Impacts of Stereotype Threat Essay
Humanities
Impacts of Stereotype Threat
Stereotype threat refers to being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about a group to which an individual belongs. According to Stone, Lynch, Sjomeling, and Darley (1999), Black athletes perform worse than White athletes when they are led to believe that a game of miniature golf tests “sport strategic intelligence,” but when the test is framed as a measure of “natural athletic ability,” White athletes perform worse than Black athletes. The cumulative impact that stereotype threat can have on performance—the burden of “living down” to an unfavorable stigma—can certainly be substantial. Research shows, in fact, that the extra pressure that is felt to defy a stereotype may actually be so great as to sabotage an individual’s performance and end up confirming the stereotype.
For this essay, reflect on a personal experience when implied expectations had a positive or negative impact on your performance, and consider whether this was due to stereotype threat or simply to situational factors (i.e., factors of the situation not related to the stereotype).
In the essay, please follow the instructions as below:
1. Give a brief description of the experience you selected, including implied expectations.
2. Explain whether these expectations had either a positive or negative influence on your performance and why.
3. Explain whether the influence on performance was due to stereotype threat or to more situational overt factors and why.
4. Explain one strategy to resist stereotype threat.
Be sure to support the essay with specific references to the Learning Resources and the current literature.
Required Resources
Readings
- Alter, A. L., Aronson, J., Darley, J. M., Rodriguez, C., & Ruble, D. N. (2010). Rising to the threat: Reducing stereotype threat by framing the threat as a challenge. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(1), 166–171.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Clark, K. B., & Clark, M. K. (1939). The development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 10(4), 591–599.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Diekman, A. B., Brown, E. R., Johnston, A. M., & Clark, E. K. (2010). Seeking congruity between goals and roles: A new look at why women opt out of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1051–1057.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Mrazek, M. D., Chin, J. M., Schmader, T., Hartson, K. A., Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W. (2011). Threatened to distraction: Mind-wandering as a consequence of stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(6), 1243–1248.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Rydell, R. J., McConnell, A. R., & Beilock, S. L. (2009). Multiple social identities and stereotype threat: Imbalance, accessibility, and working memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(5), 949–966.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52(6), 613–629.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
