Reading between the lines: Subtle stereotype threat cues can motivate performance

Figures & data

Figure 1. Total percentage correct as a function of participant gender and threat condition. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error of the mean.

Table 1. GRE performance as a function of participant gender, stereotype threat condition, and problem type

		Performance variable
		# Attempted comparison		# Attempted solve		% Correct comparison		% Correct solve
Condition	n	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
NST Males	18	7.94	1.80	7.83	1.69	50.90	22.76	63.45	16.25
ST Males	18	9.00	2.91	8.83	2.83	57.29	20.92	65.04	17.01
BST Males	18	6.94	2.36	7.50	1.69	41.88	25.55	59.93	24.63
NST Females	18	7.28	2.70	7.11	2.03	52.65	19.36	54.23	23.17
ST Females	18	8.83	2.96	8.44	2.45	29.25	21.46	54.46	25.03
BST Females	18	8.11	2.87	8.17	2.09	32.49	17.95	57.12	21.11

ST = Subtle threat; BST = Blatant threat; NST = No stereotype threat.

Table 2. Percentage of problems on which the solving approach was used by males and females as a function of stereotype threat condition and problem type

		Solution approach (%)
		Comparison problems		Solve problems
Condition	n	M	SD	M	SD
NST Males	18	53.61	19.06	68.14	17.44
ST Males	18	58.51	16.72	76.59	11.03
BST Males	18	55.53	29.68	61.64	25.49
NST Females	18	57.31	14.66	82.08	14.53
ST Females	18	67.03	15.14	76.64	19.42
BST Females	18	74.13	17.33	77.94	20.56

ST = Subtle threat; BST = Blatant threat; NST = No stereotype threat.

Figure 2. Number of times females used the prepotent solving approach on comparison trials as a mediator of number of comparison problems answered incorrectly. Coefficients in parentheses indicate zero-order correlations. Coefficients not in parentheses represent parameter estimates for a recursive path model including both predictors. Double asterisks (**) indicate parameter estimates or correlations that differ from zero at p < .01. Subtle stereotype threat condition is dummy coded (subtle stereotype threat = 1, no stereotype threat = 0).

Figure 3. Number of times females used the prepotent solving approach on comparison trials as a mediator of number of comparison problems answered incorrectly. Coefficients in parentheses indicate zero-order correlations. Coefficients not in parentheses represent parameter estimates for a recursive path model including both predictors. Single asterisks (*) indicate parameter estimates or correlations that differ from zero at p < .05. Double asterisks (**) indicate parameter estimates or correlations that differ from zero at p < .01. Blatant stereotype threat condition is dummy coded (blatant stereotype threat = 1, no stereotype threat = 0).