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Knowing Is Half the Battle
Abstract
We tested whether informing women about stereotype threat is a useful intervention to improve their performance in a threatening testing situation. Men and women completed difficult math problems described either as a problem-solving task or as a math test. In a third (teaching-intervention) condition, the test was also described as a math test, but participants were additionally informed that stereotype threat could interfere with women's math performance. Results showed that women performed worse than men when the problems were described as a math test (and stereotype threat was not discussed), but did not differ from men in the problem-solving condition or in the condition in which they learned about stereotype threat. For women, attributing anxiety to gender stereotypes was associated with lower performance in the math-test condition but improved performance in the teaching-intervention condition. The results suggest that teaching about stereotype threat might offer a practical means of reducing its detrimental effects.
... In general, boys and girls tend to have different attitudes to mathematics such that girls express more concern about their mathematical performance (reviewed by Johns et al., 2005). Previous reports that girls show more mathematics anxiety (reviewed by Dowker et al., 2016), and that this math anxiety had an effect on mathematical performance lead us to the analyses of possible gender differences. ...
... Our findings are consistent with research indicating that countries providing equal education for females and males show little or no gender differences in mathematical performance (Spelke, 2005;Kohn et al., 2013). The reason why no gender differences in math anxiety were evident might be due to increasing evidence that such gender differences only develop at adolescence as consequence of societal exposure to gender stereotypes (e.g., Johns et al., 2005), or female teachers who experience math anxiety themselves (Beilock et al., 2010). In contrast, several studies report that younger children in primary school do not exhibit gender differences in math anxiety (e.g., Dowker et al., 2012;Harari et al., 2013). ...
... Furthermore, math anxiety is supposed to increase with age during childhood and adolescence (reviewed by Dowker et al., 2016), which is a possible reason why no differences were evident in the present sample represented by rather young children. Similarly, empirical data including that from younger children also reported no differences in the levels of mathematics anxiety between boys and girls, since these differences only develop in adolescence (Johns et al., 2005). ...
Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (= negative math priming effect). We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task.
... Positive and collaborative school cultures may have a positive impact on a school, that improved the school effectiveness, encouraged the motivation of professionals and students (Abboud, 2017;Deal & Peterson, 1999). Current studies also seek out the positive relationship between growth mindset and academic achievement, motivation and so on (see, e.g., Nasto, 2017;Garcia, 2016;Blackwell et al., 2007;Rosenthal and Jacobson, 1992;Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003;Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005;Franklin, 2016;Duco, 2016;Auten, 2013;Charette, 2016;Delasandro, 2016;Doebel, 2015). Under assistance of existing research, a thoughtful examination with growth mindset is a must and necessary. ...
... One experiment presents that intelligent students may hold lower IQ score actually, but they can improve their academic achievement through growth mindset intervention (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1992). An experiment has done in the classroom with students who were taught to make great efforts to defeat stereotype and it did improve their intelligence (Good et al., 2003;Johns et al., 2005). A two-month project assist ninth grade students to overcome difficulties and developing potentialities via cognitive behavioral therapy to fostering a growth mindset (Bellini, 2017). ...
... Growth mindset is highlighting the power of grit and the positive side of things, that is why it helps individuals to get through the adversities and difficulties. As it already shows the positive relationship between motivation, difficulties, attitude and grit, especially to those poor student's achievements (Saia, 2016;Garcia, 2016;Blackwell et al., 2007;Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1992;Good et al., 2003;Johns et al., 2005;Zhao et al., 2018;Wang et al., 2019;Zeng et al., 2019). ...
To improve the efficiency of learning and promote achievements, the current paper explores the correlation of the growth mindset to students and teachers. This study aims to develop the growth mindset scale with the evidence of structural validity, measurement of direct and indirect effects in Chinese samples. To achieve the research objective, this study investigates 654 participants, including 321 students at different learning stages and 266 teachers from primary and secondary schools. In the investigation, using SPSS 25.0 and Amos 24.0 software, we conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation model (SEM), mediation analysis, and one-way ANOVA method with Welch’s test to achieve the study aim. The analysis of effect presents that challenge, adversity, attitude, motivation, grit and a positive mindset are all important to the growth mindset. In conclusion, the results show that: (1) the growth mindset scale was successfully constructed, developed and validated by the SEM; (2) measurement model, direct and indirect effects were confirmed; (3) growth mindset is positively correlated with age (and learning stage). It also indicates the importance of cultivating the growth mindset for students and teachers. The other possibilities, limitations and implications are also discussed.
... The persistent decline and gender gap in student motivation have been major concerns in mathematics education (Else-Quest, Hyde, & Linn, 2010;Fredricks & Eccles, 2002;Weidinger, Steinmayr, & Spinath, 2018). Although many researchers have investigated ways to encourage students' math motivation and learning (e.g., Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007;Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, & Harackiewicz, 2010;Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005), most existing interventions have targeted older adolescents and college students. For example, of the 92 motivation intervention studies identified by Lazowski & Hulleman (2016) in their meta-analysis, only 10 involved elementary school students. ...
... Several interventions have successfully improved students' math achievement or prevented it from falling over time by either training students in incremental theory (Blackwell et al., 2007) or mitigating stereotype threat among women (Johns et al., 2005). However, not all interventions have been equally successful. ...
... Explicit teaching about a gender stereotype and its causal link to anxiety and underperformance has been shown to reduce the negative consequences of the stereotype (Fogliati & Bussey, 2013;Johns et al., 2005). Likewise, reframing stereotypes as a challenge rather than a threat has helped mitigate the threat effect (Alter, Aronson, Darley, Rodriguez, & Ruble, 2010). ...
We tested the effectiveness of the intervention program designed to enhance children's math motivation by simultaneously strengthening their growth mindsets and weakening their gender stereotypes. Both the intervention and control programs consisted of six bi-weekly 40-min sessions that were evenly distributed over three months and administered during regular school hours. Repeated measures analyses of variance with group (between-subject factor: intervention vs. control) and time (within-subject factor: pretest vs. posttest) revealed significant Group × Time interactions for all outcomes but test anxiety. Growth mindset, perceived competence, persistence, and achievement of the intervention group increased, while those of the control group decreased. Gender stereotypic beliefs exhibited the opposite pattern. Also, growth mindset and gender stereotypes correlated negatively only for the intervention group. Path analysis demonstrated that the growth mindset of students after the intervention predicted their math persistence and achievement directly and indirectly via their perceived competence in math.
... One is to explicitly explain to students through psychoeducation programs the role that social identity threat plays in reducing performance, and suggesting effective coping strategies to deal with its effects, such as emotion reappraisal, delegitimizing stereotypes, and envisioning positive role models. Such programs have been found to weaken the negative effects of stereotype threat (O'Brien et al., 2019; see also Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005). Another is to actively and forcefully promote positive understandings of different groups and their educational potential by designing diverse student panels who can portray these messages to incoming students (Stephens et al., 2014b). ...
... Often, the groups that have historically underperformed are also those that are subject to negative stereotypes, and these processes feed into and reinforce each other. Attributing the underperformance to stereotype threat, however, can benefit threatened students' performance (Johns et al., 2005;O'Brien et al., 2019), suggesting that being able to attribute historical underperformance to something other than the group's ability is an effective way of dispelling the potential negative effects of historical underperformance. However, those adopting this approach must be cautious; attributing underperformance to pervasive and continuing discrimination and prejudice can be particularly harmful (Schmitt & Branscombe, 2002). ...
Some groups of students—typically those who have suffered because of historical inequality in society—disproportionately experience psychological barriers to educational success. These psychological barriers—feelings of threat to their social identity and the sense that their identity is incompatible with educational success—make substantial contributions to inequalities in educational outcomes between groups, even beyond economic, historical, and structural inequalities. A range of wise psychological interventions can help remove these barriers by targeting students’ subjective interpretation of their local educational context. In this review, we outline the Identities in Context model of educational inequalities, which proposes that interactions between students’ social identities and features of the local educational context—expectations about a group’s academic performance, a group’s representation in positions associated with academic success, and a group’s orientation towards education—can trigger social identity threat and identity incompatibility in ways that vary considerably across contexts. We present an implementation process, based on the Identities in Context model, that academic researchers, policymakers and practitioners can follow to help them choose and tailor wise interventions that are effective in reducing educational inequalities in their local context. Throughout the review, we make policy recommendations regarding how educational practices can be altered to help remove psychological barriers for underperforming groups of students and so reduce educational inequalities.
... For instance, explicitly delinking the often-perceived association between exams and intelligence can decrease the impact of stereotype threat (Croizet and Claire, 1998;Spencer et al., 1999;Binning et al., 2020). Similarly, Johns et al. (2005) find that explicitly teaching about stereotype threat can help reduce the negative impacts of such stereotype threat; in their study, an intervention in which the instructor explained the idea of stereotype threat to women before those women took a math exam led to lower anxiety and higher performance. ...
... It is not clear that a strategy to reduce stress and anxiety studied in one discipline will be applicable to another or that the strategy will be relevant for different concepts within a discipline. For instance, some of the strongest evidence regarding strategies that can reduce anxiety and increase performance (e.g., informing certain groups about stereotype threat, using humor to connect with students, expressive writing before taking an exam) arise from studies carried out in mathematics and statistics courses (Spencer et al., 1999;Johns et al., 2005;Neumann et al., 2009, p. 200;Williams, 2010;Park et al., 2014). Each of these strategies could be applied in biology; however, their efficacy generally remains untested. ...
