Stereotype Threat Problem

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researchers sought to answer the question: is there a way to reduce the effects of stereotype threat? Previous research found that stereotype threat plays a role in lowering performance of groups on tasks that their group is thought to be insufficient. In addition, any cues for the stereotype, causes stereotype threat’s role to increase. There have been some solutions to the problem of stereotype threat found through previous research, but they are not easy to implement. The researchers of this study tested the simpler method of teaching stereotype threat, as a more applicable solution to the stereotype threat problem. The researchers of this study predicted that teaching individuals about stereotype threat would allow them to contribute any …show more content…

These students were narrowed down to only include White participants, the only group that shows sex differences in math performance. This inclusion criterion reduced the number of participants to 75 women and 42 men. Three conditions were designated: problem-solving condition, math-rest condition, and teaching intervention condition. All three conditions included mixed-gender groups of participants lead by either a male or female researcher. The description of the study was always given through a recording with a male speaker. All groups were given 20 minutes to solve 30 questions from a standardized test. In the problem-solving condition, participants were told they would complete a problem solving test for a study on cognition. In the math-test condition, participants were told they were a part of study to test for gender differences in math. In the teaching-intervention condition, participants were given the same information as the math-test participants but, they were also taught about stereotype threat before the taking the test. After taking the test, all groups were asked to take a survey to assess their view of the male speaker’s perception of the effect of gender stereotypes and ability, how their instructor thought each gender would perform on the test, and how stereotypes affected their levels of anxiety, each measured on a