Spencer et Al. (1999)

Sociocultural Approach - Stereotype threat and women's maths performance

AIM

To investigate whether stereotype threat affects women’s performance in mathematics

METHOD

• Laboratory experiment

• Female and male university students with strong math backgrounds

PROCEDURE

1. Participants completed a challenging mathematics test

2. They were assigned to one of two conditions: stereotypre threat condition (told the test had shown gender differences in the past) or no-threat condition (told the test showed no gender differences)

3. Test scores were compared across gender and condition

RESULTS

• In the stereotype threat condition, women performed significantly worse than men

• In the no-threat condition, women and men performed equally well

• This suggests performance differences were due to situaltional factors, not ability

CONCLUSION

• Negative stereotypes can impair performance through stereotype threat

• Cognitive performance is influenced by social context and expectations

• The study supports sociocultural explanations of behavior and cognition