While student stress and anxiety are frequently cited as having negative effects on students' academic performance, the role that instructors can play in mitigating these challenges is often underappreciated. We provide summaries of different evidence-based strategies, ranging from changes in instructional strategies to specific classroom interventions, that instructors may employ to address and ameliorate student stress and anxiety. While we focus on students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the strategies we delineate may be more broadly applicable. We begin by highlighting ways in which instructors can learn about and prepare to act to alleviate stress and anxiety. We then discuss how to better connect with students and build an inclusive, equitable, and empowering classroom environment. When coupled with strategies to change student evaluation and assessment, these approaches may collectively reduce student stress and anxiety, as well as improve student performance. We then discuss the roles that instructors may play in empowering students with skills that improve their time management, studying, and approach toward learning, with an eye toward ensuring their success across all their academic endeavors. We conclude by noting areas in which further research is needed to determine best practices for alleviating student stress and anxiety.
... In this sense, literature proposes to focus on the target of the stereotype and to induce self-assertion, disidentification with the group or with the stereotyped domain and activation of individualization mechanisms (Ambady et al., 2004;Steele et al., 2002) [1] . Another strategy is to reallocate the anxiety felt to an external cause and reassess the threatening source (Johns et al., 2005) [27] . In addition to the cognitive factors of sensitivity to stereotype threat, research is interested in the effects of emotions and working memory overload on the decline on the performance of individuals exposed to a stereotype of inferiority (Aronson & Steele, 2005;Schmader et al., 2008) [44] . ...
... In this sense, literature proposes to focus on the target of the stereotype and to induce self-assertion, disidentification with the group or with the stereotyped domain and activation of individualization mechanisms (Ambady et al., 2004;Steele et al., 2002) [1] . Another strategy is to reallocate the anxiety felt to an external cause and reassess the threatening source (Johns et al., 2005) [27] . In addition to the cognitive factors of sensitivity to stereotype threat, research is interested in the effects of emotions and working memory overload on the decline on the performance of individuals exposed to a stereotype of inferiority (Aronson & Steele, 2005;Schmader et al., 2008) [44] . ...
This study assesses sensitivity to stereotype threat among girls learning to play football. It fits precisely in the perspective of works on the reduction factors of this phenomenon. It proposes emotional intelligence as a factor that can reduce sensitivity to this threat; hence the hypothesis: among girls learning to play football, high emotional intelligence reduces sensitivity to stereotype threat more than low emotional intelligence. Specifically, participants' exposure to an ingroup stereotype of incompetence was expected to impact them differently, depending on their level of emotional intelligence. This hypothesis was tested through an experiment carried out with 61 female pupils attending the Government Bilingual High School of Penka-Michel (Cameroon). That exeperiment was conducted in a natural setting, following the stereotype threat's experimental paradigm. The results do not support the hypothesis of the study, although it can be observed that the average performance of participants with high emotional intelligence is higher than that of their counterparts with low emotional intelligence (f (1, 61) = 6.79; Ŋ 2 = .98; p = .135˃.05; t = .63; p = .532˃.05; M high IE = 3566.67> M low IE = 3433.72). It is concluded that emotional intelligence does not significantly reduce sensitivity to stereotype threat.
... For example, in two field studies, Black students who were randomly assigned to selfaffirm (i.e., indicate their most important values and write an essay about those values) were less likely to perceive themselves in terms of racial stereotypes and performed better academically over the following two years than those who were not assigned to do a self-affirmation (Cohen et al., 2009). Brief self-affirmation interventions have also been shown to reduce the adverse effect of stereotype threat in other academic contexts, such as women's math and science performance (Johns et al., 2005;Miyake et al., 2010). For example, a values affirmation intervention has been found to close the gender gap by up to 89% in course grades for women in a graduate business school (Kinias & Sim, 2016). ...
... At W1, students first completed baseline measures of psychological well-being, belonging, residency competitiveness, and residency goals, followed by the self-affirmation task; at W2, students first completed another measure of their psychological well-being, belonging, perceived residency competitiveness, and residency goals, followed by the self-affirmation task; finally, at W3, students completed the self-affirmation task and the final set of measures of their psychological well-being, belonging, residency self-efficacy, and residency goals. As with previous selfaffirmation work Cohen et al., 2009;Havranek et al., 2012;Johns et al., 2005;Miyake et al., 2010), participants were asked to read a list of values and rank them in order from "most important" to "least important." The values included the following: a sense of humor, religious values, relationships with friends or family, music, politics, membership in a community or social group, living in the moment, independence, creativity, artistic ability, and athletic ability. ...
Self-affirmation interventions have been shown to mitigate the negative psychological effects of stereotype threat on Black students in secondary and undergraduate education. However, there is currently limited research testing whether Black in medical schools may also experience the negative influences of stereotype threat. Until now, it has been unclear whether Black (vs. White) students experience a lower sense of belonging in medical school and whether they can benefit from self-affirmation interventions during medical training. With a longitudinal field experiment, we tested (a) whether Black (vs. White) medical students in the US experience decrements in psychological well-being (i.e., fatigue, depression, anxiety), sense of belonging, and perceived residency competitiveness; and (b) the extent to which a self-affirmation intervention would ameliorate any observed disparities in these outcomes for Black students. With a sample of 234 Black and 182 White medical students across 50 schools in the US, we found that Black students tended to report more fatigue and less belonging than White students; however, the self-affirmation intervention did not significantly influence students’ fatigue, depression, anxiety, or belonging. Unexpectedly, Black students in the self-affirmation (vs. control) condition reported lower perceived competitiveness for residency. White students’ perceived competitiveness for residency was unaffected by the intervention. Exploratory analyses revealed that Black (vs. White) students were less likely to indicate stable residency goals over time; however, this racial gap was eliminated with the intervention. We discuss the plausible reasons for these findings and provide recommendations for future work in this area.
... Aligned with stereotype threat literature among older adults (43), testing whether social expectations and beliefs are contributing to greater selfreported effortful feelings are warranted. Such studies can include inoculation via positive aging stereotypes, lowering anxiety, psychoeducation about stereotype threat, or by attributing difficulty to external circumstances rather than ability (1,6,17,32,42), which may ameliorate negative consequences if stereotype threat is contributing to a greater effortful feeling, as actual fitness level is not the explanation. ...
... An area that has not been studied in older adults with and without AD is stereotype threat innoculation. During a GXT, reading, watching or listening to a short snipet about the ease of the test and how older adults did much better than anticipated may prime older adults with a postive valance as opposed to a potentially negative prime to begin with (6,35,42). Examining this frame may lend insight into stereotype threat and expectations related to the subjective RPE scale. The felt expereience is an important factor in the engagement of exercise for anyone, especially older adults, and even more so for those with cognitive impairment. ...
Exercise has many benefits for physical and cognitive health in older adults, yet there are many barriers to exercise adherence in this population. Subjective perception of exercise difficulty, or rate of perceived exertion (RPE), may especially be a barrier to exercise in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD), due to changes in initiation and motivation that accompany changes in cognition and brain function. RPE is the most commonly used measure of subjective effort in exercise research, yet the relationship between RPE and objective fitness is not fully understood in older adults. A better understanding is needed to support initiation, engagement, and maintenance of exercise and determine the appropriateness for use of RPE as a measure in this population. Our study aimed to 1) evaluate the degree to which objective measures of cardiorespiratory fitness correlates with the most commonly used subjective measure of effort, RPE and 2) examine any difference in the relationship between objective cardiorespiratory fitness and RPE between individuals with and without AD. We explored these relationships during a graded exercise test. Objective fitness and subjective effort were negatively associated. Independent of cardiorespiratory fitness, older age, female gender, cognitive impairment, and use of heart medications predicted greater self-reported effort during exercise. Results are discussed in terms of social psychological phenomena and potential neuropsychological deficits leading to increased subjective feelings of effort. These findings establish that the RPE measure may not be appropriate and may even detract from effort during graded exercise testing among older adults with AD.
... Since we found an indirect effect from gender-science stereotypes on female participation, modifying stereotypical beliefs, and alleviating stereotype threat (e.g., Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005;Shapiro & Williams, 2012;Spencer, Logel, & Davies, 2016) might be beneficial to female Chemistry Olympiad participants. Stereotype interventions have not always proven effective (Hoffman & Kurtz-Costes, 2018) and should be carried out with great care in order to avoid unintended negative consequences (Pietri et al., 2019). ...
... Stereotype interventions have not always proven effective (Hoffman & Kurtz-Costes, 2018) and should be carried out with great care in order to avoid unintended negative consequences (Pietri et al., 2019). Nevertheless, several successful measures have been published (e.g., Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003;Johns et al., 2005;Ramsey, Betz, & Sekaquaptewa, 2013). Besides attempting to modify stereotypical convictions, interest could be heightened by using effective interventions as well (Harackiewicz, Canning, Tibbetts, Priniski, & Hyde, 2016;Häussler & Hoffmann, 2002;Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, & Harackiewicz, 2010;Miyake et al., 2010;Wulff et al., 2018). ...
Girls are underrepresented in mathematical and science Olympiads, global informal learning activities which often serve as stepping stones for admission to top universities and future STEM careers. The present article aims to investigate the role of implicit genderscience stereotypes on representation and achievement among participants of the German Chemistry Olympiad using a cross-sectional online study (N = 445, mean age 16.5 years, 51% female) entailing the Implicit Association Test and two motivational scales. This study was the first of its kind to use moderated mediation analysis to examine the effects of gender-science stereotypes on participation and achievement, mediated by the expectancy and value beliefs self-concept and topic interest. We found that in the female group, gender-science stereotypes negatively predicted the participants'
willingness to continue in the competition. This relationship was mediated through topic interest. In addition, we found self-concept predictive for further participation among female participants, as well as for competition score among both gender groups. Furthermore, topic interest positively predicted male participants' willingness to continue with the competition. The results underline the negative association ofimplicit gender stereotypes with female participation in the German Chemistry Olympiad. Organizations such as the German Chemistry Olympiad should therefore critically reflect on existing gender biases within their own structure. In doing so they can create an environment
that has the potential to heighten self-concept and interest for all participants equally. Our findings add to existing expectancy-value research in the context of gender differences in mathematics and science, supporting potential strategies toward gender equity.
