Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stereotype Threat and Psychosocial Outcomes Among African Americans: A Population-Based Approach

  • ARTICLES
  • Published:
Journal of African American Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current study is a population-based test of stereotype threat effects in a national study of African Americans. Stereotype threat activation is operationalized as the additive interaction between identity threat (i.e., perceiving race as barrier to life goals) and high endorsement of negative stereotypes among African American respondents (N = 3750) to the National Survey of American Life. Those classified as experiencing stereotype threat are hypothesized (1) to have the lowest scores on measures of cognitive functioning, perceived mastery, and educational attainment; and (2) these effects would be stronger than the negative stereotypes only group. Limited support was found for the hypotheses. Extension of stereotype threat to social inequities in the broader African American community may be premature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler, N., Singh-Manoux, A., Schwartz, J., Stewart, J., Matthews, K., & Marmot, M. G. (2008). Social status and health: a comparison of British civil servants in Whitehall-II with European-and African-Americans in CARDIA. Social Science & Medicine, 66(5), 1034–1045.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson, J., Burgess, D., Phelan, S. M., & Juarez, L. (2013). Unhealthy interactions: the role of stereotype threat in health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 103(1), 50–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Assari, Shervin. 2016. Race and ethnic differences in additive and multiplicative effects of depression and anxiety on cardiovascular risk. International Journal of Preventive Medicine 7:22–25. Retrieved March 1, 2019 (http://www.ijpvmjournal.net).

    Google Scholar 

  • Assari, S., Watkins, D. C., & Caldwell, C. H. (2015). Race attribution modifies the association between daily discrimination and major depressive disorder among blacks: the role of gender and ethnicity. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2(2), 200–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branscombe, N. R., Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1999). The context and content of social identity threat. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, & B. Doosje (Eds.), Social Identity: Context, Commitment, Content (pp. 35–58). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brigham, J. C. (1973). Ethnic stereotypes and attitudes: a different mode of analysis. Journal of Personality, 41(2), 206–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (2000). Social identity theory: past achievements, current problems and future challenges. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30(6), 745–778.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. P., & Day, E. A (2006). The difference isn’t black and white: stereotype threat and the race gap on Raven’s advanced progressive matrices. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 979–985.

  • Burgess, D. J., Warren, J., Phelan, S., Dovidio, J., & Van Ryn, M. (2010). Stereotype threat and health disparities: what medical educators and future physicians need to know. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(2), 169–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cené, C. W., Halladay, J. R., Gizlice, Z., Roedersheimer, K., Hinderliter, A., Cummings, D. M., Donahue, K. E., Perrin, A. J., & DeWalt, D. A. (2016). Associations between subjective social status and physical and mental health functioning among patients with hypertension. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(11), 2624–2635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christie-Mizell, C. A., Leslie, E. T. A., & Hearne, B. N. (2017). Self-rated health, discrimination, and racial group identity: The consequences of ethnicity and nativity among black Americans. Journal of African American Studies, 21(4), 643–664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung, B. G., Ehrhart, M. G., Ehrhart, K. H., Hattrup, K., & Solamon, J. (2010). Stereotype threat, state anxiety, and specific self-efficacy as predictors of promotion exam performance. Group & Organization Management, 35(1), 77–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601109354839.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cundiff, J. M., Smith, T. W., Uchino, B. N., & Berg, C. A. (2013). Subjective social status: construct validity and associations with psychosocial vulnerability and self-rated health. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 20(1), 148–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demo, D. H., & Hughes, M. (1990). Socialization and racial identity among Black Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53, 364–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derry, H. M., Fagundes, C. P., Andridge, R., Glaser, R., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2013). Lower subjective social status exaggerates interleukin-6 responses to a laboratory stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(11), 2676–2685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(1), 5–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (2002). Self and social identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 161–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, M. J. (2010). A longitudinal examination of the role of stereotype threat and racial climate on college outcomes for minorities at elite institutions. Social Psychology of Education, 13(1), 19–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-009-9105-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gecas, V. (1989). The social psychology of self-efficacy. Annual Review of Sociology, 15(1), 291–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giatti, L., do Valle, C. L., de Castro Rodrigues, J. F., & Barreto, S. M. (2012). Reliability of the MacArthur scale of subjective social status-Brazilian longitudinal study of adult health (ELSA-Brasil). BMC Public Health, 12, 1387–1102. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-1096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, B. W. (2002). Academic disidentification, race, and high school dropouts. The High School Journal, 85(4), 71–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruenewald, T. L., Kemeny, M. E., & Aziz, N. (2006). Subjective social status moderates cortisol responses to social threat. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 20(4), 410–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, J. B., & Hines-Hudson, B. M. (1999). A study of the contemporary racial attitudes of Whites and African Americans. Western Journal of Black Studies, 23(1), 22–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M., & Demo, D. H. (1989). Self-perceptions of Black Americans: self-esteem and personal efficacy. American Journal of Sociology, 95(1), 132–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M., Jill Kiecolt, K., Keith, V. M., & Demo, D. H. (2015). Racial identity and well-being among African Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, 78(1), 25–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ida, A. K., & Christie-Mizell, C. A. (2012). Racial group identity, psychosocial resources, and depressive symptoms: exploring ethnic heterogeneity among black Americans. Sociological Focus, 45(1), 41–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. S., Torres, M., Caldwell, C. H., Neighbors, H. W., Nesse, R. M., Taylor, R. J., Trierweiler, S. J., & Williams, D. R. (2004). The National Survey of American life: a study of racial, ethnic and cultural influences on mental disorders and mental health. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 196–207. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., & Gardner, C. O. (2010). Interpretation of interactions: guide for the perplexed. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 197, 170–171. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.110.081331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Barker, P. R., Colpe, L. J., Epstein, J. F., Gfroerer, J. C., Hiripi, E., Howes, M. J., et al. (2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(2), 184–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirnan, J. P., Alfieri, J. A., Bragger, J. D. N., & Harris, R. S. (2009). An investigation of stereotype threat in employment tests. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(2), 359–388. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00442.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maertz Jr., C. P., Bauer, T. N., Mosley Jr., D. C., Posthuma, R. A., & Campion, M. A. (2005). Predictors of self-efficacy for cognitive ability employment testing. Journal of Business Research, 58(2), 160–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, Stephen W. 2007. Power for tests of interaction: effect of raising the type I error rate. Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 4(4). Retrieved February 27, 2019 from (http://www.epiperspectives.com/content/4/1/4).

