Stereotype Threat and Self-Affirmation: Reconsidering the Protective Influence of Value Affirmation Interventions
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: The current study was designed to examine the influence of self-affirmation on the executive attention and mathematical performance of learners confronted with stereotype threat. Participants (N = 206) were exposed to self-affirmation and stereotype threat manipulations, completed operation-span and letter memory tasks, and a series of high-difficulty modular subtraction problems. Our results revealed that self-affirmed participants demonstrated lower mathematical performance when problems were completed under high stereotype threat conditions. Further, our data revealed the self-affirmation and stereotype threat manipulations had no impact on components of executive attention hypothesized to underlie stereotype threat effects. These findings add to recent literature calling into question the viability of self-affirmation as a strategy for protecting the achievement of at-risk students.
Authors: Christopher L. Thomas, Jerrell C. Cassady
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3110794529