... For example, in two field studies, Black students who were randomly assigned to self-affirm (i.e., indicate their most important values and write an essay about those values) were less likely to perceive themselves in terms of racial stereotypes and performed better academically over the following 2 years than those who were not assigned to do a self-affirmation . Brief self-affirmation interventions have also been shown to reduce the adverse effect of stereotype threat in other academic contexts, such as women's math and science performance (Johns et al., 2005;Miyake et al., 2010). For example, a values affirmation intervention has been found to close the gender gap by up to 89% in course grades for women in a graduate business school (Kinias & Sim, 2016). ...
... At W1, students first completed baseline measures of psychological well-being, belonging, residency competitiveness, and residency goals, followed by the self-affirmation task; at W2, students first completed another measure of their psychological well-being, belonging, perceived residency competitiveness, and residency goals, followed by the self-affirmation task; finally, at W3, students completed the self-affirmation task and the final set of measures of their psychological well-being, belonging, residency perceived residency competitiveness, and residency goals. As with previous self-affirmation work Havranek et al., 2012;Johns et al., 2005;Miyake et al., 2010), participants were asked to read a list of values and rank them in order from "most important" to "least important." The values included the following: a sense of humor, religious values, relationships with friends or family, music, politics, membership in a community or social group, living in the moment, independence, creativity, artistic ability, and athletic ability. ...
Self‐affirmation interventions have been shown to mitigate the negative psychological effects of stereotype threat on Black students in secondary and undergraduate education. However, there is currently limited research testing whether Black students in medical schools may also experience the negative influences of stereotype threat. Until now, it has been unclear whether Black (vs. White) students experience a lower sense of belonging in medical school and whether they can benefit from self‐affirmation interventions during medical training. With a longitudinal field experiment, we tested (a) whether Black (vs. White) medical students in the US experience decrements in psychological well‐being (i.e., fatigue, depression, anxiety), sense of belonging, perceived residency competitiveness, and residency goal stability; and (b) the extent to which a self‐affirmation intervention would ameliorate any observed disparities in these outcomes for Black students. With a sample of 234 Black and 182 White medical students across 50 schools in the United States, we found that Black students tended to report more fatigue and less belonging than White students; however, the self‐affirmation intervention did not significantly influence students’ fatigue, depression, anxiety, or belonging. Unexpectedly, Black students in the self‐affirmation (vs. control) condition reported lower perceived competitiveness for residency. White students’ perceived competitiveness for residency was unaffected by the intervention. Exploratory analyses revealed that Black (vs. White) students were less likely to indicate stable residency goals over time, which may be an indication of threat; however, this racial gap was eliminated with the intervention. We discuss the plausible reasons for these findings and provide recommendations for future work in this area.
... Context-specific social identities, stereotype threats, and sociocultural, ideological influences (Johns et al., 2005) are seen in many countries that led us to examine the underlying root causes of gender differences in achievement and participation in single-gender and mixedgender group environments compared with experimental collaborative learning (CL) and control group using traditional lecture (TL) class environment in Kuwait. Cultural influences encompass a wide range of issues, including cultural and social values, religion, politics, and the prevalence of traditional educational methods, to name a few. ...
This study hypothesized whether the gender group composition in traditional learning (TL) versus collaborative learning (CL) classrooms of undergraduate biology majors and nonmajors correlate with students’ achievements. We measured the effect on gender and the gender-specific achievements of the TL versus CL approach in single-gender and mixed-gender classes. A significant gender gap was found in the achievements of both nonmajor and major students. Females achieved higher grades in TL and CL sections in single-gender classes; overall, academic achievements between females (F) and males (M) demonstrated a significant difference at P<.05. The effect size value between TL versus CL indicated that males benefited more than females implementing CL mixed-gender (2F+2M) in nonmajors and majors. While females in single-gender CL and TL classes performed higher than males, females performed relatively low in mix-gender CL (2F+2M). These findings indicate that gender-specific and context-specific learning pedagogies are required since they impact students’ achievement.
... In this regard, it may be useful to consider existing literature that aims to ameliorate the impact of stereotype threat and anxiety on cognitive performance in a general adult population. For example, it has been found that by simply informing participants about the negative impact of stereotype threat (in this case women and mathematics), it is possible to improve participants' performances (Johns et al., 2005). Alternatively, a brief mindfulness exercise undertaken prior to testing has been associated with better mathematics performance in women exposed to stereotype threat (Weger et al., 2012), and better episodic memory performance in undergraduates (Brown, Goodman, Ryan, & Anālayo, 2016). ...
Objective
The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of test anxiety and memory self-efficacy on memory performances in older adults.
Method
One hundred cognitively normal, community-dwelling older adults aged 65+ participated used in this experimental study. Participants completed baseline evaluations (including pre-test anxiety) prior to being assigned to one of two experimental conditions in which they experienced either success or failure on a verbal test. They subsequently completed post-test anxiety ratings, a measure of memory self-efficacy (Memory Self-Efficacy Questionnaire), and standardized tasks of working memory and verbal episodic memory.
Results
Following experimental manipulation, participants in the pre-test failure condition demonstrated higher anxiety and lower memory performances. Hierarchical regression revealed that change in anxiety from pre-test to post-test predicted memory performances and mediation analyses demonstrated that these effects were explained by lower memory self-efficacy.
Conclusions
For older adults, experiencing test failure prior to memory testing may result in increased test anxiety and lower memory self-efficacy leading to poorer memory performance. This has implications for diagnostic cognitive assessment for older people.
... Thus, cognitive decline due to such culturally-variant situational factor can be easily curbed by educating populations about ageism (Crawford, 2015). Such instructional interventions have previously led female participants to inoculate gender stereotype effects on math tests (Johns et al., 2005). ...
Objectives:
Negative aging stereotypes make older adults perform below their true potential in a number of cognitive domains. This phenomenon, known as Age-Based Stereotype Threat, is currently viewed as a powerful factor contributing to an overestimation of cognitive decline in normal aging. However, age-based stereotype threat has been investigated almost exclusively in Western countries. Whether this phenomenon is universal or culture-specific is unknown.
Methods:
Here, we first ran a pilot study (N=106) in which we assessed French and Indian participants' attitudes towards aging. Then, we assessed stereotype threat effects on arithmetic problem-solving performance and strategies in French and Indian older adults (N=104).
Results:
We found that French older adults have more negative implicit attitudes towards aging than Indian older adults. We also found that culture modulates age-based stereotype threat effects. Whereas French older adults experienced stereotype threat on both selection and execution of strategies on all arithmetic problems, Indian older adults experienced this threat only in their strategy selection on harder problems. Most interestingly, cultural differences emerged on arithmetic problems under stereotype threat condition, where otherwise no cultural differences were found in the control condition.
Discussion:
Our findings have important implications for understanding how cultural contexts change aging effects on human cognition and age-related difference in cognitive performance.
... domain identification, and varying levels of group identification and stigma consciousness), the idea that the phenomenon could also be dimensional is plausible as well as possible. Modeling latent classes that allowed for degree of ST susceptibility within each class might not only be a happy medium between the two extreme camps defining the nature of the phenomenon, but also a more (Spencer et al., 2001;Keller & Molix, 2008;Tomasetto et al., 2011;Tomasetto & Appoloni, 2013 (Johns et al., 2005), self-affirmation (Bowen et al., 2012;Miyake et al., 2010), and promoting an incremental view of intelligence (Aronson et al., 2001;Good et al., 2003) Lastly, this study has not only demonstrated that the psychometric properties of the SIAS remain consistently strong, but it has also provided further evidence of the validity of the scale in appropriately discriminating latent SST profiles by gender and academic domain, as discussed previously. The properties of the SIAS (i.e., strong reliability, and discriminant validity) speak to its potential as an effective SST classification tool that intervention researchers can use to develop differentiated ST reduction strategies for students. ...
The present study investigated the theoretical Stereotyping Threatsusceptibility groups proposed by Steele (1997) by using a latent class analysis. 413 undergraduate students from the U.S and Colombia, majoring in various Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) and non-STEM disciplines completed a stereotype threat susceptibility measure-- the Social Identities and Attitudes Scale, SIAS (Picho & Brown, 2011).
For U.S. women in STEM results indicated the presence of three ST susceptibility
profiles (i.e., low and high ST susceptibility classes and a disengaged class) and two variations of an un-identified class in the non-STEM sample. High and low susceptibility to ST classes were found for Colombian women in STEM, while the non-STEM sample yielded disengaged and un-identified classes. In both countries, over 70% of the women in STEM were classified as highly susceptible to ST. This is the first study investigating latent profiles of susceptibility to ST (SST) so additional replication with samples from different populations is strongly recommended. Extensive investigation into latent profiles of ST susceptibility could provide the insight required to develop differentiated ST reduction strategies for students in STEM and non-STEM fields of study
... ein Stereotypendenken aktiviert werden, was zu oben erwähnten "geschlechtstypischen" Verzerrungen führen kann. Wenn Studienteilnehmer allerdings über das Phänomen des stereotype threat informiert oder die Versuche als "geschlechtsneutral" deklariert werden, so lassen sich häufig keinerlei Geschlechtsunterschiede mehr bei den kognitiven Leistungen feststellen und Frauen schneiden genauso gut ab wie Männer(Hausmann et al., 2009;Johns et al., 2005;Spencer et al., 1999). Doch nicht nur das Stereotypendenken, auch der Testaufbau an sich trägt unter Umständen zum vermeintlichen kognitiven Geschlechtsunterschied bei. ...
