Awareness of a stereotype, not belief in it, impairs performance
Evidence
Stereotype threat is a psychological predicament that occurs when people are aware of the negative stereotypes that others hold of their social group and are anxious that they may conļ¬rm them, either in their own or othersā eyes. This anxiety, in turn, may interfere with their performance. It is not necessary that a person endorse the stereotype for stereotype threat to occur, or for it to impair performance. Importantly, stereotype threat is a situation-speciļ¬c predicament, rather than a personality trait. It is experienced only in situations where a negative stereotype is relevant. Thus, a member of a minority group may perform badly on an intelligence test when stereotypes are salient, but not when stereotypes are not (see Steele et al., 2002, for a review). ā John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 938
Stereotype threat is a psychological predicament that occurs when people are aware of the negative stereotypes that others hold of their social group and are anxious that they may conļ¬rm them, either in their own or othersā eyes. This anxiety, in turn, may interfere with their performance. It is not necessary that a person endorse the stereotype for stereotype threat to occur, or for it to impair performance. Importantly, stereotype threat is a situation-speciļ¬c predicament, rather than a personality trait. It is experienced only in situations where a negative stereotype is relevant. Thus, a member of a minority group may perform badly on an intelligence test when stereotypes are salient, but not when stereotypes are not (see Steele et al., 2002, for a review). ā , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature ofā¦, 938
Categorization
- DEFINE: Canonical definition of stereotype threat with the key clarifying point that endorsement is unnecessary.
- XREF: Connects to stereotype threat research by Steele and Aronson; also resonates with impostor-syndrome literature where awareness alone shapes performance.
- QUESTION: A reversal worth chasing: situation-specific framing invites reinterpreting cross-situational consistency evidence that Allport-era trait models took as fixed.
- corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim ā John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Yearsā¦, 938; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature ofā¦, 938