Math question type and stereotype threat: evidence from educational settings
Math question type and stereotype threat: evidence from educational settings
The mere effort account of task performance posits that task evaluation apprehension leads to performance concerns, motivating task-takers to do well and thus potentiating a dominant response. When applied to stereotype threat (ST), mere effort posits that ST motivates test-takers to disprove a stereotype, facilitating a prepotent solve response, augmenting solve type question (e.g., equations) performance, but decreasing comparison type question (e.g., estimations) performance. We tested the mere effort account of ST. In Experiment 1, undergraduates (women) engaged in a practice statistics exam. ST did not facilitate performance on solve questions, but it debilitated performance on comparison questions. In Experiment 2, middle and high school students (girls and boys) engaged in a math practice exam. ST augmented girls' performance on solve questions and debilitated performance on comparison questions. The manipulation that produced stereotype threat in girls lifted boys' performance. This research documents mere effort ST effects in educational settings.
196-216
Davies, Lucy C.
bac6f385-d545-42ce-a3a9-3174360591da
Conner, Mark
96c6bfb4-c2c5-450b-87cf-56e04a53cee4
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Hutter, Russel R.C.
dcd6ac4f-0a83-4c4e-98c2-1438f8572dcf
June 2016
Davies, Lucy C.
bac6f385-d545-42ce-a3a9-3174360591da
Conner, Mark
96c6bfb4-c2c5-450b-87cf-56e04a53cee4
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Hutter, Russel R.C.
dcd6ac4f-0a83-4c4e-98c2-1438f8572dcf
Davies, Lucy C., Conner, Mark, Sedikides, Constantine and Hutter, Russel R.C.
(2016)
Math question type and stereotype threat: evidence from educational settings.
Social Cognition, 34 (3), .
(doi:10.1521/soco.2016.34.3.196).
Abstract
The mere effort account of task performance posits that task evaluation apprehension leads to performance concerns, motivating task-takers to do well and thus potentiating a dominant response. When applied to stereotype threat (ST), mere effort posits that ST motivates test-takers to disprove a stereotype, facilitating a prepotent solve response, augmenting solve type question (e.g., equations) performance, but decreasing comparison type question (e.g., estimations) performance. We tested the mere effort account of ST. In Experiment 1, undergraduates (women) engaged in a practice statistics exam. ST did not facilitate performance on solve questions, but it debilitated performance on comparison questions. In Experiment 2, middle and high school students (girls and boys) engaged in a math practice exam. ST augmented girls' performance on solve questions and debilitated performance on comparison questions. The manipulation that produced stereotype threat in girls lifted boys' performance. This research documents mere effort ST effects in educational settings.
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Davies, Conner, Sedikides, & Hutter, 2016, Social Cognition
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Accepted/In Press date: 1 March 2016
Published date: June 2016
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 392904
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/392904
ISSN: 0278-016X
PURE UUID: e9d23be9-385c-4d87-8bde-377e91171722
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Date deposited: 19 Apr 2016 08:36
Last modified: 28 Mar 2026 02:37
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Author:
Lucy C. Davies
Author:
Mark Conner
Author:
Russel R.C. Hutter
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