Hintergrund und Ziele: Der Konsum von Alkohol und alkoholassoziierte Erkrankungen gehören weltweit neben Bluthochdruck und Rauchen zu den häufigsten Todesursachen. Die gesundheitlichen, sozialen und finanziellen Konsequenzen für die Betroffenen, deren Angehörige und die Gesellschaft insgesamt sind potenziell vermeidbar, weswegen die Suche nach Risikofaktoren und die rechtzeitige Einleitung wirkungsvoller Präventionsmaßnahmen entscheidend sind. Aus den zahlreichen möglichen Einflussfaktoren wurden im Rahmen dieser Studie die Wirkung von pränatalen und von aktuell zirkulierenden Sexualhormonkonzentrationen auf die Alkoholabhängigkeit ausgewählt und die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschieden im Trinkverhalten näher beleuchtet. Aufgrund deutlicher Parallelen zwischen der Auswirkung dieser Parameter sowohl auf die Alkoholabhängigkeit als auch auf das räumliche Vorstellungsvermögen, wurde schließlich die Frage gestellt, ob Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der mentalen Rotation als Risikomarker für die Entstehung einer Alkoholabhängigkeit genutzt werden können. Methoden: Bei 235 Kontrollen (n(♀)=102; n(♂)=133) und 153 Patienten (n(♀)=66; n(♂)=87), welche die Kriterien einer Alkoholabhängigkeit nach ICD-10-, DSM-IV- und DSM-5 erfüllten, wurde die Leistung auf dem Gebiet der mentalen Rotation anhand der revidierten Version des Mental Rotation Test (MRT) basierend auf dem Original von Vandenberg und Kuse ermittelt. Pränatale Sexualhormonkonzentrationen wurden indirekt mittels der Längenverhältnisse der Zeige- und Ringfinger (kurz 2D:4D-Fingerlängenverhältnis) und der Händigkeit bestimmt. Aktuell zirkulierende Sexualhormonkonzentrationen wurden aus Blutproben gewonnen. Das Ausmaß des Alkoholkonsums der Patienten wurde mit dem Lifetime Drinking History-Erhebungsbogen erfasst. Darüber hinaus wurde die Gruppe der gesunden Kontrollen weiter in eine Gruppe der Binge Drinker und der Non-Binge Drinker unterteilt und deren Leistung im MRT mit denen von Patienten verglichen. Ergebnisse und Beobachtungen: Die Patienten- und Kontrollgruppe unterschieden sich nicht hinsichtlich der Geschlechterverteilung und des Alters. Die Gruppe der Kontrollen verfügte über signifikant mehr Bildungsjahre als die Gruppe der Patienten (p<0,001). Die höhere Anzahl an Bildungsjahren hatte in der Kontrollgruppe einen signifikant positiven Einfluss auf den MRT (p=0,022). Das Alter beeinflusste sowohl in der männlichen (p<0,001) und in der weiblichen (p<0,001) Kontrollgruppe als auch bei Frauen der Patientengruppe (p=0,009) die Leistung im MRT negativ. Innerhalb der Patientengruppe tranken die Frauen seit Beginn der Abhängigkeit signifikant weniger Alkohol pro Tag als die Männer (p<0,001). Auch lag die Gesamtmenge an konsumiertem Alkohol bei Patientinnen signifikant unter dem der männlichen Patienten (p<0,001). Männer erreichten nicht nur in der Kontrollgruppe (p<0,001), sondern auch in der Patientengruppe (p=0,001) signifikant höhere Ergebnisse im MRT als weibliche Studienteilnehmer der entsprechenden Gruppen. Die weibliche (p=0,026) und männliche (p<0,001) Kontrollgruppe schnitt im MRT signifikant besser ab als die entsprechenden Teilnehmer der Patientengruppe. Binge Drinker erzielten im Vergleich zu Patienten und Non-Binge Drinkern im Durchschnitt die besten Ergebnisse. Das 2D:4D-Fingerlängenverhältnis und die Händigkeit zeigten in keiner der Gruppen einen signifikanten Zusammenhang mit der erreichten Punktzahl im MRT. Aktuelle bioverfügbare Testosteron- (p=0,012), Dihydrotestosteron- (p<0,001) und Progesteronkonzentrationen (p=0,010) korrelierten bei Männern der Kontrollgruppe, die Dihydrotestosteron -Konzentration (p=0,012) korrelierte bei Frauen der Kontrollgruppe signifikant positiv mit dem Ergebnis des MRT. Die Anzahl an stationären Entwöhnungen korrelierte in der Patientengruppe signifikant positiv mit der Leistung im MRT (p=0,004). Praktische Schlussfolgerungen: Entgegen der Hypothese erzielten die Patienten und Patientinnen deutlich schlechtere Ergebnisse im Mental Rotation Test als die gesunden Kontrollgruppen, was hauptsächlich auf die alkoholbedingte Neurodegeneration zurückgeführt werden kann. Aufgrund des fehlenden Zusammenhangs zwischen der mentalen Rotation und den Markern für pränatale Androgene, dem 2D:4D-Fingerlängenverhältnis und der Händigkeit, kann geschlussfolgert werden, dass letztendlich eher eine schwächere Wechselbeziehung zwischen dem 2D:4D-Fingerlängenverhältnis, der Händigkeit und dem MRT besteht als zwischen dem 2D:4D-Fingerlängenverhältnis, der Händigkeit und dem Risiko einer Alkoholabhängigkeit. Die Subgruppe der Binge Drinker erreichte im Durchschnitt die besten Ergebnisse im MRT, was den Grundgedanken dieser Forschungsarbeit stützt, da Binge Drinker tendenziell ein kleineres 2D:4D-Fingerlängenverhältnis aufweisen als gesunde Kontrollen und gleichzeitig gesunde Kontrollen auf dem Gebiet der mentalen Rotation übertreffen. Hypothesenkonform konnte ein positiver Einfluss aktuell zirkulierender Androgenkonzentrationen, hier vor allem des Dihydrotestosterons, auf die mentale Rotation in der Kontrollgruppe beobachtet werden kann. Der Mental Rotation Test ist folglich bei bereits bestehender Alkoholabhängigkeit nicht als Risikomarker geeignet, da die potentielle kognitive Leistung der Probanden aufgrund der Substanzmissbrauchsstörung nicht sicher erfasst werden kann. Zur Beantwortung der zugrunde liegenden Studienfrage wären prospektive Längsschnittstudien notwendig, bei der die kognitive Leistungsfähigkeit vor Entwicklung einer Abhängigkeit erfasst wird, um eine Verzerrung der Ergebnisse durch alkoholbedingte neurodegenerative Effekte zu vermeiden.
... Several proposed actions were introduced during the workshop as approaches to combat stereotype threat, prevent microaggressions, and promote growth mindset. For example, instructors can foster identity-safe learning environments by infusing multicultural perspectives into the curriculum (Prater & Devereaux, 2009), exposing their students to the illegitimacy of stereotypes asserting the inferior ability of underserved students and women (Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005), and interrupting microaggressions when they occur (Kenny, 2014). When giving feedback to students vulnerable to stereotype threat, instructors can embrace a growth mindset whereby they accentuate their high standards while assuring students that they are all capable of meeting them (Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002;Canning et al., 2019;Cohen, Steele, & Ross, 1999;Villegas & Lucas, 2002). ...
Background:
As higher education institutions strive to effectively support an increasingly diverse student body, they will be called upon to provide their faculty with tools to teach more inclusively, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms where recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups present long-standing challenges. Pedagogical training approaches to creating inclusive classrooms involve interventions that raise awareness of student and instructor social identities and explore barriers to learning, such as implicit bias, microaggressions, stereotype threat, and fixed mindset. Such efforts should focus on embracing diversity as an asset leveraged to benefit all students in their learning. In this paper, we describe the impact of multiday, off-campus immersion workshops designed to impart faculty with these tools. Based on analysis of workshop participant data, we report the resulting changes in faculty knowledge of factors affecting classroom climate and student success in STEM, attitudes about students, and motivation to adopt new teaching practices aimed at fostering equitable and culturally responsive learning environments.
Results:
Key findings indicate that attendees (1) increased their knowledge of social identities and the barriers to learning in STEM classrooms, particularly those faced by students from underrepresented groups in STEM or socioeconomically challenged backgrounds; (2) changed their attitudes about students' abilities as science majors, shifting away from a fixed-mindset perspective in which characteristics, such as intelligence, are perceived as innate and unalterable; and (3) modified their teaching approaches to promote inclusivity and cultural responsiveness.
Conclusion:
Faculty members, who are linchpins in the evolution of college classrooms into settings that provide students with equitable opportunities to succeed academically in STEM, can benefit from participating in immersion workshops structured to support their awareness of issues affecting classroom culture related to race/ethnicity, LGBTQ status, religious affiliation, ability, socioeconomic status, and other social identities that contribute to disparities in STEM achievement and persistence.
