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This paper reports a study examining whether informing
women about stereotype threat can improve performance on
a test that would ordinarily provoke stereotype threat. Male and female college students completed a set of
difficult math problems that were described either as a problem-solving
task or as a math test. In a
third condition, the task was described as a math test
but students also were briefly told about stereotype
threat and that it could negatively affect women's
performance on the test. Specifically, students
were told, "it's important to keep in mind that if you
are feeling anxious while taking this test, this anxiety
could be the result of these negative stereotypes that
are widely known in society and have nothing to do with
your actual ability to do well on the test." When the
task simply was described as a math test, women
performed worse than men, confirming previous findings. When the task was described as a problem-solving task or
when women were taught about stereotype threat, the
performance of women and men did not differ. This
study suggests that teaching students about stereotype
threat and providing a means for explaining the anxiety
that might be experienced under it can reduce its negative consequences.
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