Steele, C.M., & Aronson, J. Stereotype vulnerability and the intellectual
test performance of African-Americansm JPSP, in press
Stereotype vulnerability is being at risk of confirming a stereotype.
In a induced position of vulnerability, blacks underperformed vs whites
when the test was stated as diagnostic. In fact, mere salience of the stereotype
could impair black's performance even when the test wasn't ability diagnostic.
When blacks take tests, they run the risk of confirming a negative social
stereotype about blacks intellectual ability. This threat may interfere
with performance. Over time it may cause people to "disidentify"
with achievement in school and other intellectual domains and reduce their
motivation and interest in it.
Blacks have higher dropout rates and lower grades than whites. But standardized
tests seem to be as predictive for blacks as whites. Blacks perform less
even when they have the same preparation.
Other studies showed that blacks performed better on an IQ test when told
it was a hand-eye coordination test. Being a token member of a group
can inhibit memory. Performance worsens when attention is also directed
to another concern (like perception of performance in light of devaluing
stereotype).
Study 1
Black and white students took part of the verbal GRE. One group was told
it was a intellectual ability test, another told it was a problem solving
test. The results confirmed that blacks performed worse when told the
test evaluated ability (and blacks in general performed less than whites).
Black subjects thought the test was more biased than white subjects. Their
performance matched whites when the test was non-ability.
Study 2
Same as first study, except students complted anxiety questionnaires after
the test. The results confirmed the first study. No effect on anxiety.
Blacks completed fewer questions than whites.
Study 3
This study subjects completed a stereotype questionnaire after being told
they would take the GRE test (same three conditions as before). The results
showed that inducing of stereotype thoughts caused blacks to have more self-doubt
and desire to avoid stereotype behavior. They exhibited stereotype vulnerability.
They made advance excuses for their performance.
Study 4
This study followed like study one, except in one condition the subjects
merely indicated race, and the other they did not. The results confirmed
that merely priming for race caused worse performance (with performance
equal to whites in the non-prime condition). Post questions showed no difference
in perceived performance or ethnicity effects.
It appears that stereotype vulnerability causes inefficiency in cognitive
processing, probably due to increased self-significance of their frustration.
Implications
Stereotype vulnerability may help explain the near 200 point gap between
whites and blacks.