... Lehrkräfte sollten darauf achten, dass vor einem Test/ einer Klassenarbeit keine Stereotype aktiviert werden, beispielsweise durch gruppenbezogene Aussagen in den Testinstruktionen.Weitere Möglichkeiten zur Reduzierung von Stereotype Threat zielen darauf ab, die Widerstandsfähigkeit der Schüler*innen zu erhöhen. Wenn sie über Stereotype Threat und seine negativen Auswirkungen aufgeklärt werden, können sie ihre Nervosität auf die Bedrohung durch Stereotype zurückführen und der leistungsreduzierende Effekt ist nicht mehr so stark(Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005). Einige Forschungsarbeiten zeigten, dass Interventionen zur Stärkung des Zugehörigkeitsgefühls der Schüler*innen den leistungsreduzierenden Effekt ebenfalls verringern können(Walton & Carr, 2012;Walton & Cohen, 2011b;Yeager & Walton, 2011). ...
Im folgenden Kapitel wird ein Überblick über aktuelle psychologische Forschungsliteratur zur Entwicklung von Stereotypen im Kindes- und Jugendalter und ihren Konsequenzen im Schulkontext gegeben. Dabei werden zunächst die zentralen Begriffe definiert. Dann wird ein Überblick über drei zentrale Theorien zur Entstehung von Stereotypen bei Kindern gegeben. Im Anschluss wird ausführlich dargestellt in welchem Alter Kinder beginnen, soziale Kategorien und damit zusammenhängende Eigenschaften (Stereotype) zu verstehen und anzuwenden. Ausgehend von der Entwicklung von Stereotypen bei Kindern und Erwachsenen wird dann auf die Konsequenzen von Stereotypen im schulischen Kontext eingegangen. Dabei werden besonders die negativen Konsequenzen von Stereotypen auf die akademische Leistung, das Zugehörigkeitsgefühl zur Schule und die akademische und soziale Motivation dargestellt. Abschließend wird basierend auf aktuellen Forschungsergebnissen diskutiert, wie Stereotype und ihr (negativer) Einfluss im Schulkontext reduziert werden können.
... Considering practical implications for the beginning of students' studies in computer science is important to enable us to reap the benefits of manifold perspectives and approaches in this field and to achieve a narrowing of the gender gap in the long term. As shown in previous research, merely informing female students about the detrimental impact of negative stereotypes is a practical means to reduce its adverse effects (Johns et al. 2005). Likewise, informing first-year students in introductory classes that belonging uncertainty is frequently experienced and that it aff ects dropout intentions of both male and female students could have positive effects. ...
With the fast-growing sector of information technology in digitizing societies, the attraction and education of qualified recruits in computer science becomes a key task of tertiary education. Considering the high dropout rates and the continuing gender gap in computer science, the current study builds on the “leaky pipeline” phenomenon of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) by investigating belonging uncertainty in computer science as a predictor of students’ dropout intentions. In a study with first-semester computer science students (N = 217) at two time points, we tested the hypotheses that female students experience a greater belonging uncertainty than male students and that this belonging uncertainty is predictive of students’ dropout intentions. Furthermore, we explored whether belonging uncertainty is a more relevant predictor of female than male students’ intentions to drop out of computer science. In line with our predictions, our results show that female students experienced greater uncertainty about their belonging within the domain of computer science than male students and that belonging uncertainty significantly predicted students’ dropout intentions above and beyond the pertinent predictors academic self-efficacy, expectancy of success, perceived future utility value of the subject, and previous academic performance. Belonging uncertainty, however, was a relevant predictor of both female and male computer science students’ dropout intentions.
... The combination of the two graphs in Fig. 3 provides evidence that the female ability to better sustain performance does not correspond to the gender gaps that exist in the domains being assessed. This leads us to disregard gender differences in domain-specific cognitive skills or the stereotype threat associated with them [38][39][40][41] as an explanation of our findings. Given the discussion of the literature in the Introduction, we consider the following three potential explanations for our findings: (i) gender differences in noncognitive skills; (ii) gender differences in test-taking strategies; and (iii) gender differences in test effort. ...
Females tend to perform worse than males on math and science tests, but they perform better on verbal reading tests. Here, by analysing performance during a cognitive test, we provide evidence that females are better able to sustain their performance during a test across all of these topics, including math and science (study 1). This finding suggests that longer cognitive tests decrease the gender gap in math and science. By analysing a dataset with multiple tests that vary in test length, we find empirical support for this idea (study 2).
... Next, participants completed a math test (developed by Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005), which lasted 15 min and included 30 difficult yet solvable questions. Participants earned one point for each correct answer. ...
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.
... In the nonstereotype threat condition, in which the task was described as "a laboratory problemsolving task that was nondiagnostic of ability", Black and white participants performed equally (Steele and Aronson, 1995). Further, Johns et al. (2005) performed a study in which men and women completed difficult math problems that were described as a problem-solving task "for a study of general aspects of cognitive processes" or a math test "for a study of gender differences in mathematics performance". As expected, the results showed that women performed worse than men when the problems were described as a math test because of the stereotype threat created by the association between women and poor performance in math. ...
The editors of several major journals have recently asserted the importance of combating racism and sexism in science. This is especially relevant now, as the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a widening of the gender and racial/ethnicity gaps. Implicit bias is a crucial component in this fight. Negative stereotypes that are socially constructed in a given culture are frequently associated with implicit bias (which is unconscious or not perceived). In the present article, we point to scientific evidence that shows the presence of implicit bias in the academic community, which contributes to strongly damaging unconscious evaluations and judgments of individuals or groups. Additionally, we suggest several actions aimed at (1) editors and reviewers of scientific journals, (2) people in positions of power within funding agencies and research institutions and (3) members of selection committees to mitigate this effect. These recommendations are based on the experience of a group of Latin American scientists comprising Black and Latin women, teachers and undergraduate students who participate in a women in science working group at universities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With this article, we hope to contribute to reflections, actions and the development of institutional policies that enable and consolidate diversity in science and reduce disparities based on gender and race/ethnicity.
... On one hand, teachers could teach migrant children that their worries and stress about belonging are normal and transient, rather than targeted to their groups and fixed (Walton & Cohen, 2007). On the other hand, teachers could teach migrant children to accept the existence of stereotype threat, guiding them to attribute anxiety and stress to stereotype threat instead of the risk of failure (Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005) and help migrant children to reconstruct arousal (Johns, Inzlicht, & Schmader, 2008) as "a potential facilitator of strong performance rather than barrier to it" (Materman, n.d., p. 1). ...
Due to the household registration system, millions of rural-to-urban migrant children in China are ineligible to receive urban social welfare benefits. These children potentially suffer from the evolving awareness of their perceived inferior social identity and experiences of inequalities at an early stage of life. This study examined whether self-perceived social identity is related to academic performance and peer relations among rural-to-urban migrant children in Beijing. Data were collected from 136 children during 2013 and 2014 in three schools for migrant children in Beijing. Path analysis showed that children who identified as a Beijinger, compared with those who self-identified with their rural hometown, had better self-efficacy, which in turn was associated with better academic performance and better peer relations. Enlightened by Western theories, these findings suggest that migrant children’s performance in school could be enhanced by cultivating positive perceptions of their social identity through teachers’ practice and community- and policy-level social support.
... For instance, exposure to ingroup role models who are successful in the stereotyped domain can lessen stereotype threat effects (Marx and Goff 2005;Marx and Roman 2002). Likewise, informing members of stereotyped groups about the effects of stereotype threat may improve their performance on stereotype-relevant tasks (Johns, Schmader, and Martens 2005;Mazerolle et al. 2016). Positive intergenerational contact, either experienced or imagined, can lower older adults' vulnerability to stereotype threat effects by reducing anxiety (Abrams et al. 2008;Abrams, Eller, and Bryant 2006). ...
Older adults are often stereotyped as having less technological ability than younger age groups. As a result, older individuals may avoid using technology due to stereotype threat, the fear of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group. The present research examined the role of stereotype threat within the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Across two studies, experiencing stereotype threat in the technological domain was indirectly associated with lower levels of technology use among older adults. This was found for subjective (Study 1) and objective measures (Study 2) of use behaviour, and for technology use in general (Study 1) and computer use in particular (Study 2). In line with the predictions of the Technology Acceptance Model, this relationship was mediated by anxiety, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavioural intention. Specifically, stereotype threat was negatively associated with perceived ease of use (Studies 1 and 2) and anxiety mediated this relationship (Study 2). These findings suggest that older adults underuse technology due to the threat of confirming ageist stereotypes targeting their age group. Stereotype threat may thus be an important barrier to technology acceptance and usage in late adulthood.
... The propositions outlined in this chapter suggest how such work environments could exacerbate disadvantageous gender effects for women in negotiation. Strategies for mitigating gender biases could include raising awareness of the potentially deleterious effects of stereotypes (Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005;Kray & Shirako, 2011) and reducing feelings of anxiety that contribute to stereotype-based judgements and stereotype threat (Rudman et al., 2007;Trombini et al., 2019). ...
... Teachers may show students role models who have overcome these stereotypes, such as Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to be awarded a Fields Medal in mathematics. Moreover, they can teach students about the stereotype threat, which has been shown to decrease its effects (Johns et al., 2005). Likewise, it has been found that several educational methods, such as collaboration, can decrease the stereotype threat. ...
Research has demonstrated gender differences in the decision‐making process, showing that women make more disadvantageous risk decisions than men. However, these differences have not been examined in terms of psychosocial or socio‐structural variables, such as the gender stereotype threat. We conducted an experimental study (Ns = 105) to test the well‐established stereotype threat effect on decision‐making through the Iowa Gambling Task and the possible moderation of this effect by sensitivity to punishment and fear of negative evaluation. The results revealed that women under a stereotype threat condition make more disadvantageous risk decisions than men in the same conditions or women in the nonstereotype threat condition. Moreover, women greatly fearing negative evaluation seemed to make more disadvantageous risk decisions compared with other groups. These findings highlight the relevance of psychosocial variables that legitimize gender inequality, such as the stereotype threat and fear of negative evaluation, in women's decision‐making process.
