Steele C M, Aronson J
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, California 94305, USA.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1995 Nov;69(5):797-811. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.69.5.797.
Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. Studies 1 and 2 varied the stereotype vulnerability of Black participants taking a difficult verbal test by varying whether or not their performance was ostensibly diagnostic of ability, and thus, whether or not they were at risk of fulfilling the racial stereotype about their intellectual ability. Reflecting the pressure of this vulnerability, Blacks underperformed in relation to Whites in the ability-diagnostic condition but not in the nondiagnostic condition (with Scholastic Aptitude Tests controlled). Study 3 validated that ability-diagnosticity cognitively activated the racial stereotype in these participants and motivated them not to conform to it, or to be judged by it. Study 4 showed that mere salience of the stereotype could impair Blacks' performance even when the test was not ability diagnostic. The role of stereotype vulnerability in the standardized test performance of ability-stigmatized groups is discussed.
刻板印象威胁是指一个人有可能证实关于自己所属群体的负面刻板印象，并将其视为自身特征。研究1和研究2通过改变黑人参与者在进行一项难度较大的语言测试时其表现是否表面上能诊断能力，从而改变他们是否面临证实关于其智力能力的种族刻板印象的风险，以此来改变黑人参与者的刻板印象易感性。反映出这种易感性带来的压力，在能力诊断条件下，黑人相对于白人表现较差，但在非诊断条件下并非如此（已对学术能力倾向测试进行控制）。研究3证实，能力诊断在认知上激活了这些参与者的种族刻板印象，并促使他们不遵循该刻板印象，或不被其评判。研究4表明，即使测试与能力无关，仅仅是刻板印象的凸显也会损害黑人的表现。本文讨论了刻板印象易感性在能力受污名化群体的标准化测试表现中的作用。
