Stereotype Threat and Arousal: Effects on Women's Math Performance

Abstract

Theories of arousal suggest that arousal should decrease performance on difficult tasks and increase performance on easy tasks. An experiment tested the hypothesis that the effects of stereotype threat on performance are due to heightened arousal. The authors hypothesized that telling participants that a math test they are about to take is known to have gender differences would cause stereotype threat in women but not in men. In the experiment, each participant took two tests--a difficult math test and an easy math test. Compared to women in a "no differences" condition, women in the "gender differences" condition scored better on the easy math test and worse on the difficult math test. Men's performance was unaffected by the manipulation. These data are consistent with an arousal-based explanation of stereotype threat effects. Data were inconsistent with expectancy, evaluation apprehension, and persistence explanations of the stereotype threat phenomenon.

An integrated process model of stereotype threat effects on performance.

“…However, as tasks become complex, perhaps even contributing to one's overall level of arousal, stress-induced arousal has the potential to directly impair performance via its impact on specific executive processes such as working memory (e.g., Blair, 2006). These observed patterns in the general stress and attention literature parallel the finding that stereotype threat manipulations have their largest effects when the task is complex (O'Brien & Crandall, 2003;). …”

Stereotype Threat in the Marketplace: Consumer Anxiety and Purchase Intentions

“…The net result is worse performance (Payne 1984). Anxiety, likewise, is a critical component in the relationship between stereotype threat and women's (poor) performance on a standardized math test (O'Brien and Crandall 2003;Osborne 2001;Spencer et al 1999).…”

“…As mentioned in the article's introduction, the phenomenon of stereotype threat occurs with the mere awareness that one's group membership might lead to being treated differently than others. Whether the consumer feels competent in the domain or agrees with the stereotype matters not (O'Brien and Crandall 2003;Steele and Aronson 1995). Hence, we assessed participants' knowledge in the domain of the stereotype threat to see whether it moderated the observed effects.…”

Outrunning the gender gap—boys and girls compete equally

“…Most competitiveness studies build on tasks such as solving mazes and performing simple arithmetic, which are generally considered as male tasks. Several studies show that women perform worse on standardized tests when they are reminded of negative stereotypes about female math ability (Inzlicht and Ben-Zeev 2003, O'Brien and Crandall 2003, Shih et al 1999, Steele 1997.…”