... Vor allem im Hinblick auf den Stereotype Threat könnte es wichtig sein, die Studierenden über diesen aufzuklären. Dies könnte dazu führen, dass die Ängste nicht auf die vermeintlich mangelnde Kompetenz attribuiert werden (Johns, Schmader & Martens, 2005). Außerdem könnte die Dozentin über ihre eigenen Erfahrungen berichten und erklären, dass sie zu Beginn auch Unsicherheit bezüglich des Programmierens verspürt hat, die jedoch durch eine intensivere Beschäftigung mit dem Thema abgebaut werden konnte. ...
Empirische Pädagogik ______________________ 35. Jahrgang 2021 1. Heft
... The results of Studies 1 and 2, for instance, suggest that pre-service teachers for elementary schools might be in greater need of interventions than preservice teachers for grammar schools. Possible means to fight the effects of stereotype threat include psychoeducative interventions (Johns et al., 2005). Teacher training programs could include psychoeducation in their curriculum covering the mechanisms of stereotype threat, nuanced sub-stereotypes about pre-service teachers, and research results contrasting these stereotypes. ...
According to the stereotype content model, stereotypes can be described by using the dimensions competence and warmth. Compared to other professions, teaching is associated with a paternalistic stereotype consisting of high warmth and low competence. In four studies, stereotypes about different subgroups of pre-service teachers were compared. The aim was to understand sub-stereotypes better that could lead to different levels of stereotype threat and adverse behavioral tendencies. In Study 1 (N = 335), we compared stereotypes about elementary school pre-service teachers, grammar school pre-service teachers, computer science students, law students, and psychology students reported by pre-service teachers and psychology students. In contrast to nonteaching students, both groups of pre-service teachers corresponded to the paternalistic stereotype. In Study 2 (N = 243), pre-service teachers reported stereotypes about pre-service teachers for elementary schools, special education schools, comprehensive schools, vocational schools, and grammar schools. Elementary school pre-service teachers were stereotyped most paternalistically, while grammar school pre-service teachers matched the paternalistic stereotype the least. The ratings of other school types mostly fell between these extremes. In Studies 3a (N = 133, open-ended questions) and 3b (N = 308, closed-ended questions), students of various study programs compared pre-service teachers majoring in German and history (representing a non-STEM major combination) to pre-service teachers with the majors mathematics and physics (representing a STEM major combination). Pre-service teachers studying German and history were rated warmer but less competent than pre-service teachers with the majors mathematics and physics, confirmed by both methods of measuring stereotypes. In Studies 1, 3a, and 3b, ingroup favoritism in the ratings by pre-service teacher participants was tested and only found for competence in Study 1. The importance of our results and their implications for stereotype threat effects and possible interventions are discussed.
... Furthermore, Johns et al. (2005) performed a study in which men and women completed difficult math problems that were described as a problem-solving task "for a study of general aspects of cognitive processes" or a math test "for a study of gender differences in mathematics performance. " As expected, the results showed that women performed worse than men when the problems were described as a math test because of the stereotype threat created by the association between women and poor performance in math. ...
The editors of several major journals have recently asserted the importance of combating racism and sexism in science. This is especially relevant now, as the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a widening of the gender and racial/ethnicity gaps. Implicit bias is a crucial component in this fight. Negative stereotypes that are socially constructed in a given culture are frequently associated with implicit bias (which is unconscious or not perceived). In the present article, we point to scientific evidence that shows the presence of implicit bias in the academic community, contributing to strongly damaging unconscious evaluations and judgments of individuals or groups. Additionally, we suggest several actions aimed at (1) editors and reviewers of scientific journals (2) people in positions of power within funding agencies and research institutions, and (3) members of selection committees to mitigate this effect. These recommendations are based on the experience of a group of Latinx American scientists comprising Black and Latina women, teachers, and undergraduate students who participate in women in science working group at universities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With this article, we hope to contribute to reflections, actions, and the development of institutional policies that enable and consolidate diversity in science and reduce disparities based on gender and race/ethnicity.
... This effect was attributed to anxiety stemming from subconscious processing of stereotypical expectations [79] and was replicated in different contexts [85,28]. Crucially, a study over a sample of 144 students (75 women and 42 men) by Johns and colleagues [44] found that raising awareness about stereotype threat could significantly improve students' computational performance, opening the way to future pedagogic interventions reducing such effect. ...
This is an old version of the manuscript. For the updated review, available Open Access online, please refer to the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/comnet/cnac022
... Therefore, "women bear the extra burden of having a stereotype that alleges a sex-based inability" (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999), whenever they are exposed to a situation requiring math skills. Johns, Schmader, and Martens (2005) in their study proved that stereotype threat if addressed properly in women's math classes, can reduce their perception of anxiety and in turn trigger their ability to achieve more in maths. If there are policies that include paid parental leave, flexible schedules, and time working at home (Glass, Sassler, Levitte, & Michelmore, 2013) it could benefit both men and women who want to dedicate time to their families and not just to work. ...
Virtual Reality (VR) technology, sometimes called Virtual Environments (VE) has drawn much attention by researchers and companies in the last few years. Virtual Reality is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world or in imaginary worlds. With virtual reality, we can experience the most threatening and exhausting situations by playing safe and with a learning perspective. Virtual Reality has been a promising technology applicable in various domains of application such as medical care, health care, education, scientific visualization, training simulators, and entertainment industry. In recent years, the application of Virtual Reality technologies has greatly increased. However, very few people really know VR. This purpose of this paper is to find new knowledge from existing literature on Virtual Reality and use this scrutiny to recognize research gaps that may stimulate future research.
The present analysis of more than 180,000 sentences from movie plots across the period from 1940 to 2019 emphasizes how gender stereotypes are expressed through the cultural products of society. By applying a network analysis to the word co-occurrence networks of movie plots and using a novel method of identifying story tropes, we demonstrate that gender stereotypes exist in Hollywood movies. An analysis of specific paths in the network and the words reflecting various domains show the dynamic changes in some of these stereotypical associations. Our results suggest that gender stereotypes are complex and dynamic in nature. Specifically, whereas male characters appear to be associated with a diversity of themes in movies, female characters seem predominantly associated with the theme of romance. Although associations of female characters to physical beauty and marriage are declining over time, associations of female characters to sexual relationships and weddings are increasing. Our results demonstrate how the application of cognitive network science methods can enable a more nuanced investigation of gender stereotypes in textual data.
Whether mathematics is a gendered domain or not is a long‐lasting issue bringing along major social and educational implications. The females' underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been considered one of the key signs of the math gender gap, although the current view largely attributes the origin of this phenomenon to sociocultural factors. Indeed, recent approaches to math gender differences reached the universal conclusion that nature and nurture exert reciprocal effects on each other, establishing the need for approaching the study of the math gender issue only once its intrinsic complexity has been accepted. Building upon a flourishing literature, this review provides an updated synthesis of the evidence for math gender equality at the start, and for math gender inequality on the go, challenging the role of biological factors. In particular, by combining recent findings from different research areas, the paper discusses the persistence of the “math male myth” and the associated “female are not good at math myth,” drawing attention to the complex interplay of social and cultural forces that support such stereotypes. The suggestion is made that longevity of these myths results from the additive effects of two independent cognitive biases associated with gender stereotypes and with math stereotypes, respectively. Scholars' responsibility in amplifying these myths by pursuing some catching lines of research is also discussed.
Introduction
The number of older people diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), the prodromal state of Alzheimer's disease (AD), is increasing worldwide. However, some patients with aMCI never convert to the AD type of dementia, with some remaining stable and others reverting to normal. This overdiagnosis bias has been largely overlooked and gone unexplained. There is ample evidence in the laboratory that negative ageing stereotypes (eg, the culturally shared belief that ageing inescapably causes severe cognitive decline) contribute to the deteriorating cognitive performances of healthy older adults, leading them to perform below their true abilities. The study described here is intended to test for the first time whether such stereotypes also impair patients’ cognitive performances during neuropsychological examinations in memory clinics, resulting in overdiagnosis of aMCI.
Methods and analysis
The ongoing study is a 4-year randomised clinical trial comparing patients’ physiological stress and cognitive performances during neuropsychological testing in memory clinics. A total of 260 patients attending their first cognitive evaluation will be randomised to either a standard condition of test administration, assumed here to implicitly activate negative ageing stereotypes or a reduced-threat instruction condition designed to alleviate the anxiety arising from these stereotypes. Both groups will be tested with the same test battery and stress biomarkers. For 30 patients diagnosed with aMCI in each group (n=60), biomarkers of neurodegeneration and amyloidopathy will be used to distinguish between aMCI with normal versus abnormal AD biomarkers. A 9-month follow-up will be performed on all patients to identify those whose cognitive performances remain stable, deteriorate or improve.
Ethics and dissemination
This protocol has been approved by the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety and the Sud-Est I French Ethics Committee (2017-A00946-47). Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals.
Trial registration number
NCT03138018 .
Warum ist der Begriff „Vorurteil“ in unseren Köpfen so negativ behaftet? Dies liegt daran, dass Vorurteile neben positiven Effekten auf die Effizienz der Informationsverarbeitung auch verheerende Auswirkungen haben können und uns vor allem diese negative Seite der Medaille präsent ist. So können Vorurteile dazu führen, dass beispielsweise Ausländer, Behinderte oder auch Übergewichtige sowohl in der Schule als auch im Berufsleben gehänselt, drangsaliert und gemieden werden. Aufgrund dieser Auswirkungen von Vorurteilen und ihrer Eskalationen erscheint es besonders bedeutsam, Kenntnis darüber zu haben, was Vorurteile genau sind (Abschn. 4.1), wann und wie sie zur Anwendung kommen (Abschn. 4.2), wie sie entstehen (Abschn. 4.3) und was sie aufrechterhält (Abschn. 4.4). Auf Basis dieses Wissens ist es möglich, verantwortungsvoller mit eigenen Vorurteilen umzugehen.
