math tests, and that when these gender-specific performance concerns are made relevant, performance may suffer. Results of 3 studies supported these hypotheses. In Study 1, women who believed a math test would indicate whether they were especially weak in math performed worse on the test than did women who believed it would indicate whether they were exceptionally strong. Men, however, demonstrated the opposite pattern, performing worse on the ostensible test of exceptional abilities. Studies 2 and 3 further showed that if these gender-specific performance concerns are alleviated by an external handicap, performance increases. Traditional interpretations of male–female differences on standardized math tests are discussed in light of these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We examined the impact of inducing performance-avoidance and approach goals (versus no goal) on women’s math performance in stereotype threatening versus nonthreatening situations. Two experiments showed that inducing either stereotype threat (versus no-threat) or a performance-avoidance goal (versus no goal) alone led to decreased math performance. However, inducing both stereotype threat and a performance-avoidance goal increased women’s performance and challenge appraisals. These findings are consistent with the theory of regulatory fit. Performance and challenge appraisals increased when there was a fit between the motivation associated with stereotype threat (avoid failure) and the induced goal (avoid performing worse than others). Implications for stereotype threat, achievement goals and regulatory focus theories are discussed.
Contending with negative intellectual stereotypes has been shown to depress the academic performance of targets of the stereotypes [Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613–629]. The present paper examines whether women’s mathematics performance is differentially affected by the concern of confirming that a negative stereotype is true of the self (self-threat), than by the concern of confirming that the stereotype is true of their gender (group-threat). In two studies we independently manipulated these different threats for women taking a mathematics test. Gender identification moderated the effect of group-threats on test performance; only women highly identified with their gender underperformed. The performance of less gender-identified women was unaffected by group-threats. In contrast, gender identification did not moderate the effect of self-threats—both high- and low-identified women underperformed. The results of these studies suggest that women’s math performance is differentially affected by the source of the threat.
How can researchers and practitioners use regulatory fit theory to increase the effectiveness of their attempts to change attitudes and behavior? In this article, we extract from the literature a set of basic processes by which fit can influence persuasion and describe different methods for inducing fit. Regulatory fit can influence persuasion by: (i) making message recipients feel right during message reception; (ii) increasing recipients’ strength of engagement with the message, which contributes to processing fluency; and (iii) influencing elaboration likelihood. Integral methods induce fit within the persuasion situation (as with framing of message arguments, source delivery style, and decision means), whereas incidental methods induce fit independent of the persuasion situation. We discuss common difficulties researchers may encounter with these techniques, and clarify existing confusions about regulatory fit and regulatory focus theory. Throughout, we highlight important questions that must be addressed to attain a complete understanding of regulatory fit.
Stereotyped individuals vary in how chronically self-conscious they are of their stigmatized status, which Pinel (1999) has dubbed stigma consciousness. The current study investigated whether individual differences in stigma consciousness moderate the impact of gender stereotypes on the math performance of women. Results indicated that, under conditions designed to evoke stereotype threat (Steele, 1997), women high in stigma consciousness scored worse than women low in stigma consciousness on a math test. In the control (low threat) condition, stigma consciousness was unrelated to test performance. Possible mechanisms underlying this moderation are discussed.
The goal congruity perspective posits that 2 distinct social cognitions predict attraction to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields. First, individuals may particularly value communal goals (e.g., working with or helping others), due to either chronic individual differences or the salience of these goals in particular contexts. Second, individuals hold beliefs about the activities that facilitate or impede these goals, or goal affordance stereotypes. Women's tendency to endorse communal goals more highly than do men, along with consensual stereotypes that STEM careers impede communal goals, intersect to produce disinterest in STEM careers. We provide evidence for the foundational predictions that gender differences emerge primarily on communal rather than agentic goals (Studies 1a and 3) and that goal affordance stereotypes reflect beliefs that STEM careers are relatively dissociated from communal goals (Studies 1b and 1c). Most critically, we provide causal evidence that activated communal goals decrease interest in STEM fields (Study 2) and that the potential for a STEM career to afford communal goals elicits greater positivity (Study 3). These studies thus provide a novel demonstration that understanding communal goals and goal affordance stereotypes can lend insight into attitudes toward STEM pursuits.
