The Influence of Christian Name Stereotypes on the Marking of Children's Essays

Abstract

It is argued that previous name stereotype research has been one-sided in focusing solely on stimulus characteristics. This study attempted to improve this situation by taking into account the Christian name stereotype of both the subject and stimulus figure. Subjects marked six essays each supposedly written by a different stimulus figure. A 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 ANOVA (male vs. female subjects x attractively named vs. unattractively named subjects x male vs. female stimulus figures x attractively named vs. unattractively named vs. unnamed stimulus figures) showed only two significant effects, for attractiveness of the subject's name (P = 0.031) and for attractiveness of the name of the stimulus figure (P = 0.005). This latter effect showed a significant linear trend (P < 0.005) with unattractively named stimulus figures receiving lower marks than unnamed stimulus figures who in turn received lower marks than attractively named stimulus figures. The results were related to the general literature on social relationships and the need for further integrative research was stressed. TAYNOR, J., and DEAUX, K. (1973). When women are more deserving than men: equity, attribution and perceived sex differences. J. Person. SOC. Psychol., 28, 360-367. TAYNOR, J., and DEAUX, K. (1975). Equity and perceived sex differences: role behaviour as defined by the task, the mode, and the actor. J. Person. soc. Psychol., 32, 381-390. ZAJONC, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. J . Person. soc. Psychol., 2. Monograph (Manuscript received 15th September, 1983) P~ychol., 65, 222-225. 1-29.

Attractiveness of First Names and Academic Achievement

“…The findings demonstrate that differences in the grades associated with different name evaluations are not solely the result of biases on the part of graders; the actual quality of the work produced also appears to differ between individuals with unattractive and attractive names. This finding provides support for the suggestion that academic ability stereotypes associated with names may be internalized and may achieve reality in the performance of the individuals concerned (Erwin & Calev, 1984). Perhaps being in the spotlight created by a very unusual or unattractive name spurs some able individuals on to higher levels of achievement than they might otherwise have achieved (Zweigenhaft, 1981).…”

“…A name may be the first or only piece of information known about another person, and individuals may already have internalized prior expectations about names and behave according to those expectations. Name evaluations have been shown to affect social perceptions, such as evaluations of physical attractiveness (Erwin, 1993); selfperception, personality development, and the behavioral patterns of children (Dion, 1983); popularity (McDavid & Harari, 1966); expectations of academic achievement (Erwin & Calev, 1984); and the actual grades awarded to students' essays (Harari & McDavid, 1973).…”

Rental Discrimination and Ethnicity in Names1

“…It appears appropriate to conclude from our findings that name discrimination is a reality outside the laboratory experiments of Erwin and Calev (1984), Daniel andDaniel (1998), andErwin (1999). As such, further attention needs to be given to this phenomenon and to its implications concerning the ability of minorities to exercise equal housing rights.…”

“…The present study is concerned with the latter. Studies of the effect of names on performance evaluations have produced mixed results (Erwin, 1999;Erwin & Calev, 1984;Tompkins & Boor, 1980). Burning (1972) has suggested that unattractive names make the bearer a more noticeable and memorable person because they are uncommon within a culture.…”

The study of teachers' written feedback to students' writing: changes in theoretical considerations and the expansion of research contexts

“…However, whether teachers are experienced or not, it seems that they are all influenced by certain biases. Ervin and Calev (1984) have found that stereotypes attached to the student's Christian name influence the marking of students' essays and Pich6 et al (1977) found that nonstandard dialect features, especially those relating to socioeconomic status (Pich6 et al, 1975), influenced teachers' evaluations of the students' writing quality. Additional research shows that teachers' impressions are affected by register (Freedman, 1978), as well as by topical structure (Witte, 1983).…”