Stereotype sind in vielen Bereichen des alltäglichen Lebens von Kindern und Jugendlichen omnipräsent, wobei auch die Schule keine Ausnahme bildet. So gilt Mathematik immer noch als klassisches Jungenfach, während die Mädchen besser lesen und insgesamt besser abschneiden. Inwiefern Stereotype jedoch nicht nur die Fachpräferenz, sondern auch das Leistungspotenzial der Schüler*innen beeinflussen, wurde erst in den letzten 25 Jahren in der Stereotyp-Forschung thematisiert. Im folgenden Kapitel wird daher gezielt dargestellt, welche Effekte Geschlechtsstereotype über Fähigkeiten auf die Leistung von Mädchen und Jungen in der Schule haben können. Die Basis dazu bildet der Stereotype-Threat-Ansatz (Steele und Aronson 1995), dessen Wurzeln und Entwicklungslinien mit Fokus auf die stereotype Bedrohung Lernender in verschiedenen Domänen, nachfolgend aufgezeigt werden.
Frühere Forschung hat gezeigt, dass die Aktivierung negativer Stereotype leistungseinschränkende Effekte für betroffene Gruppenmitglieder haben kann (sogenannter Stereotype Threat-Effekt). Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird zunächst ein Überblick über diese Forschung gegeben, bei dem immer wieder Bezug auf die besondere Situation ethnischer Minderheiten in Deutschland genommen wird. Da negative Emotionen im Kontext von Stereotype Threat eine bedeutsame Rolle spielen können, werden in einem nächsten Schritt Ansätze zur Emotionsregulation in die Forschung zu Stereotype Threat integriert. Abschließend werden verschiedene Arten der Emotionsregulation dargestellt, die von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Stereotype Threat-Situationen eingesetzt werden können.
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
Increased interest in anti-racist education has motivated the rapidly growing but politically contentious adoption of ethnic studies (ES) courses in US public schools. A long-standing rationale for ES courses is that their emphasis on culturally relevant and critically engaged content (e.g., social justice, anti-racism, stereotypes, contemporary social movements) has potent effects on student engagement and outcomes. However, the quantitative evidence supporting this claim is limited. In this preregistered regression-discontinuity study, we examine the longer-run impact of a grade 9 ES course offered in the San Francisco Unified School District. Our key confirmatory finding is that assignment to this course significantly increased the probability of high school graduation among students near the grade 8 2.0 grade point average (GPA) threshold used for assigning students to the course. Our exploratory analyses also indicate that assignment increased measures of engagement throughout high school (e.g., attendance) as well as the probability of postsecondary matriculation.
This paper examines the puzzling phenomenon of self‐directed implicit bias in the form of gender “stereotype threat” (ST). Bringing to light the empirical undecidability of which account of this phenomenon is best, whether a rational or an associationist explanation, the paper aims to strengthen the associationist approach by appeal to a new account of seeing‐as experiences. I critically examine “alief” accounts of reason‐recalcitrant ST by bringing to bear arguments from the philosophy of emotion. The new account builds on the insights and overcomes the weaknesses of “aliefs” by (a) employing associations that are imaginative and unreliable; and (b) proposing non‐conceptual seeing‐as experiences.
La plupart des recherches a montré que l’effet de la menace du stéréotype pouvait être renforcé par l'essentialisme psychologique, c’est-à-dire par la croyance selon laquelle les caractéristiques de surface d’un groupe s’expliqueraient par une essence sous-jacente partagée par les membres de ce groupe. Dans cette thèse, nous envisageons le processus inverse en faisant l’hypothèse que la menace du stéréotype peut elle-même renforcer l’essentialisme psychologique. Selon nous, cet effet répondrait au besoin de justifier ou de rationaliser la situation d'échec dans laquelle la menace du stéréotype peut nous plonger. Ainsi, l'essentialisme offrirait cette possibilité car il serait plus confortable d’attribuer un échec à sa propre nature plutôt qu’à un manque d'apprentissage ou d'effort. De manière générale, l'essentialisme est étudié pour ses effets négatifs dans divers domaines et spécifiquement dans le paradigme de la menace du stéréotype. L'objectif englobant notre thèse est de dépasser cette conception sans toutefois la renier. Ainsi, nous tenterons d'observer l'utilité d'une telle croyance. En effet, il est possible de se demander, alors même que l’essentialisation peut renforcer la discrimination, pourquoi certaines personnes qui en sont elles-mêmes victimes usent de l’essentialisme en retour. Nous défendrons l’idée d’un essentialisme susceptible de constituer une stratégie défensive de soi, singulièrement efficace à un niveau individuel mais beaucoup moins désirable à un niveau plus groupal. Cette idée est particulièrement applicable à la menace du stéréotype dans notre optique de justification d’un échec. L'autre objectif général est d'étudier les tenants et aboutissants idéologiques de la menace du stéréotype.
While the majority of mental health clinicians are white, our clients increasingly represent more diverse groups. We cannot suppose our clients as being intangible and disentangled from a social context that involves experiences of discrimination, racism, and the feeling of being “other”—a child or an adult who gets the sense they are different and are constantly stereotyped because of being nonwhite or part of other targeted groups. This chapter will focus on traumatic and difficult experiences as a result of discrimination and other hostile encounters. I’ll describe research on the mental health effects of microaggressions and discrimination and discuss stereotype and stereotype threat. Finally, as part of ongoing facilitation of a supportive therapeutic relationship, it’s important that clinicians feel comfortable in talking about differences between themselves and their clients.
Based on stereotype threat theory this study explored potential negative effects of an intervention. Stereotype threat is defined as a performance drop people experience when they face negative expectations about their groups’ performance. Teaching women about this phenomenon was explored as one intervention against stereotype threat in mathematics with mixed results. Therefore, a teaching intervention on stereotype threat was compared to a threat and control group. Due to the implicit nature of stereotype threat we assumed gender differences favoring boys in mathematical performance, expectations and cognitive load in the stereotype threat and intervention group compared to the control group. The intervention/manipulation was conducted via instruction: The intervention group was taught about stereotype threat, the stereotype threat group was informed about boys’ mathematical superiority, while the control group received information on the relation between attitudes and mathematical performance. The sample consisted of N = 83 adolescents (M = 14.86; SD = 0.54). As expected, significant performance differences favoring boys revealed after threat and intervention, but not in the control group. Furthermore, girls reported lower performance expectations after intervention, while their cognitive load was higher under stereotype threat.
The geosciences (inclusive of geology, oceanography, atmospheric science and allied disciplines) have an ethical imperative to increase diversity in the profession. The diverse ways of exploring the Earth system, and the complexity of the grand challenges facing humanity living on Earth, require contributions of experience, skills, knowledge, and motivations from diverse populations. Diversity increases creativity and problem-solving abilities in working groups, and ultimately is important for the long-term health of the geoscience discipline, for contributions that impact the health and security of society, and for stewardship of the planet. Barriers and disincentives for people from underrepresented groups (URMs) in the geosciences are identified, and interventions and remedies are recommended. Increasing diversity will take an all-discipline commitment by geoscientists and geoscience departments, companies and institutions. All people should have access and opportunity to pursue careers in the geosciences. Geoscientists have a responsibility to create work spaces that are welcoming, inclusive, safe and supportive.
Test anxiety is a major concern in education because it causes uncomfortable feelings in test-anxious students and may reduce the validity of exam scores as a measure of learning. As such, brief and cost-effective interventions are necessary to minimize the negative impact of test anxiety on students’ academic performance. In the present experiment, we examine two such interventions: expressive writing (Experiment 1) and an instructional intervention (Experiment 2), with the latter developed from a similar intervention for stereotype threat. Across four authentic exams in a psychology class, students alternated between completing the intervention and a control task immediately before completing the exams. Neither intervention was effective at reducing test anxiety or improving exam performance. The present results suggest that these interventions may not be successful in addressing the impacts of test anxiety in all classroom settings.
Self-efficacy is easily the most important construct for engagement and success in achievement contexts. In this article, we aim to promote a better understanding of theory-driven practices that foster students’ self-efficacy beliefs in math, especially the practices that change young learners’ mindset and gender stereotypes in math. We briefly present the self-efficacy theory first, followed by theoretical and empirical findings within the mindset and stereotype literature that are relevant to self-efficacy enhancement. Next, we introduce the core concepts and messages, embedded psychological processes, and unique design features of a recent math intervention delivered as part of regular classroom instruction, which has proven effective for enriching children’s growth mindsets and gender-fair beliefs regarding math ability.
Masculine stereotypes of entrepreneurship represent a threat to women. We aim to understand how such stereotype threat affects women’s opportunity evaluation through anxiety. We test our idea using a two-randomized-experiment strategy and achieve external validity using a survey of female entrepreneurs. We find that situational anxiety, as an emotional mechanism, explains why stereotype threat negatively influences opportunity evaluation among women. We further unveil emotional intelligence as a boundary condition enabling women to cope with stereotype threat during opportunity evaluation. Our studies provide new insights into an emotive view of stereotype threat in the context of women’s entrepreneurship.
