Identity Threat And The Efforting Life By Claude Steele: Chapter Analysis

The title in chapter 6 “Identity Threat and the Efforting Life” of Whistling Vivaldi written by Claude Steele, really stands out as one of the main points of the chapter. Steele realizes that study habits can positively and negatively affect the stereotypes on people. He conducted an extensive anthropological study of his students’ work habits. Steele found that Asian students studied in groups, which allowed them to focus more on the concepts. White students studied more independently, but relied on others for help outside of class. Black students were independent and private about their studies. They would often check their answers in the back of their books. A student named Jeff, saw two white students reading playboy and drinking beer in class got a A while he got a C-. The teacher’s assistant told him that he was not

Stereotypes are so different depending on your race, age, gender, and a lot more and Steele points that out in this chapter, he goes on saying that stereotypes can affect everyone. Stress and distraction can interfere with your performance, when Steele was doing the different studies he noticed that people perform differently under different circumstances. Steele also noticed that when men drop out of their majors in college it is because they have had bad grades. Men tend to quit things when they don’t succeed and women stick with it until they finish it. People try to play up to their stereotypes which makes them underperform too. They worry too much about the stereotypes that others put on them and then they end up making those stereotypes come true. Claude Steele stresses about stereotypes and identity threat and the efforting in life throughout this whole chapter. What Steele writes in this chapter is so true and most people don’t know that the stereotypes that they have on them are mainly because of the way they act to try not to have that certain