Stereotypes - Steele & Aronson

stereotypes

• a cognitive generalization about the qualities and characteristics of the members of a group

• stereotypes, like schemas, simplify perceptions and judgements, but they are often exaggerated, negative than positive, and resistant to change even when people encounter individuals with qualities than contradict stereotype

stereotype threat

• when people feel themselves to be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their social group

• often leads to decrease in task performance, even if person does not believe in stereotype

aim of Steele & Aronson

• to see how stereotype threat affects test performance in African Americans

study definition of stereotype threat

• being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristics, a negative stereotype about one’s group

method of Steele & Aronson

• 76 male and female, black and white undergraduates from stanford uni

• pp given standardised test of verbal ability and were told either: it was to diagnose intellectual ability or test their problem solving skills

• pp were randomly assigned to one of the conditions

results of Steele & Aronson

• there was no significant difference between male and female pp

• black pp did poorly when they believed the test was on intellectual ability, but did just as well as the white pp when they believed the test was on problem solving skills

conclusion of Steele & Aronson

• stereotype threat caused black pp to perform worse in the intellectual test because they believed black people are not smart and thus did worse on the test