  • Massey, D. S., & Fischer, M. J. (2005). Stereotype threat and academic performance: new findings from a racially diverse sample of college freshmen. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 2(1), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X05050058.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & Owens, J. (2014). Mediators of stereotype threat among black college students. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(3), 557–575. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2013.786110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattison, E., & Aber, M. S. (2007). Closing the achievement gap: the association of racial climate with achievement and behavioral outcomes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 40(1–2), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., & Hanges, P. J. (2003). Understanding the stereotype threat effect with" culture-free" tests: an examination of its mediators and measurement. Human Performance, 16(3), 207–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehta, N., & Preston, S. (2016). Are major behavioral and sociodemographic risk factors for mortality additive or multiplicative in their effects? Social Science & Medicine, 154, 93–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, G. (2012). Revisiting truth or triviality: the external validity of research in the psychological laboratory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(2), 109–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, E. W., & Perry, B. L. (2016). The punishment gap: school suspension and racial disparities in achievement. Social Problems, 63, 68–86. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spv026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myerson, J., Rank, M. R., Raines, F. Q., & Schnitzler, M. A. (1998). Race and general cognitive ability: the myth of diminishing returns to education. Psychological Science, 9(2), 139–142.

  • Najdowski, C. J. (2011). Stereotype threat in criminal interrogations: why innocent Black suspects are at risk for confessing falsely. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 17(4), 562–591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Najdowski, Cynthia J. 2012. Stereotype threat in police encounters: why African Americans are at risk of being targeted as suspects PhD diss., Retrieved November 6, 2018 (https://indigo.lib.uic.edu/handle/10027/9525).

