Rosenthal, R. (1968). Pygmalion In The Classroom. In 1113654620 841521618 L. Jacobson (Ed.), The Urban Review.


University of Georgia

Increased stress and other negative effects coming from the fear of affirming stereotypes about one's identity. Measures of identity can be, but not limited to:
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Age
- Profession

Individuals affected by Stereotype Threat may face distractions, narrowed attention, anxiety, self-consciousness, usually resulting in a decrease of personal performance.

Stereotype Threat

Steele, Claude M., and Joshua Aronson. "Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans." Journal of personality and social psychology 69.5 (1995): 797.

Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between male and female students.

Gender Gap in Education

In an experimental setting, Lauer et.al found that the recommended values-affirmation writing task was able to improve female students' learning gains in several introductory science classes (Intro Bio, Biochem, Physics).

- However, survey measures found that the both the control and test populations strongly disagreed with claims that would normally contribute to stereotype threat (e.g "I expect men to generally do better than women in biology"), even among the male sub-population. 

Lauer et.al suggests that the gender-based stereotype threat may not be consistent through institutions, and that previous initiatives focused on hiring female faculty may be "paying off" by inspiring current students as more and more female instructors being teaching introductory courses. In addition, Lauer et.al suggests that there may be a "stereotype reactance" effect, where women may respond to the challenge by overperforming, rather than stress about the stereotype.

Gender Stereotype Threat in Introductory Science Courses

Pygmalion in The Classroom

Pygmalion effect- A psychological phenomenon where high expectations lead to increased performance. 

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