This study
followed on a previous study,
Cullen, Hardison, and Sackett (2004), that
questioned whether stereotype threat effects emerge in
real-world testing contexts. That work showed there was
little support for the prediction that stereotype threat
emerges only among those highly identified with a
domain. Specifically, under the assumption that domain
identification would be highest for those individuals at
the upper end of the performance distribution, it was
predicted that regression lines characterizing the
test-performance relation would be non-linear for
minorities but linear for Whites. Using two large data
sets collected in real-life situations, the relation was
linear for both groups. That study, however, did not
utilize a direct measure of domain identification. In
this study, women who expressed the intent to major in
math or related fields were compared with women
interested in other fields in performance on the SAT
Math test. It was predicted that standardized scores in
math should underpredict performance in another domain
(specifically, English) of women highly identified in
math compared with women not identified with the domain,
again producing a non-linear test-performance relation
for the former group. This prediction was tested using
data a large dataset of White men and women who
completed the Math SAT test and for whom English grades
could be computed. For both men and women, higher Math
SAT scores were negatively related to grades in English,
but the strength of the relation was equivalent (and
linear) for both groups. These data reinforce the call
for caution in assuming that stereotype threat effects
emerge in real high-stakes testing environments.
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