Older news items (pre-2010) brought over from the old website
Positive stereotypes can offset negative stereotype effect
A number of studies have now shown that negative stereotypes can impair cognitive performance, mainly through adding to working memory load. A new study has now shown that this effect can be mitigated by the activation of a positive stereotype. The research takes advantage of the fact that we all belong to several social groups. In this case, the relevant groups were ‘female’ and ‘college student’. As usual, when (subtly) reminded of negative stereotypes for women and math, women performed worse. The interesting thing was that this didn’t happen if women were also made aware that college students performed better at math than non-college students. Moreover, this was reflected in working memory capacity. It seems that, when both a positive and a negative stereotype are offered, people will tend to choose the positive stereotype, and the effects of this will cancel out the negative stereotype. It’s also worth noting how easily these stereotypes are activated: effects could be manipulated simply by subtly changing demographic questions asked before the test (and it is not uncommon that test-takers are first required to answer some demographic questions).
[1381] 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.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/iu-pob050109.php
Implicit stereotypes and gender identification may affect female math performance
Another study has come out showing that women enrolled in an introductory calculus course who possessed strong implicit gender stereotypes, (for example, automatically associating "male" more than "female" with math ability and math professions) and were likely to identify themselves as feminine, performed worse relative to their female counterparts who did not possess such stereotypes and who were less likely to identify with traditionally female characteristics. Strikingly, a majority of the women participating in the study explicitly expressed disagreement with the idea that men have superior math ability, suggesting that even when consciously disavowing stereotypes, female math students are still susceptible to negative perceptions of their ability.
[969] Kiefer, A. K., & Sekaquaptewa D.
(2007). Implicit stereotypes, gender identification, and math-related outcomes: a prospective study of female college students.
Psychological Science: A Journal of the American Psychological Society / APS. 18(1), 13 - 18.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/afps-isa012407.php
Reducing the racial achievement gap
And staying with the same theme, a study that came out six months ago, and recently reviewed on the excellent new Scientific American Mind Matters blog, revealed that a single, 15-minute intervention erased almost half the racial achievement gap between African American and white students. The intervention involved writing a brief paragraph about which value, from a list of values, was most important to them and why. The intervention improved subsequent academic performance for some 70% of the African American students, but none of the Caucasians. The study was repeated the following year with the same results. It is thought that the effect of the intervention was to protect against the negative stereotypes regarding the intelligence and academic capabilities of African Americans.
[1082] Cohen, G. L., Garcia J., Apfel N., & Master A.
(2006). Reducing the Racial Achievement Gap: A Social-Psychological Intervention.
Science. 313(5791), 1307 - 1310.
Women's math performance affected by theories on sex differences
In a salutary reminder to all researchers into gender and race differences, researchers found that women who received a genetic explanation for female underachievement in math or were reminded of the stereotype about female math underachievement, performed more poorly on math tests than those who received an experiential explanation (such as math teachers treating boys preferentially during the first years of math education) or were led to believe there are no sex differences in math.
[1024] Dar-Nimrod, I., & Heine S. J.
(2006). Exposure to Scientific Theories Affects Women's Math Performance.
Science. 314(5798), 435 - 435.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uobc-wmp101306.php
Interactions with other races can impair mental capacity in the strongly prejudiced
A new approach on an old theme — the effect of stress on cognitive function. The study looked at the short-term effects of racial prejudice. White college students were assessed for racial bias and then had a conversation with either a black or white person. After the conversation, they were given the Stroop test (participants are presented with color words, which are either in the same color as they name, or not; they are required to respond on the basis of the color of the word, not the name. The test requires a surprising amount of concentration.) For those who had talked with a black person, the greater the amount of racial bias, the worse the student did on the Stroop test. This is assumed to be due to the stress caused by the interaction.
[833] Richeson, J. A., & Shelton N. J.
(2003). When prejudice does not pay: Effects of Interracial Contact on Executive Function.
Psychological Science. 14(3), 287 - 290.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-04/pu-tpo043003.php