There have been many studies on stereotype threat and self-esteem and their negative effects on task performance. These studies have focused primarily on minorities such as women, blacks, Latinos and Asians and have found that stereotype threat and self-esteem have influenced negatively in task performance. Steele (1997) investigated how self-esteem and stereotype threat affects task performance and has found that most of task failures have to do with the individual social environment. For instance, a study was conducted in which black students completed a difficult task with either a black or white experimenter. The task was described as intelligent test (Steele & Aronson, 1995). When the experimenter was white, the student performed more poorly than white students, but only when the task was described as a test of intelligence. However, when the experimenter was black, the performance of the black students in the task improved. This study was the first to show that bringing racial stereotypes in a task performance will reduce positive outcomes in the individual (Katz, Robert & Robinson, 1965).
There are also studies that have been done on self-esteem and the effect that it has in overall performance (Brockner, 1986). Researchers have demonstrated that task performance of low self-esteem individuals suffers in the presence of self-focusing stimuli. An example of this finding is a study, in which 90 undergraduates high and low in chronic self-esteem received false success or failure feedback of self-focus stimuli (Steele, Spencer, & Lynch, 1993). Whereas high self-esteem performed equally well following success or failure, low self esteem participants in the success condition performed significantly better than low self-esteem pa...
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...s to make students feel bad and unworthy. People with lower levels of self-esteem attempt to deal with their flaws to be accepted (Brown & Dutton, 1995)
Expectations
Participants with high self esteem and no exposure to stereotype threat will perform the highest on task performance. Several studies in the past have shown that people have a general inclination to self-enhance, and this inclination is especially strong for those with greater levels of self-esteem (Tesser, 1988). For instance, people with higher self-esteem (as opposed to those with lower self-esteem) are more likely to present themselves in an overly positive achievement (Baumeister, 2003) and to perceive positive evaluators as more accurate than negative evaluators (Bosson & Swann, 1999). Participants with low self esteem and exposure to stereotype threat will perform the lowest on task performance.
Steele, C., Spencer, S. J., & Aronson, J. (2002). Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. (In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 379-440. New York, NY: Academic Press.
As put by Holy Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany 's, "Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot."(Capote). When a positive stereotype is introduced and one lives up to it or works toward it the results can be progressive. Generally positive stereotypes increase and improve performance in individuals when introduced. An interesting experiment showed that when tested, "Each group performed better on the task they believe the opposite gender underperformed on"(Krendl, Gainsburg, Nalini). When the group believed they would do better, they did indeed. Positive stereotypes encourage people to do better and to be better. In this case, stereotypes give confidence instead of taking it away showing that sometimes stereotypes can be
The question of whether self- esteem has significance with real world- consequences is a valid concern. Ulrich Orth and Richard W. Robins provide the answer, with evidence contributed by researched studies, in their article The Development of Self- Esteem that self- esteem, in fact, does influence societal significance. With the determination on self- esteem trajectory from adolescence to old age, self- esteem stability, and the relationship between levels of self-esteem and predictions of success and failure, one can conclude that self- esteem influences life outcomes; moreover, people can participate to involvements focused at positively influencing the development of self- esteem.
Throughout the years, males have dominated the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with very few females finding their way in the mix (Steinberg, Okun, & Aiken, 2012). Those females enrolling in the STEM majors soon find themselves questioning why they have, and many quickly change their majors to more female-accepting professions (Steele, James, & Barnett, 2002). The view that women lack the intellect to succeeded in STEM disciplines has been a prevailing one for much of history (Cadinu, Maass, Rosabianca, & Kiesner, 2005). Many researchers have questioned whether it is social stigma impeding female success or indeed basic biological differences that make males are more successful in these fields than women (Smith, Sansone, & White, 2007).
