Stereotype Threat: unconscious self-discrimination

Believing that the group of people to which we belong has disadvantages leads us to self-sabotage.

Is work and academic performance conditioned by the stereotypes that still prevail in our society? Why are there certain professional fields in which the differences between men and women are so marked?

The theory of the Stereotype Threat tries to give an answer or explanation to these phenomena that, in spite of the advances of the society, still persist independently of the age of the people and the field of studies or work in which they develop.

What is stereotype threat?

The concept of stereotype refers to a series of generalized beliefs, or overgeneralizations, resistant to change that society makes in relation to members of a group or collective whose members are distinguished by some particular trait or condition. or condition.

Usually, these stereotypes are related to aspects such as race, culture or nationality, gender, social status or religion. And although these popular beliefs can be positive, the reality is that in most cases they have a very important negative component.

Based on this concept, several researchers have developed what is now known as the Stereotype Threat theory. This theory points to the fact that, when a person or group of people unconsciously assume the negative aspects of a person or group of people unconsciously assume the negative aspects of the stereotypes linked to his or her condition, not only affects him or her psychologically, but also psychologically.not only affects them psychologically, but can also have a significant impact on their academic and work performance.

The research of Claude M. Steele

There are many researches that have tried to firmly establish this theory, as well as the causes of this phenomenon. In this article we will focus on the research of the psychologist Claude M. Steele, since, of all the existing ones, they are the ones that enjoy the greatest repercussion worldwide.

Steele devoted himself to studying how these stereotypes affected the academic performance and productivity of female students and of groups of female students and students from minority ethnic groups, specifically African-Americans.

The results obtained by Steele and his collaborators established that those groups that were "victims" of negative stereotypes performed worse on tests that activated or reinforced these stereotypes. For example, mathematical tests that calculated differences between men and women or between African Americans and white Americans.

Steele also found that this Stereotype Threat also influenced identity development. also influenced the development of identity.. That is to say, for a student to care about the performance of a certain subject, it is necessary that he or she feels identified with it. This process of affinity with the subject is directly related to the achievements obtained in it, so that if these scores are negative there will be a disinterest of the student in these subjects.

This phenomenon could explain the predominance of women or men in certain university studies, as well as in some professional contexts.as well as in some professional or research contexts.

Its characteristics

As a result of his investigations, Steele elaborated his own list of the characteristics that the Stereotype Threat must possess to be considered as such:

• The Stereotype Threat affects all groups.. That is, any set of people affected by a series of negative stereotypes.
• The components of these groups may experience this threat in various ways and to varying degrees. This will depend on the stereotype content of their personal context.
• The greater the difference between the person affected by the stereotype and the rest of the group, the more relevant the effect of the stereotype will be. For example, a single woman in a group of men.
• It is not necessary for the person to assume these stereotypes, nor to believe in them or their veracity in order to suffer from Stereotype Threat.
• Attempts to fight the stereotype can be unfavorable in that they can lead to feelings of anxiety since they can generate feelings of anxiety by constantly avoiding engaging in behaviors that support these beliefs.

Evidence against this theory

Although the results of the Stereotype Threat studies have been used as a possible explanation for differences in performance between men and women, both in some academic and sports circles, cognitive psychology researcher Tom Stafford of the University of Sheffield insists that there is no evidence for the existence of this phenomenon.

Strafford focused on women's performance in chess tournaments. According to him, previous studies have found that stereotype threat is activated in female chess players when compared to male players. However, after collecting data from more than 5.5 million international tournament chess games, no evidence of a Stereotype Threat effect was found.

On the contrary, female players actually exceeded expectations when competing against male players.. Although their analysis contradicts the specific mechanism of influence of gender stereotypes, the persistent differences between male and female players suggest that there are systematic factors that have yet to be discovered.

Can this influence be avoided?

In the wake of research supporting the existence of Stereotype Threat, a number of suggestions or recommendations have been developed to recommendations have been developed to significantly reduce its effect on students..

One of these techniques consists of clearly explaining to students that their nervousness before a given test is due to their awareness of these negative stereotypes, not to their actual ability to perform the exercise correctly.

This explanation gives an explanation that attributes their performance to an external factor that they can either ignore or improve, thus lowering their anxiety levels.

A second way to address this Stereotype Threat is to provide students with alternative role models. By using examples of people who, despite being victims of these stereotypes, have achieved their goals in those areas in which they were considered a minority.