  • Najdowski, C. J., Bottoms, B. L., & Goff, P. A. (2015). Stereotype threat and racial differences in citizens’ experiences of police encounters. Law and Human Behavior, 39(5), 463–477. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, H.-H. D., & Ryan, A. M. (2008). Does stereotype threat affect test performance of minorities and women? A meta-analysis of experimental evidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1314–1334. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemann, Y. F., O'Connor, E., & McClorie, R. (1998). Intergroup stereotypes of working-class blacks and whites: implications for stereotype threat. Western Journal of Black Studies, 22(2), 103–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okonofua, J. A., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2015). Two strikes: race and the disciplining of young students. Psychological Science, 26(5), 617–624. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615570365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okonofua, J. A., Walton, G. M., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2016). A vicious cycle: a social–psychological account of extreme racial disparities in school discipline. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(3), 381–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Operario, D., Adler, N. E., & Williams, D. R. (2004). Subjective social status: reliability and predictive utility for global health. Psychology & Health, 19(2), 237–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, J. W., & Walker, C. (2006). Stereotype threat, identification with academics, and withdrawal from school: why the most successful students of colour might be most likely to withdraw. Educational Psychology, 26(4), 563–577.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owens, J., & Massey, D. S. (2011). Stereotype threat and college academic performance: a latent variables approach. Social Science Research, 40(1), 150–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.09.010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens, Jayanti and Scott M. Lynch. (2012). “Black and Hispanic immigrants’ resilience against negative-ability stereotypes at selective colleges and universities in the United States.” Sociology of Education, 85(4), 303–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearlin, L. I., Menaghan, E. G., Lieberman, M. A., & Mullan, J. T. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 337–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, C. R., Heim, D., Levy, A. R., & Larkin, D. T. (2016). Twenty years of stereotype threat research: a review of psychological mediators. PLoS One, 11(1), e0146487. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R. A. (2001). On the use of college students in social science research: insights from a second-order meta-analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(3), 450–461. https://doi.org/10.1086/323732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purdie-Vaughn, V., Steele, C. M., Davies, P. G., Ditlmann, R., & Crosby, J. R. (2008). Social identity contingencies: how diversity cues signal threat or safety for African Americans in mainstream institutions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(4), 615–630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.94.4.615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rehm, J., Bedirhan Üstün, T., Saxena, S., Nelson, C. B., Chatterji, S., Ivis, F., & Adlaf, E. D. (1999). On the development and psychometric testing of the WHO screening instrument to assess disablement in the general population. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 8(2), 110–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbloom, S. R., & Way, N. (2004). Experiences of discrimination among African American, Asian American, and Latino adolescents in an urban high school. Youth & Society, 35(4), 420–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sears, D. O. (1986). College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(3), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.3.515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaked, D., Williams, M., Evans, M. K., & Zonderman, A. B. (2016). Indicators of subjective social status: differential associations across race and sex. SSM-Population Health, 2, 700–707.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. R. (2011). Different groups, different threats: a multi-threat approach to the experience of stereotype threats. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(4), 464–480 http://psp.sagepub.com/content/37/4/464 .

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. R., & Neuberg, S. L. (2007). From stereotype threat to stereotype threats: Implications of a multi-threat framework for causes, moderators, mediators, consequences, and interventions. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(2), 107–130 http://psr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/11/2/107 .

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelton, J. N. (2000). A reconceptualization of how we study issues of racial prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4(4), 374–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, S. J., Logel, C., & Davies, P. G. (2016). Stereotype threat. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 415–437. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-073115-103235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: how stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52(6), 613–629. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797–811. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M., Spencer, S. J., & Aronson, J. (2002). Contending with group image: the psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 379–440 Academic press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stricker, Lawrence J. 2008. The challenge of stereotype threat for the testing community. In Presidential Address to the Division of Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics. 2007 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RM-08-12

  • Stricker, L. J., & Ward, W. C. (2004). Stereotype threat, inquiring about test takers' ethnicity and gender, and standardized test performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(4), 665–693. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02564.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triplett, N. P., Allen, A., & Lewis, C. W. (2014). Zero tolerance, school shootings, and the post-Brown quest for equity in discipline policy: an examination of how urban minorities are punished for white suburban violence. The Journal of Negro Education, 83(3), 352.

  • Whaley, A. L. (1998). Issues of validity in empirical tests of stereotype threat theory. American Psychologist, 53(6), 679–680. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.53.6.679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whaley, A. L. (2018). Advances in stereotype threat research on African Americans: continuing challenges to the validity of its role in the achievement gap. Social Psychology of Education, 21(1), 111–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whaley, A. L., & Noel, L. (2011). Sociocultural theories, academic achievement, and African American adolescents in a multicultural context: a review of the cultural incompatibility perspective. Social Psychology of Education, 14(2), 149–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-010-9142-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, S. C., & Petty, R. E. (2001). The effects of stereotype activation on behavior: a review of possible mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 127(6), 797–826. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.6.797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, L. S., Dolores, A.-G., Subramanian, S. V., Weber, D., & Kawachi, I. (2010). Subjective social status, a new measure in health disparities research: do race/ethnicity and choice of referent group matter? Journal of Health Psychology, 15(4), 560–574.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Houston, TX, USA

    Arthur L. Whaley

Authors
  1. Arthur L. Whaley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Whaley, A.L. Stereotype Threat and Psychosocial Outcomes Among African Americans: A Population-Based Approach. J Afr Am St 24, 56–77 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-019-09456-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-019-09456-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation