Stereotype threat and affirmation: the interactive effect of domain and gender identification, and different types of affirmation on women's math performance

This research applies the affirmation theory to situations of stereotype threat. We examined how group-affirmation influences math performance of women under stereotype threat and whether group-affirmation effects depend on the beliefs women hold regarding gender and math (i.e., how much they identify with the domain of mathematics and their gender). In the current study, the effects of group-affirmation were compared to self-affirmation, a coping technique successfully used to alleviate stereotype threat. One hundred and fifty-nine female college students were exposed to stereotype threat and subsequently given the opportunity to either affirm as individuals (self-affirmation) or group members (group-affirmation). Next, they took a difficult math test. We measured participants' identification with their gender and mathematics. We hypothesized that the effects of different types of affirmation (self vs. group) would depend on the level of gender and math identification. We found that math, but not gender identification, moderated the effects of self and group-affirmation. Women who were highly identified with math and affirmed as members of the stereotyped group (i.e., as women) underperformed compared to women highly identified with math who self-affirmed. We hypothesize that group-affirmation was harmful to women highly identified with math because it activated the stigmatized identity. When group-affirmation is related to the stigmatized identity, it may intensify the stereotype threat instead of lifting the threat. Therefore, other methods focused on comparisons with specific in-group members who are doing well in a stereotyped domain or using other positive group identities different than the stigmatized group could be more effective than affirming as a stigmatized group member in stereotype threat situation.