Understanding the Effect of Stereotypes

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Understanding the Effect of Stereotypes
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Questions

• What is a Stereotype?
• What is Stereotype Activation?
• What is Stereotype Threat?
• What is the effect of Stereotype threat on Test
  Performance?
• How might stereotype threat effect test
  performance?
• Who does stereotype threat effect?
• What might a teacher do to protect
  stereotype-vulnerable students?

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Stereotypes

• Cognitive structures that contain our knowledge,
  beliefs, and expectations about social groups
  (Hamilton Sherman)
• Over generalized belief about a group of people
  (Ashmore DelBoca)
• the pictures in our heads that simplify the
  world by saving us the trouble of thinking when
  we come into contact with people. (Aronson
  Steele, 2003)

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About Stereotypes

• We all have them.
• They stem from ignorance.
• We can all identify stereotypes about the reputed
  abilities of social groups.
• We may not believe them but we all can identify
  them.

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Teachers Enact Stereotypes

• Teachers respond to who they think children are.
• Research has shown that teachers who reject
  stereotypes may react to students in ways that
  are consistent with those stereotypes.
• Ways of reacting
• Provide students who are seen as less capable
  with answer, rather than support.
• Lower social expectations.
• Less correction, more isolation.

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Understanding the Effect of Stereotypes

• The question
• Clearly active discrimination is bad
• Why are stereotypes are bad?

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Steele and Aronson

• Known
• Stereotypes exist that some social groups are not
  as intellectually capable as others.
• Proposed
• Students targeted by negative stereotypes are
  bothered by the possibility that they will be
  viewed through the negative lens of the
  stereotype.
• This concern stems from a universal need to feel
  competent and to be viewed by others as
  competent.
• This concern can affect students REGARDLESS of
  their individual self-efficacy.
• This concern was labeled stereotype threat.

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Testing The Theory

• Participants
• African and European American Undergraduate
  students.
• Task
• Asked to complete an old form of the GRE
• Conditions
• Students were told the test was a diagnostic tool
  used to measure their verbal ability.
  (Diagnostic)
• Students were told the activity was designed to
  teach the researchers about the psychology of
  verbal problem solving. (non-diagnostic)

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The results
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What Happened?

• Follow up studies indicated
• Black students in the diagnostic condition had
  more stereotypes on their minds.
• Black students in the diagnostic condition were
  more aware of self-presentation
• Even when the test was non-diagnostic black
  students who were asked to report their race
  missed twice as many items as black students who
  were not asked about race.

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Who Else is Affected?

• Anyone for whom there is a negative stereotype
  may be vulnerable.
• Examples
• Girls taking mathematics tests (Spencer, Steele,
  Quinn, 1999).
• Girls performed significantly better when told
  This test has never produced gender differences
  in the past.
• Older adults memory.
• Students from low SES
• White men who like math.

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White Men?

• Participants
• High performing math undergrads students at an
  elite college.
• Test
• Difficult mathematics exam
• Conditions
• Asked to complete the mathematics exam to the
  best of ability.
• Told the study was designed to understand why
  Asian students were better at math.

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Why?

• It is not due to
• Less effort
• Lower expectations
• It may be due to
• Anxiety
• Performance Avoidance Orientation
• Increased Cognitive Load

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What Can We do?

• Cooperation
• Group learning activities
• Jigsaw (Aronson Patnoe, 1997)
• Advanced Training Activities (Treisman, 1992)
• Forwarning
• Awareness of susceptibility can provide
  protection.
• Incremental Theories of Ability
• Programs intended to support students perception
  of the malleability of ability increased student
  gpas and graduation rates (Good, Aronson,
  Inzlicht, 2003)