New research on "stereotype threat"

"Stereotype threat" refers to the idea that negative stereotypes can be self-fulfilling, with individuals' performance suffering as a result. In a new article, French researchers have examined whether the order in which tests are taken can affect girls' math performance. They conducted studies with French middle school students (Ns = 1,127 and 498), first with a math test being taken before a verbal test, and then the other way around with the verbal test being taken first. The researchers predicted that taking the math test before the verbal test would be detrimental to girls' math performance - a stereotype threat (ST) effect.

They found that girls underperformed on the math test relative to boys in the math-verbal order condition (ST effect), but performed as well as boys in the verbal-math order condition. Moreover, girls' math performance was higher in the verbal-math order condition than in the math-verbal order condition. In a second study, additional measures looking at students' self-evaluations in and perceptions of the math and verbal domains provided complementary evidence that only girls who took the math test first experienced ST.

A previous article in Best Evidence in Brief also showed how stereotype threat can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Johns Hopkins University

School of Education

Center for Research and Reform in Education

Research in Brief