So if you want a fair test, and some people are going to feel threatened no matter what... how about the solution of trying to rattle everybody? :)
Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
11–20 of 26 posts
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#12One interesting implication of this work (obvious caveats [1]), those who are more likely to suffer from stereotype thread will underperform those who don't. Thus, even if one measures equal ability among applicants, he should prefer those from a group which is stereotypically superior [2]. An interesting question this raises is how much collectivist attitudes play a role in this effect. For example - consider two hy…
As an interesting aside, blood type is actually considered to be a predictor of a person's personality, temperament, etc in Japan - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_types_in_Japanese_culture
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#13One interesting implication of this work (obvious caveats [1]), those who are more likely to suffer from stereotype thread will underperform those who don't. Thus, even if one measures equal ability among applicants, he should prefer those from a group which is stereotypically superior [2]. An interesting question this raises is how much collectivist attitudes play a role in this effect. For example - consider two hy…
As an interesting aside, blood type is actually considered to be a predictor of a person's personality, temperament, etc in Japan - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_types_in_Japanese_culture
As is the birth month in European culture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#14I personally take stereotypes as a challenge to prove someone wrong.
I guess it is just how you respond to the stressors of a possible static constraint implied upon you. Do you accept their conclusion or decide to find your own?
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#15I personally take stereotypes as a challenge to prove someone wrong. I guess it is just how you respond to the stressors of a possible static constraint implied upon you. Do you accept their conclusion or decide to find your own?
If I say "I'm going to analyze your traits and habits, and model your personality relative to those similar to you", I've observed that most people would tentatively agree to the process.
However, if I say "I'm going to group you with your stereotype", most people become rebellious or contrary.
"Stereotype" seems like a hot-button keyword. We react to the term, not to the concept behind it. Why?
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#16I personally take stereotypes as a challenge to prove someone wrong. I guess it is just how you respond to the stressors of a possible static constraint implied upon you. Do you accept their conclusion or decide to find your own?
If I say "I'm going to analyze your traits and habits, and model your personality relative to those similar to you", I've observed that most people would tentatively agree to the process. However, if I say "I'm going to group you with your stereotype", most people become rebellious or contrary. "Stereotype" seems like a hot-button keyword. We react to the term, not to the concept behind it. Why?
Because "stereotype" != "analyze your traits and habits, and model your personality." That's called personality analysis and modelling.
Stereotypes involve using unrelated culturally-bound flags to pretend like you've done a personality analysis on someone. It's not stereotyping to notice someone doesn't wear a lot of makeup, and then declare that that person doesn't like to wear makeup, at least in the contexts that you've seen them in. It's stereotyping to notice someone doesn't wear makeup, then declare them a lesbian.
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#17So if you want a fair test, and some people are going to feel threatened no matter what... how about the solution of trying to rattle everybody ? :)
Well, you'd be giving an advantage to people who perform better than others when under stress. But then, that's not necessarily a bad thing is it?
As an aside, I've noticed that people respond to stress in extremely varying ways. I've seen smart and talented people completely fail at tests because they were stressed(even though I can personally attest to the fact that when not under stress they would've performed perfectly). I've also seen others who can be completely under-prepared for a test, not know how to answer half the questions they encounter and yet still not panic and somehow squeeze by and not fail(I know I've been in that position countless times because of my reluctance to study throughout school). I remember reading an article(though I can't find it now) a while back about how this was due to a fundamentally different internal attitude, one that refuses to rise up to challenges and simply declare themselves a failure and another that enjoys challenges and manages to rise up to meet them.
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#18I personally take stereotypes as a challenge to prove someone wrong. I guess it is just how you respond to the stressors of a possible static constraint implied upon you. Do you accept their conclusion or decide to find your own?
If I say "I'm going to analyze your traits and habits, and model your personality relative to those similar to you", I've observed that most people would tentatively agree to the process. However, if I say "I'm going to group you with your stereotype", most people become rebellious or contrary. "Stereotype" seems like a hot-button keyword. We react to the term, not to the concept behind it. Why?
The phrase "similar to you," is vague enough to possibly connote an actual scientific bases of measurement. Eg you could be measuring people according to their intelligence percentile as opposed to their racial group.
The term "stereotype" has a very specific meaning where people are compared archetypes of their racial, gendered, or social group, not something intrinsic to their personality or morality. Stereotypes can be very negative and so are viewed as generally unfair.
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#19So the basic conclusion seems to be "anxiety makes people perform worse". Hardly a new finding.
I think the point is to show that stereotypes generate anxiety that subsequently affects performance, something which most people who do not face stereotypes in their day to day lives take into account. It would be really interesting to see if positive stereotypes like the Asian model minority stereotype have the opposite impact of improving test performance.
I'd suggest that at the very least it creates extra pressure to perform and that pressure by itself can help to generate better results.
Re: Intelligence and the Stereotype Threat
#20Though it's not yet published (and still under review), Wicherts and de Haan have a paper titled "A meta-analysis of the effects of stereotype threat on the cognitive test performance of African Americans"[1] which compares all published and unpublished studies on the stereotype threat. After examining the studies' methodologies, sample sizes, and other quality indicators, they found that the only variable correlated with publication is whether the study supported the existence of a significant stereotype threat.
In other words, the studies are suffering from massive publication bias, which is leading some researchers to question the very existence of the stereotype threat.
[1] The paper is referenced on Wicherts' CV: http://wicherts.socsci.uva.nl/CVJMW.pdf