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Stereotype Threat and Women's Math Performance,☆☆,

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Abstract

When women perform math, unlike men, they risk being judged by the negative stereotype that women have weaker math ability. We call this predicamentstereotype threatand hypothesize that the apprehension it causes may disrupt women's math performance. In Study 1 we demonstrated that the pattern observed in the literature that women underperform on difficult (but not easy) math tests was observed among a highly selected sample of men and women. In Study 2 we demonstrated that this difference in performance could be eliminated when we lowered stereotype threat by describing the test as not producing gender differences. However, when the test was described as producing gender differences and stereotype threat was high, women performed substantially worse than equally qualified men did. A third experiment replicated this finding with a less highly selected population and explored the mediation of the effect. The implication that stereotype threat may underlie gender differences in advanced math performance, even those that have been attributed to genetically rooted sex differences, is discussed.

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    This paper was based on a doctoral dissertation completed by Steven J. Spencer under the direction of Claude M. Steele. This research was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health predoctoral fellowship to Steven J. Spencer and grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH45889) and the Russell Sage Foundation (879.304) to Claude M. Steele. The authors thank Jennifer Crocker, Lenard Eron, Hazel Markus, David Myers, Richard Nisbett, William Von Hippel, and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful advice and comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. They also thank Latasha Nash, Sabrina Voelpel, and Nancy Faulk for their help in running experimental sessions.

    ☆☆

    Correspondence concerning this article and reprint requests should be addressed to Steven J. Spencer, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1.

    D. L. Hamilton

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