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Clearing the air: The effect of experimenter race on target's test performance and subjective experience
Author(s) -
Marx David M.,
Goff Phillip Atiba
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1348/014466604x17948
Subject(s) - stereotype threat , psychology , social psychology , stereotype (uml) , test (biology) , race (biology) , developmental psychology , paleontology , botany , biology
According to stereotype threat theory (Steele, 1997), stereotyped targets underperform on challenging tests, in part because they are worried about being viewed in terms of the negative stereotype that they are intellectually inferior. How then are the negative effects of stereotype threat reduced for stereotyped targets? To examine this issue, a study was conducted to investigate whether stereotype threat's adverse effects are reduced when a Black experimenter administers a verbal test to Black participants. We further examined the question of whether Black participants have a subjective awareness of stereotype threat. Results showed that when a Black experimenter gave a verbal test to Black participants, they did not suffer the typical performance decrements associated with stereotype threat. Additionally, results supported the hypothesis that Black participants have conscious access to the experience of stereotype threat and that this effect is partially mediated by their endorsement of the stereotype.