Stereotype Threat Definition

Stereotype Threat Definition

Steele (2010) reports that stereotype threat affects many types of identity groups across multiple performance areas:

The effect has been observed in women, African Americans, white males, Latino Americans, third-grade American school girls, Asian-American students, European males aspiring to be clinical psychologists (under the threat of negative stereotypes about men’s ability to understand feelings), French college students, German grade school girls, U.S. soldiers on army bases in Italy, women business school students, white and black athletes, older Americans, and so on. It has been shown to affect many performances: math, verbal, analytic, and IQ test performance, golf putting, reaction time performance, language usage aggressiveness in negotiations, memory performance, the height of athletic jumping, and so on. (pp. 9798)

Define stereotype threat. Use Steele and Aronson’s 1995 article, “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance of African Americans,” to summarize one group’s experience with stereotype threat. (For example, African-Americans, whites, Asians, women, older persons, or lower socioeconomic class.)