Indiana University Bloomington, USA

Exploring Stereotype Threat and Stereotype Boost: The Impact of Manner of Stereotype Activation

Fanny Jimenez

Table of Contents

Introduction ... 1

The concept of stereotype threat and stereotype boost ... 2

The role of self-relevance ... 5

The role of manner of stereotype activation ... 8

The study ... 12

Method ... 13

Results ... 15

Discussion ... 20

Conclusion ... 24

References ... 25

Appendix A ... 31

Appendix B ... 33

Introduction

The concept of stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) has received considerable attention in the past few years. In several studies, Steele and his colleagues took a close look at the influence that negative stereotypes can have on individuals in performance-related situations. As a reaction to the initial concept, the research also extended to other phenomena related to stereotype threat, such as the influence of positive stereotypes in performance-related situations. However, this investigation of the other side of stereotype threat and further studies that have been done regarding stereotype threat in general resulted in contradicting findings.
My thesis presents a focused review of the available literature first. This is done to provide a basis for the conceptual framework Shih and colleagues proposed (Shih, Ambady, Richeson, Fujita & Gray, 2002). Their work integrates the conflicting findings and suggests two possible factors that might regulate the effects that positive and negative stereotypes have on people: self-relevance and the manner of stereotype activation. In my study, I tested this framework in replicating and critically evaluating the study Shih et al. (2002) have conducted. The results and implications for future research are presented.

The concept of stereotype threat and stereotype boost

Stereotype threat refers to “the threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype” (Steele, 1999, p.46). Steele and Aronson introduced the concept of stereotype threat in 1995 when they conducted a study with White and Black participants taking a test of verbal abilities. They found that merely asking Black participants to record their race on a demographic questionnaire before taking the exam significantly decreased their test scores compared to scores of White participants. They had less items correct, fewer items answered and spent more time on questions. When not asked to record their race, all participants scored equally well (Steele & Aronson, 1995). The researchers controlled for prior ability differences by taking into account the SAT scores of the participants. This seemed to indicate that simply making the group membership salient for which there is a negative stereotype worsens performance in test situations that refer to that stereotype. The same results were found when women’s math performance scores were compared to those of men and the women had been told in advance that men usually did better on that test, again with appropriate controls for ability differences (Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1997). Steele extended the findings in showing stereotype threat and resulting performance deficits in White men being compared to Asians on math tests when they were told that Asians usually scored better on the test (Steele, 1999). These studies showed how heavily people can be temporarily affected by salient negative stereotypes, even when they do not belong to a group that is usually stigmatized, as in the latter example. Further studies indicating the same pattern of results concerned Caucasians from a low socioeconomic background and their test scores (Croizet & Claire, 1998) or Latino students and test scores (Gonzales et al., 2002; Aronson, Quinn & Spencer, 1998). Steele (1997) proposed five main features of stereotype threat:

1. Stereotype threat affects members of any group about whom there exists some negative stereotype. Stereotype threat has the potential to affect members of any group, if a situation makes them believe they will be viewed in light of a negative stereotype.
2. A stereotype must be relevant to one’s self for it to be threatening; one must care about the domain or behavior that the stereotype describes.
3. Stereotype threat is variable across different groups and situations. Different groups experience different degrees of threat depending on the content of the stereotype and the situation.
4. One need not believe in the stereotype for it to be threatening.
5. Trying to disprove a stereotype – for example by outperforming - has detrimental effects and paradoxically leads to a decrease in performance.

Most impaired by stereotype threat in one of Steele’s studies were “the most achievement oriented students, who were also the most skilled, motivated, and confident” (Steele, 1999, p.48). This surprising finding underlines points four and five. By trying to disconfirm the negative stereotype about their group - and the more talented they are, the harder they might try- people are plagued with distraction, self-consciousness, evaluation apprehension, test anxiety, and loss of motivation - leading to a decrease in test performance (Croizet et al., 2001). One condition that is important to note is that the performance task needs to be challenging. On easy or well-learned tasks, additional effort can actually boost performance under stereotype threat (O′Brien & Crandall, 2003).

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