Recent theory and research suggest that certain situational factors can harm women’s math test performance. The three studies presented here indicate that female role models can buffer women’s math test performance from the debilitating effects of these situational factors. In Study 1, women’s math test performance was protected when a competent female experimenter (i.e., a female role model) administered the test. Study 2 showed that it was the perception of the female experimenter’s math competence, not her physical presence, that safeguarded the math test performance of women. Study 3 revealed that learning about a competent female experimenter buffered women’s self-appraised math ability, which in turn led to successful performance on a challenging math test.
Women in quantitative fields risk being personally reduced to negative stereotypes that allege a sex-based math inability. This situational predicament, termed stereotype threat, can undermine women’s performance and aspirations in all quantitative domains. Gender-stereotypic television commercials were employed in three studies to elicit the female stereotype among both men and women. Study 1 revealed that only women for whom the activated stereotype was self-relevant underperformed on a subsequent math test. Exposure to the stereotypic commercials led women taking an aptitude test in Study 2 to avoid math items in favor of verbal items. In Study 3, women who viewed the stereotypic commercials indicated less interest in educational/vocational options in which they were susceptible to stereotype threat (i.e., quantitative domains) and more interest in fields in which they were immune to stereotype threat (i.e., verbal domains).
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)
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.
The authors tested and confirmed the hypothesis that priming a stereotype or trait leads to complex overt behavior in line with this activated stereotype or trait. Specifically, 4 experiments established that priming the stereotype of professors or the trait intelligent enhanced participants' performance on a scale measuring general knowledge. Also, priming the stereotype of soccer hooligans or the trait stupid reduced participants' performance on a general knowledge scale. Results of the experiments revealed (a) that prolonged priming leads to more pronounced behavioral effects and (b) that there is no sign of decay of the effects for at least 15 min. The authors explain their results by claiming that perception had a direct and pervasive impact on overt behavior (cf. J.A. Bargh, M. Chen, & L. Burrows, 1996). Implications for human social behavior are discussed.
Considerable recent research has examined the effects that activated stereotypes have on behavior. Research on both self-stereotype activation and other-stereotype activation has tended to show that people behave in ways consistent with the stereotype (e.g., walking more slowly if the elderly stereotype is activated). Interestingly, however, the dominant account for the behavioral effects of self-stereotype activation involves a hot motivational factor (i.e., stereotype threat), whereas the dominant account for the behavioral effects of other-stereotype activation focuses on a rather cold cognitive explanation (i.e., ideomotor processes). The current review compares and contrasts the behavioral research on self- and other-stereotype activation and concludes that both motivational and cognitive explanations might account for effects in each domain.
Although research has shown that priming negative stereotypes leads to lower performance among stigmatized individuals, little is understood about the cognitive mechanism that accounts for these effects. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that stereotype threat interferes with test performance because it reduces individuals' working memory capacity. Results show that priming self-relevant negative stereotypes reduces women's (Experiment 1) and Latinos' (Experiment 2) working memory capacity. The final study revealed that a reduction in working memory capacity mediates the effect of stereotype threat on women's math performance (Experiment 3). Implications for future research on stereotype threat and working memory are discussed.
What was noted by E. J. Langer (1978) remains true today; that much of contemporary psychological research is based on the assumption that people are consciously and systematically processing incoming information in order to construe and interpret their world and to plan and engage in courses of action. As did E. J. Langer, the authors question this assumption. First, they review evidence that the ability to exercise such conscious, intentional control is actually quite limited, so that most of moment-to-moment psychological life must occur through nonconscious means if it is to occur at all. The authors then describe the different possible mechanisms that produce automatic, environmental control over these various phenomena and review evidence establishing both the existence of these mechanisms as well as their consequences for judgments, emotions, and behavior. Three major forms of automatic self-regulation are identified: an automatic effect of perception on action, automatic goal pursuit, and a continual automatic evaluation of one's experience. From the accumulating evidence, the authors conclude that these various nonconscious mental systems perform the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, beneficently keeping the individual grounded in his or her current environment.
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.
African American college students tend to obtain lower grades than their White counterparts, even when they enter college with equivalent test scores. Past research suggests that negative stereotypes impugning Black students' intellectual abilities play a role in this underperformance. Awareness of these stereotypes can psychologically threaten African Americans, a phenomenon known as “stereotype threat” (Steele & Aronson, 1995), which can in turn provoke responses that impair both academic performance and psychological engagement with academics. An experiment was performed to test a method of helping students resist these responses to stereotype threat. Specifically, students in the experimental condition of the experiment were encouraged to see intelligence—the object of the stereotype—as a malleable rather than fixed capacity. This mind-set was predicted to make students' performances less vulnerable to stereotype threat and help them maintain their psychological engagement with academics, both of which could help boost their college grades. Results were consistent with predictions. The African American students (and, to some degree, the White students) encouraged to view intelligence as malleable reported greater enjoyment of the academic process, greater academic engagement, and obtained higher grade point averages than their counterparts in two control groups.
Two experiments showed that framing an athletic task as diagnostic of negative racial stereotypes about Black or White athletes can impede their performance in sports. In Experiment 1, Black participants performed significantly worse than did control participants when performance on a golf task was framed as diagnostic of "sports intelligence." In comparison, White participants performed worse than did control participants when the golf task was framed as diagnostic of 'natural athletic ability." Experiment 2 observed the effect of stereotype threat on the athletic performance of White participants for whom performance in sports represented a significant measure of their self-worth. The implications of the findings for the theory of stereotype threat (C. M. Steele, 1997) and for participation in sports are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
What was noted by E. J. Langer (1978) remains true today: that much of contemporary psychological research is based on the assumption that people are consciously and systematically processing incoming information in order to construe and interpret their world and to plan and engage in courses of action. As did Langer, the authors question this assumption. First, they review evidence that the ability to exercise such conscious, intentional control is actually quite limited, so that most of moment-to-moment psychological life must occur through nonconscious means if it is to occur at all. The authors then describe the different possible mechanisms that produce automatic, environmental control over these various phenomena and review evidence establishing both the existence of these mechanisms as well as their consequences for judgments, emotions, and behavior. Three major forms of automatic self-regulation are identified: an automatic effect of perception on action, automatic goal pursuit, and a continual automatic evaluation of one's experience. From the accumulating evidence, the authors conclude that these various nonconscious mental systems perform the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, beneficently keeping the individual grounded in his or her current environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Stereotype threat impairs performance in situations where a stereotype holds that one’s group will perform poorly. Two experiments investigated whether reminding women of other women’s achievements might alleviate women’s mathematics stereotype threat. In Experiment 1, college women performed significantly better on a difficult mathematics test when they were first told that women in general make better participants than men in psychology experiments. In Experiment 2, college women performed significantly better on a difficult mathematics test when they first read about four individual women who had succeeded in architecture, law, medicine, and invention. The results are seen as having implications for theories of stereotype threat, self-evaluation, and performance expectations.
Reviewers have consistently concluded that males perform better on mathematics tests than females do. To make a refined assessment of the magnitude of gender differences in mathematics performance, we performed a meta-analysis of 100 studies. They yielded 254 independent effect sizes, representing the testing of 3,175,188 Ss. Averaged over all effect sizes based on samples of the general population, d was -0.05, indicating that females outperformed males by only a negligible amount. For computation, d was -0.14 (the negative value indicating superior performance by females). For understanding of mathematical concepts, d was -0.03; for complex problem solving, d was 0.08. An examination of age trends indicated that girls showed a slight superiority in computation in elementary school and middle school. There were no gender differences in problem solving in elementary or middle school; differences favoring men emerged in high school (d = 0.29) and in college (d = 0.32). Gender differences were smallest and actually favored females in samples of the general population, grew larger with increasingly selective samples, and were largest for highly selected samples and samples of highly precocious persons. The magnitude of the gender difference has declined over the years; for studies published in 1973 or earlier d was 0.31, whereas it was 0.14 for studies published in 1974 or later. We conclude that gender differences in mathematics performance are small. Nonetheless, the lower performance of women in problem solving that is evident in high school requires attention.
Does placing females in environments in which they have contact with males cause deficits in their problem-solving performance? Is a situational cue, such as gender composition, sufficient for creating a threatening intellectual environment for females--an environment that elicits performance-impinging stereotypes? Two studies explored these questions. Participants completed a difficult math or verbal test in 3-person groups, each of which included 2 additional people of the same sex as the participant (same-sex condition) or of the opposite sex (minority condition). Female participants in the minority condition experienced performance deficits in the math test only, whereas males performed equally well on the math test in the two conditions. Further investigation showed that females' deficits were proportional to the number of males in their group. Even females who were placed in a mixed-sex majority condition (2 females and 1 male) experienced moderate but significant deficits. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of distinctiveness, stereotype threat, and tokenism.
Stereotype threat: Forewarned is forearmed. Unpublished manuscript The unbearable automaticity of being
- J Aronson
- J Williams
Aronson, J., & Williams, J. (2004). Stereotype threat: Forewarned is forearmed. Unpublished manuscript, New York University, New York. Bargh, J.A., & Chartrand, T.L. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American Psychologist, 54, 462–479.
Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat Advances in experimental social psy-chology Stereotype threat effects on Black and White athletic performance
- C M Steele
- S J Spencer
- J Aronson
Steele, C.M., Spencer, S.J., & Aronson, J. (2002). Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psy-chology (Vol. 34, pp. 379–440). New York: Academic Press. Stone, J., Lynch, C.I., Sjomeling, M., & Darley, J.M. (1999). Stereotype threat effects on Black and White athletic performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1213–1227.
Stereotype threat: Forewarned is forearmed. Unpublished manuscript
- J Aronson
- J Williams
Aronson, J., & Williams, J. (2004). Stereotype threat: Forewarned is
forearmed. Unpublished manuscript, New York University, New
York.