The metafor package provides functions for conducting meta-analyses in R. The package includes functions for fitting the meta-analytic fixed- and random-effects models and allows for the inclusion of moderators variables (study-level covariates) in these models. Meta-regression analyses with continuous and categorical moderators can be conducted in this way. Functions for the Mantel-Haenszel and Peto's one-step method for meta-analyses of 2 x 2 table data are also available. Finally, the package provides various plot functions (for example, for forest, funnel, and radial plots) and functions for assessing the model fit, for obtaining case diagnostics, and for tests of publication bias.
Stereotype threat spillover is a situational predicament in which coping with the stress of stereotype confirmation leaves one in a depleted volitional state and thus less likely to engage in effortful self-control in a variety of domains. We examined this phenomenon in 4 studies in which we had participants cope with stereotype and social identity threat and then measured their performance in domains in which stereotypes were not "in the air." In Study 1 we examined whether taking a threatening math test could lead women to respond aggressively. In Study 2 we investigated whether coping with a threatening math test could lead women to indulge themselves with unhealthy food later on and examined the moderation of this effect by personal characteristics that contribute to identity-threat appraisals. In Study 3 we investigated whether vividly remembering an experience of social identity threat results in risky decision making. Finally, in Study 4 we asked whether coping with threat could directly influence attentional control and whether the effect was implemented by inefficient performance monitoring, as assessed by electroencephalography. Our results indicate that stereotype threat can spill over and impact self-control in a diverse array of nonstereotyped domains. These results reveal the potency of stereotype threat and that its negative consequences might extend further than was previously thought.
This research documents performance decrements resulting from the activation of a negative task-relevant stereotype. The authors combine a number of strands of work to identify causes of stereotype threat in a way that allows them to reverse the effects and improve the performance of individuals with negative task-relevant stereotypes. The authors draw on prior work suggesting that negative stereotypes induce a prevention focus and on other research suggesting that people exhibit greater flexibility when their regulatory focus matches the reward structure of the task. This work suggests that stereotype threat effects emerge from a prevention focus combined with tasks that have an explicit or implicit gains reward structure. The authors find flexible performance can be induced in individuals who have a negative task-relevant stereotype by use of a losses reward structure. The authors demonstrate the interaction of stereotypes and the reward structure of the task with chronic stereotypes and Graduate Record Examination math problems (Experiment 1), and with primed stereotypes and a category learning task (Experiments 2A and 2B). The authors discuss implications of this research for other work on stereotype threat.
A meta-analysis of stereotype threat effects was conducted and an overall mean effect size of |.26| was found, but true moderator effects existed. A series of hierarchical moderator analyses evidenced differential effects of race- versus gender-based stereotypes. Women experienced smaller performance decrements than did minorities when tests were difficult: mean ds = |.36| and |.43|, respectively. For women, subtle threat-activating cues produced the largest effect, followed by blatant and moderately explicit cues: ds = |.24|, |.18|, and |.17|, respectively; explicit threat-removal strategies were more effective in reducing stereotype threat effects than subtle ones: ds = |.14| and |.33|, respectively. For minorities, moderately explicit stereotype threat-activating cues produced the largest effect, followed by blatant and subtle cues: ds = |.64|, |.41|, and |.22|, respectively; explicit removal strategies enhanced stereotype threat effects compared with subtle strategies: ds = |.80| and |.34|, respectively. In addition, stereotype threat affected moderately math-identified women more severely than highly math-identified women: ds = |.52| and |.29|, respectively; low math-identified women suffered the least from stereotype threat: d= |.11|. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
In 1992, Dillon published his critical review of the empirical literature on reading from paper vs. screen. However, the debate concerning the equivalence of computer- and paper-based tasks continues, especially with the growing interest in online assessment. The current paper reviews the literature over the last 15 years and contrasts the results of these more recent studies with Dillon's findings. It is concluded that total equivalence is not possible to achieve, although developments in computer technology, more sophisticated comparative measures and more positive user attitudes have resulted in a continuing move towards achieving this goal. Many paper-based tasks used for assessment or evaluation have been transferred directly onto computers with little regard for any implications. This paper considers equivalence issues between the media by reviewing performance measures. While equivalence seems impossible, the importance of any differences appears specific to the task and required outcomes.
Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. Studies 1 and 2 varied the stereotype vulnerability of Black participants taking a difficult verbal test by varying whether or not their performance was ostensibly diagnostic of ability, and thus, whether or not they were at risk of fulfilling the racial stereotype about their intellectual ability. Reflecting the pressure of this vulnerability, Blacks underperformed in relation to Whites in the ability-diagnostic condition but not in the nondiagnostic condition (with Scholastic Aptitude Tests controlled). Study 3 validated that ability-diagnosticity cognitively activated the racial stereotype in these participants and motivated them not to conform to it, or to be judged by it. Study 4 showed that mere salience of the stereotype could impair Blacks' performance even when the test was not ability diagnostic. The role of stereotype vulnerability in the standardized test performance of ability-stigmatized groups is discussed.
A general theory of domain identification is used to describe achievement barriers still faced by women in advanced quantitative areas and by African Americans in school. The theory assumes that sustained school success requires identification with school and its subdomains; that societal pressures on these groups (e.g., economic disadvantage, gender roles) can frustrate this identification; and that in school domains where these groups are negatively stereotyped, those who have become domain identified face the further barrier of stereotype threat, the threat that others’ judgments or their own actions will negatively stereotype them in the domain. Research shows that this threat dramatically depresses the standardized test performance of women and African Americans who are in the academic vanguard of their groups (offering a new interpretation of group differences in standardized test performance), that it causes disidentification with school, and that practices that reduce this threat can reduce these negative effects.
A general theory of domain identification is used to describe achievement barriers still faced by women in advanced quantitative areas and by African Americans in school. The theory assumes that sustained school success requires identification with school and its subdomains; that societal pressures on these groups (e.g., economic disadvantage, gender roles) can frustrate this identification; and that in school domains where these groups are negatively stereotyped, those who have become domain identified face the further barrier of stereotype threat, the threat that others' judgments or their own actions will negatively stereotype them in the domain. Research shows that this threat dramatically depresses the standardized test performance of women and African Americans who are in the academic vanguard of their groups (offering a new interpretation of group differences in standardized test performance), that it causes disidentification with school, and that practices that reduce this threat can reduce these negative effects.
Three studies explored gender differences in mathematics performance by investigating the possibility that men and women have different concerns: when they take standardized math tests, and that when these gender-specific performance concerns are made relevant, performance may suffer. Results of 3 studies supported these hypotheses. In Study 1, women who believed a math test would indicate whether they were especially weak in math performed worse: on the test than did women who believed it would indicate whether they were exceptionally strong. Men, however, demonstrated the opposite pattern, performing worse on the ostensible test of exceptional abilities. Studies 2 and 3 further showed that if these gender-specific performance concerns are alleviated by an external handicap, performance increases. Traditional interpretations of male-female differences on standardized math tests are discussed in light of these results.
We attempted high-powered direct replications of the two experiments in Schnall, Benton, and Harvey (2008) and did not duplicate the original results. We therefore concluded that more research was needed to establish the size and robustness of the original effects and to evaluate potential moderators. Schnall (2014) suggests that our conclusions were invalid because of potential psychometric artifacts in our data. We present evidence that undermines concerns about artifacts and defend the utility of preregistered replication studies for advancing research in psychological science.
Stereotypes about gender differences in math and English ability are pervasive. The current research decomposes math and English stereotypes in order to examine the relationship between the four independent components of these stereotypes (i.e., the stereotypic men-math association, the counter stereotypic men-English association, the counter stereotypic women-math association, and the stereotypic women-English association) and students' sense of fit in math and English. 371 undergraduate men and women from a private university located in the Southern United States participated in the current study. Participants completed the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) to assess the independent stereotype components, followed by composite measures of sense of fit in math and English. For women, the women-math association and the women-English association (i.e., ingroup components of stereotypes), and not the men-math and men-English associations (i.e., outgroup components of stereotypes), predicted sense of fit in math and English. For men, only the men-math association predicted sense of fit in English. We discuss the implications of these findings for interventions aimed at improving students' sense of academic fit.
