Stereotype threat
Stereotype threat is a psychological phenomenon where individuals feel pressure to conform to negative stereotypes associated with their identity group, potentially impacting their performance. Coined by psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson in 1995, the concept emerged from experiments showing that African-American students scored lower on standardized tests when reminded of their racial identity in test settings. This effect has been observed across various demographic groups, including women in competitive environments and senior citizens regarding aging, suggesting that the reminder of negative stereotypes can hinder performance.
Subsequent research has confirmed the existence of stereotype threat through over 300 studies involving different identity groups, indicating that when individuals are aware of stereotypes linked to their identity, their performance may suffer. Critics have raised questions about the consistency and interpretation of some findings, yet many educational researchers acknowledge stereotype threat as an important factor to consider, particularly in standardized testing contexts. Understanding this phenomenon can help educators and policymakers create more equitable testing environments, reducing biases that unfairly affect student performance.
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Stereotype threat
The term stereotype threat was coined by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson in 1995 to refer to the pressure or threat a person experiences when a negative stereotype about one’s identity group could potentially be confirmed by one’s individual performance. In experiments conducted by Steele and Aronson with college students, when African-American students’ race was referenced, the African American students tended to earn lower scores on standardized testing than did other African-American students who did not associate their personal performance with their racial identity. Steele and Aronson and other researchers conducted many additional experiments with other stereotyped groups and have found a similar effect.
Overview
Steele and Aronson first identified the phenomenon they dubbed stereotype threat by creating three experimental groups: (1) a stereotype threat group in which participants were informed that the test would diagnose each person’s intellectual ability; (2) a non-stereotype threat group that was told the test did not measure ability; and (3) a group of participants who were told the test would not measure ability, but would be challenging. After giving all three groups took the same test, Steele and Aronson found that changing the conditions under which members of stereotyped groups took the test impacted their performance on the test. In other words, when participants were reminded of a negative stereotype associated with a group of which they are members (race, gender, age, etc.), they tended to underperform and therefore seemingly confirm the stereotype. But when participants were not reminded of those popular negative stereotypes, they performed at the level of which they are truly capable under neutral circumstances.
Since 1995, over 300 studies have been completed with many identity groups and the same effect has been observed. When participants are reminded of a popular negative stereotype associated with some component of their identity, performance is consistently impacted. For example, in one study, women who were told they were competing against men in chess underperformed when compared to women who competed against other women. In another, senior citizens who read about the effects of aging tended to evaluate themselves lower on their memory and fitness than did other senior citizens who were not asked to read the articles on aging. White males underperformed when a task was framed as a measure of athletic ability, whereas African-American males underperformed when the same task was presented as a measure of intelligence.
Some critics have pointed out that even in Steele and Aronson’s original study, the non-stereotype threat groups still showed performance gaps between African-American and Caucasian college students, suggesting that something other than stereotype threat might explain performance differences between the groups. Some studies were unable to replicate the same results Steele and Aronson found. Despite these controversies, many educational researchers indicate that stereotype threat is a legitimate and serious concern and should be carefully taken into consideration in the development and administration of standardized tests for K–12 students in order to avoid inadvertently creating test bias or other conditions in which a negative stereotype might impair student performance unfairly.
Bibliography
Aronson, Joshua, Geoffrey Cohen, and Wendy McColskey. “Reducing Stereotype Threat in Classrooms: A Review of Social-Psychological Intervention Studies on Improving the Achievement of Black Students.” National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, U.S. Department of Education, 2009. PDF file.
Ganley, Colleen M., Leigh A. Mingle, Allison M. Ryan, Katherine Ryan, Marina Vasilyeva, and Michelle Perry “An Examination of Stereotype Threat Effects on Girls’ Mathematics Performance.” Developmental Psychology (2013): n.p. Web. 17 Aug. 2013.
Steele, Claude M. “Thin Ice: Stereotype Threat and Black College Students.” Atlantic Monthly, August 1999. Print.
Steele, Claude M. Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. New York: Norton, 2010.
Steele, Claude M., and Joshua Aronson. “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance of African Americans.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69.5 (1995): 797–811. Print.
Steele, Claude M., Steven. J. Spencer, and Joshua Aronson. “Contending with Group Image: The Psychology of Stereotype and Social Identity Threat.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 34 (2002): 379–440. Print.
Stoet, G., and D. C. Geary. “Can Stereotype Threat Explain the Gender Gap in Mathematics Performance and Achievement?” Review of General Psychology 16.1 (2012): 93–102. Print.
Stroessner, Steve, and Catherine Good. ReducingStereotypeThreat.org. n.d. Web. 10 July 2013.