Reflections
Reflections
November 30, 2014
Growing up in a predominantly white conservative suburban town, I've witnessed and experienced stereotype threat. This occurred mainly when I was in high school. As an Asian at our school, we were viewed as the nerdy, quiet, book smart kids. I was always never good at speaking in public. We were giving speeches in English class one day and it was my turn. I got really nervous all of a sudden, I started to sweat and when I gave my speech I stumbled on some words. I felt like the pressure of failing got to me. As I worried more and more, my performance only got worse.
This is an example of stereotype threat. This is a term coined by Claude Steele & Joshua Aronson. They conducted a research study on how perceived stereotype affected their performance. They basically had two groups, blacks and whites. There were two conditions that they tested. The first test on stereotype threat was that the individuals were told the test would be a good indicator of their intellectual abilities. The non-threat test individuals were told that they were doing a problem solving exercises. They found that African-Americans did worse in the threat condition but both groups performed equally well in the non-threat condition. Steele stated that African-Americans who identified more with their race performed more poorly. Stereotypes can hurt your performance if you identify with that group and if the test is relevant to you.
I'm sure we've all witnessed this before. It's these stereotypes that dictate the way you feel when you do something. Sometimes you feel you always have to be aware of your actions or what you say in certain situations. There are ways to mitigate these feelings. One way to do this is by affirmation. By becoming confidant and proving to yourself you can do something only makes you less worried by outside factors / pressure. I think we can help each other out with by giving words of encouragement. When someone is feeling nervous or feel like they don't belong there, try lifting up their mood or reaffirm that they do belong there. By helping each other out, we can slowly knock down the pressures of stereotype threat.