Although the effect of stereotype threat concerning women and mathematics has been subject to various systematic reviews, none of them have been performed on the sub-population of children and adolescents. In this meta-analysis we estimated the effects of stereotype threat on performance of girls on math, science and spatial skills (MSSS) tests. Moreover, we studied publication bias and four moderators: test difficulty, presence of boys, gender equality within countries, and the type of control group that was used in the studies. We selected study samples when the study included girls, samples had a mean age below 18years, the design was (quasi-)experimental, the stereotype threat manipulation was administered between-subjects, and the dependent variable was a MSSS test related to a gender stereotype favoring boys. To analyze the 47 effect sizes, we used random effects and mixed effects models. The estimated mean effect size equaled -0.22 and significantly differed from 0. None of the moderator variables was significant; however, there were several signs for the presence of publication bias. We conclude that publication bias might seriously distort the literature on the effects of stereotype threat among schoolgirls. We propose a large replication study to provide a less biased effect size estimate.
Copyright © 2014 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Social identity theory as developed by Tajfel and Turner argues that there are two distinct aspects of the self-concept: personal identity and social identity (in American terminology, collective identity). Although many self-esteem measures are available in the literature, they allfocus on individuals'evaluation of their personal identity, whether in private or interpersonal domains. No scale currently exists that assesses the positivity of one's social, or collective, identity. A scale was constructed to assess individual differences in collective, rather than personal, self-esteem, with four subscales (Membership esteem, Public collective self-esteem, Private collective self-esteem, and Importance to Identity). Evidence for reliability and validity of the scale was provided by three studies, suggesting that the scale can be a useful research tool. Implications for research and social identity theory are discussed.
In previous decades, researchers have identified a gender gap in the careers and academic achievement of men and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Recently, it has been suggested that some of these gender gaps no longer exist; however, the picture is more nuanced, for women are represented well in some STEM fields (such as biology) and not in others (such as computer science). The current research employed survey methodology to explore the perceptions of 360 finalists and semifinalists of the prestigious Science Talent Search. Two cohorts of participants who were either in their late 30s (Cohort 2) or late 20s (Cohort 1) were contacted to investigate factors that influenced them to select or not select STEM college majors and occupations. Comparisons between men and women revealed that women recalled having lower self-efficacy in STEM in college than men, and fewer women selected STEM majors as undergraduates. Interest was cited as a major influence for occupational selection for both men and women. Proportionally, more women than men entered fields such as biology and fewer women entered fields such as engineering and physics/astronomy. A greater proportion of older women mentioned leaving STEM because of a lack of flexible hours and needing to attend to family responsibilities. Implications for education and future research are discussed.
In the present manuscript we draw on the Multi-Threat Framework to explore gender-related math attitudes and how they put
girls and women at risk for stereotype threats. Gunderson et al. (2011) detail how negative stereotypes about women’s math abilities are transmitted to girls by their parents and teachers, shaping
girls’ math attitudes and ultimately undermining performance and interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
fields. The social psychological phenomenon of stereotype threat complements this approach and demonstrates the additional
ways in which gender-related math attitudes undermine girls’ and women’s interest and performance in STEM domains. Considering
the phenomenon of stereotype threat also identifies how stereotypes and other gender-related math attitudes can undermine
women’s and girls’ interest and performance in STEM domains even when women and girls have positive math attitudes.
A 2 × 2 achievement goal framework comprising mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance approach, and performance-avoidance goals was proposed and tested in 3 studies. Factor analytic results supported the independence of the 4 achievement goal constructs. The goals were examined with respect to several important antecedents (e.g., motive dispositions, implicit theories, socialization histories) and consequences (e.g., anticipatory test anxiety, exam performance, health center visits), with particular attention allocated to the new mastery-avoidance goal construct. The results revealed distinct empirical profiles for each of the achievement goals; the pattern for mastery-avoidance goals was, as anticipated, more negative than that for mastery-approach goals and more positive than that for performance avoidance goals. Implications of the present work for future theoretical development in the achievement goal literature are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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.
When women perform math, unlike men, they risk being judged by the negative stereotype that women have weaker math ability. We call this predicamentstereotype threatand hypothesize that the apprehension it causes may disrupt women's math performance. In Study 1 we demonstrated that the pattern observed in the literature that women underperform on difficult (but not easy) math tests was observed among a highly selected sample of men and women. In Study 2 we demonstrated that this difference in performance could be eliminated when we lowered stereotype threat by describing the test as not producing gender differences. However, when the test was described as producing gender differences and stereotype threat was high, women performed substantially worse than equally qualified men did. A third experiment replicated this finding with a less highly selected population and explored the mediation of the effect. The implication that stereotype threat may underlie gender differences in advanced math performance, even those that have been attributed to genetically rooted sex differences, is discussed.
Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a relatively new website that contains the major elements required to conduct research: an integrated participant compensation system; a large participant pool; and a streamlined process of study design, participant recruitment, and data collection. In this article, we describe and evaluate the potential contributions of MTurk to psychology and other social sciences. Findings indicate that (a) MTurk participants are slightly more demographically diverse than are standard Internet samples and are significantly more diverse than typical American college samples; (b) participation is affected by compensation rate and task length, but participants can still be recruited rapidly and inexpensively; (c) realistic compensation rates do not affect data quality; and (d) the data obtained are at least as reliable as those obtained via traditional methods. Overall, MTurk can be used to obtain high-quality data inexpensively and rapidly.
© The Author(s) 2011.
In this study, we examined how math identity moderates women's response to gender-related stereotypes in the domain of mathematics.
Male and female college students with varying degrees of math identification took a challenging math test with a gender-related
stereotype either activated (i.e., stereotype threat) or nullified. Consistent with previous research, women performed worse
than men in the stereotype threat condition, but equal to men in the stereotype nullification condition when performance was
adjusted for math SAT scores. Moreover, when faced with stereotype threat, high math-identified women discounted the validity
of the test more than did less math-identified women or men in general. We discuss potential benefits and drawbacks of a discounting
strategy for women who are highly identified with math.
When a negative stereotype impugns the ability or worth of an outgroup, people may experience stereotype lift—a performance boost that occurs when downward comparisons are made with a denigrated outgroup. In a meta-analytic review, members of non-stereotyped groups were found to perform better when a negative stereotype about an outgroup was linked to an intellectual test than when it was not (d=.24,p<.0001). Notably, people appear to link negative stereotypes to evaluative tests more or less automatically. Simply presenting a test as diagnostic of ability was thus sufficient to induce stereotype lift. Only when negative stereotypes were explicitly invalidated or rendered irrelevant to the test did the lift effect disappear.
It is well established that an emphasis on gender differences may have a negative effect on women's math performance in USA, Germany and the Netherlands. It has further been found that an individual's identification with the stereotyped group may moderate effects of negative stereotypes. The present study investigated how gender-based expectancies affected the math performance of women and men in Sweden, a nation with a smaller gender gap than in other countries, and a strong cultural emphasis on gender equality. Participants, 112 female and 74 male undergraduate math students from Swedish universities, completed a difficult math test in which their gender was either linked to their test performance or not. Men performed better than women when gender was made relevant among participants who did not see their gender as an important aspect of their identity, while participants high in gender identification were unaffected by gender identity relevance. Moreover, the gender relevance manipulation affected men's performance more than women's. The results deviate from findings on US samples, indicating that the role of group identification as a moderator of stereotype-based expectancy effects is complex, and that factors in the cultural context may interact with individual differences in identification to determine the impact of negative stereotypes.
More than 100 articles have examined the construct of stereotype threat and its implications. However, stereotype threat seems to mean different things to different researchers and has been employed to describe and explain processes and phenomena that appear to be fundamentally distinct. Complementing existing models, the authors posit a Multi-Threat Framework in which six qualitatively distinct stereotype threats arise from the intersection of two dimensions--the target of the threat (the self/one's group) and the source of the threat (the self/outgroup others/ingroup others). The authors propose that these threats constitute the core of the broader stereotype threat construct and provide the foundation for understanding additional, as of yet uncharacterized, stereotype threats. The proposed threats likely differentially peril those with different stigmatizable characteristics, have different eliciting conditions and moderators, are mediated by somewhat different processes, are coped with and compensated for in different ways, and require different interventions to overcome.
2013 College-bound seniors total group profile report
- College Board
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compute.es: Compute effect sizes. R package version 0
- A C Del Re
Del Re, A. C. (2014). compute.es: Compute effect sizes. R package version 0.4http://
cran.r-project.org/web/packages/compute.es/compute.es.pdf.
Closing the gender gap in STEM [Weblog post] Retrieved fromhttps
National Math and Science Initiative (2013). Closing the gender gap in STEM
[Weblog post] Retrieved fromhttps://nms.org/Blog/TabId/58/PostId/83/closingthe-gender-gap-in-stem.aspx.