Browsing by Subject "Multiple identities"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Examining multiple identities under stereotype threat : a regulatory fit perspective(2014-05) Reinhart, Alyssa Lynne; Bentley, Keisha L.; Beretvas, Natasha; Cokley, Kevin O; Markman, Arthur B; Robinson, Daniel HThis study sought to examine how underlying characteristics of multiple social identities could explain why some people are not affected by stereotype threat. Specifically, it proposed that different identities are not only associated with positive or negative stereotypes, but also different regulatory foci. It additionally sought to address a common methodological issue in the literature by including non-targets of stereotype threat as a comparative group. Using a quantitative experimental design, math-identified male (N=104) and female (N=172) university students were randomly assigned to take a difficult math test under circumstances which varied both reward structure and salient identities. For math- identified females, their gender identity was believed to invoke a negative stereotype about female math ability and thus stereotype threat. However, college identity was proposed to be positively stereotyped about ability. When both were made salient, females would suppress their gender identity in order to maintain a good self-concept and would thus be protected from stereotype threat effects. Furthermore, it was predicted females under threat would enter into a prevention regulatory focus and thus perform better under a reward structure which focused on minimizing losses. A major criticism of stereotype threat research is that it fails to differentiate itself enough from stereotype priming. While the two are similarly activated, stereotype threat only affects those for whom the stereotyped identity is relevant. Thus it is important to include non-targets of threat to ensure that the experimental manipulations do not affect them. Males were included in this study because the negative stereotype about female math ability is not relevant. Results indicated that when gender identity was made salient, math-identified females performed worse than a control group. However, when both gender and college identity were made salient, math-identified females performed better than those only reminded of their gender, and equivalent to those in a control group. Reward structure showed no main effect on performance. While the interaction between identity salience and reward structure was marginally significant, more research is needed to determine if there is a true relationship. Males showed no differences across conditions however, which indicates this was a more valid manipulation of threat.Item Revisiting Rydell, McConnell, & Beilock (2009) : a case for the inclusion of non-targets of stereotype threat(2014-05) Reinhart, Alyssa Lynne; Borich, Gary D.; Bentley-Edwards, Keisha LThis study sought to examine the role of multiple identities as a possible protective factor against stereotype threat for females taking a difficult math test. Specifically, it sought to replicate the findings of Rydell, McConnell, and Beilock (2009), who found that making a positively stereotyped identity salient (college) at the same time a negatively stereotyped identity (female) was salient, buffered the effects of stereotype threat. This study also attempted to evaluate the validity of a common experimental stereotype threat manipulation, which is to make explicit statements about performance which remind test subjects of existing stereotypes. Using a quantitative experimental design, and replicating the methodology used in the 2009 study, math-identified college students were randomly assigned to take a difficult math test under circumstances which varied salient identities. For the experimental conditions, an explicit statement was made about prior performance by either females or females and college students. For math-identified females, the statement about female performance was believed to invoke a negative stereotype about math ability and thus stereotype threat. However, when the statement was about both their gender as well as their college identity (thought to be positively stereotyped), this would cause the females to suppress their gender identity in order to maintain positive self-esteem and thus would be protected from stereotype threat effects. It was also predicted that non-targets of threat (males) would not be affected by the manipulations, as according to the theory of stereotype threat, a stereotype has to be self-relevant to become a threat. Results failed to replicate the findings of the previous study. While not significant, females actually trended towards better performance when reminded of the negative stereotype about females, as compared to a control group. More importantly, this type of manipulation was shown to significantly affect non-targets of threat, which is a violation of stereotype threat theory. When reminded of the negative stereotype about females, males performed significantly worse than a control group. This evidence supports the idea that making explicit statements about ability is an invalid method of invoking stereotype threat in an experimental setting.