Biernat, Monica, Theresa K. Vescio, and Michelle L. Green. "Selective Self-Stereotyping." Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology 71.6 (1996): 1194-1209. PsycARTICLES. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
As humans in our society, we are categorized by stereotypes everyday, I never considered that just mentally identifying with these stereotypes can unconsciously affect my performance. Researcher and author, Shankar Vedantam, in his article suggests that reminding people of their stereotypes can negatively affect their academic performance among other things. He supports this claim by providing data collected from experimental trials, statements from scientists studying the theory and finally real life situations where the theory applies. Vedantam’s purpose is to use the information he found to give notice to the phenomenon. He adopts a didactic tone for the readers of the Washington Post.
Ryan, Katherine E., and Allison M. Ryan. "Psychological Processes Underlying Stereotype Threat And Standardized Math Test Performance." Educational Psychologist 40.1 (2005): 53-63. Education Research Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Stereotype threat is present in our everyday lives and it prevents people from doing things to their fullest abilities. It is the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about you resulting in weaker performance. An example where stereotype threat exists is in the case where African Americans do poorly on tests compared to Caucasian individuals. This occurs because the stereotype is that African Americans are intellectually inferior to Caucasian people. In a setting where the negative stereotype is brought to mind, African Americans will perform poorly on tests when in fact they are able to perform equally as well if not better than Caucasian individuals. (Article 1) Stereotype threat limits individuals in their performance in academics, sports or even something like driving. By reducing stereotype threat, performance in many areas can improve and people can perform tasks to their fullest potentials. Stereotype threat leads to underachievement in academic and work related situations. People may feel they cannot rise above the stereotype and become limited in their successes. (article 1 I think) The purpose of this paper is to inform on stereotype threat and how to reduce it, as well as to introduce my own investigation aimed at reducing stereotype threat.
Does a Self-fulfilling stereotype Drag down performance? I do think that stereotypes can affect people but it can only affect you if you let it. Even the strongest people let comments get to them sometimes.
There are two important parts to our self-concept: personal and social identity. Our social identities are extracted from the group we belong to. Social identity theory is the main reason we see ingroup biasing. Social identity is highly effected by self-esteem. So, naturally, we want to maintain a high level of self-esteem. When our group succeeds, we succeed as individuals and in return we “bask in the glory.” But, if our group’s self-esteem is threatened, we engage in ingroup biasing by thinking our group is better than another’s. “Individuals with high explicit self-esteem but low implicit self-esteem often lash out at others who threaten their fragile feelings of self-worth. At the same time,
Many researchers have found that, while individuals may be motivated to resist stereotyping and prejudice the initial stereotyping still occurs (Devine, Plant, Amodio, Harmon-Jones & Vance, 2002; Dunton & Fazio, 1997). Scott believes that the initial stereotyping is often coupled with a more controlled process, which can reduce the impact of such stereotyping on judgments, when perceivers are motivated and able to correct for the activated stereotypes thus playing an important role in decision-making (Scott, 2005).
Grigsby, Channing. “A Course in Self-Esteem: 5. Sources of Low Self-Esteem.” Online Posting. 17 July 2001 <http://www.getnewvisions.com/se/05crse_sources.html>.
In Conclusion, contrary to the presumption that most people suffer from low self-esteem or feelings of inferiority, it is found that most people exhibit a self-serving bias. Individuals typically rate their selves better than average on subjective, desirable traits and abilities. Some individuals display overconfidence, which can lead to eventual feelings of failure. I have a self-serving bias as well as most everyone else, even though I may not even notice it. So next time you find yourself saying, "I was in a bad mood that day," "A lot of people make that same mistake," or "I can do it better myself," think about what you are saying and maybe you might catch your self serving bias.
Due to self-depreciating attitudes and beliefs, the individual tends to have a low internal self-esteem. The individual perceives the physical and cultural characteristics identified
will act to maintain his or her self-image regardless of whether it is high or low.” (Greene & Frandsen, 1979, p. 124) Self-esteem is important in social situations; it can help a person have