Abstract
Disparity exists between racially minoritized students and their White student counterparts in academic achievement. This discrepancy engenders the difference with which students will have opportunities in advanced courses; rates of high school graduation, college acceptance, and completion rates; and salary and quality of life. The academic disparity between the two groups has been found to have roots in stereotype threat, which causes anxiety where the individual’s behavior may confirm the negative stereotypes of one’s in-group. Reducing stereotype threat has been theorized to allow minoritized students and those in negatively stereotyped groups to enhance their academic performance by removing levels of anxiety hampering their performance. Following previous work, whereby the academic achievement gap between Black and White middle school students were reduced, this study examines the effectiveness of such an intervention on 4th grade, elementary students’ reading achievement levels.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Adams, G., Garcia, D. M., Purdie-Vaughns, C., & Steele, C. M. (2006). The detrimental effects of a suggestion of sexism in an instruction situation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 602–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2005.10.004
Ambady, N., Shih, M., Kim, A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2001). Stereotype susceptibility in children: Effects of identity activation on quantitative performance. Psychological Science, 12, 385–390. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00371
Appel, M., & Kronberger, N. (2012). Stereotypes and the achievement gap: Stereotype threat prior to test taking. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 609–635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-012-9200-4
Appel, M., Kronberger, N., & Aronson, J. (2011). Stereotype threat impedes ability building: Effects on test preparation among women in science and technology. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 904–913. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.835
Aronson, J. (2004). The threat of stereotype. Educational Leadership, 14–19.
Aronson, J. (2005). Stereotype and the fragility of human competence, motivation, and self-concept. In C. Dweck & E. Elliot, Handbook of competence and motivation. Guilford Press.
Bacharach, V. R., Baumeister, A. A., & Furr, R. M. (2003). Racial and gender science achievement gaps in secondary education. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 164(1), 115–126.
Bancroft, A., Bratter, J., & Rowley, K. (2017). Affirmation effects on math scores: The importance of high school track. Social Science Research, 64, 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.10.001
Binning, K. R., Cook, J. E., Greenaway, V. P., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L. (2021). Securing self-integrity over time: Self-affirmation disrupts a negative cycle between psychological threat and academic performance. Journal of Social Issues, 77(3), 801–823. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12461
Borman, G. D., Grigg, J., & Hanselman, P. (2016). An effort to close achievement gaps at scale through self-affirmation. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 38(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373715581709
Bowman, B. T., Comer, J. P., & Johns, D. J. (2018). Addressing the African American achievement gap: Three leading educators issue a call to action. YC Young Children, 73(2), 14–23.
Byrd, C. M. (2012). The measurement of racial/ethnic identity in children: A critical review. Journal of Black Psychology, 38(1), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798410397544
Carmona-Halty, M., Salanova, M., Llorens, S., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2019). How psychological capital mediates between study–related positive emotions and academic performance. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(2), 605–617. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9963-5
Chalabaev, A., Major, B., Sarrazin, P., & Cury, F. (2012). When avoiding failure improves performance: Stereotype threat and the impact of performance goals. Motivation and Emotion, 36, 130–142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9241-x
Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P., & Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: How stereotypical environments impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 1045–1060. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016239
Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. (2014). The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 65(1), 333–371. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137
Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., & Master, A. (2006). Reducing the racial achievement gap: A social-psychological intervention. Science, 313(5791), 1307–1310.
Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Apfel, N., & Brzuskoski, P. (2009). Recursive processes in self-affirmation: Intervening to close the minority achievement gap. Science, 324, 400–403.
Cook, J. E., Purdue-Vaughns, V, Garcia, J., & Cohen, G. L. (2012). Chronic threat and contingent belonging: Protective benefits of values affirmation on identity development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 479, 96.
Corenblum, B., & Armstrong, H. D. (2012). Racial-ethnic identity development in children in a racial-ethnic minority group. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 44(2), 124–137.
Critcher, C. R., & Dunning, D. (2015). Self-affirmations provide a broader perspective on self-threat. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214554956
Depaoli, J. L., Balfanz, R., Atwell, M. N., & Bridgeland, J. (2018). Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Raising High School Graduation Rates. Annual Update 2018. Civic Enterprises. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED585524.pdf
Desert, M., Preaux, M., & Jund, R. (2009). So young and already victims of stereotype threat: Socio-economic status and performance of 6 to 9 years old children on Raven’s progressive matrices. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 24, 207–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173012
Fryer, R. G., & Levitt, S. D. (2004). Understanding the black-white test score gap in the first two years of school. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(2), 447–464. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323031049
Gillen-O’Neel, C., Ruble, D. N., & Fuligni, A. J. (2011). Ethnic stigma, academic anxiety, and intrinsic motivation in middle childhood. Child Development, 82(5), 1470–1485. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01621.x
Hanushek, E. A., Peterson, P. E., Talpey, L. M., & Woessmann, L. (2019). The achievement gap fails to close. Education Next, 19(3), 8–17.
Hartley, B. L., & Sutton, R. M. (2013). A stereotype threat account of boys’ academic underachievement. Child Development, 85(5), 1716–1733. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12079
Howard, S., & Borgella, A. (2018). “Sinking” or sinking?: Identity salience and shifts in black women's athletic performance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 39, 179–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.08.016
Howe, M. J. A., Davidson, J. W., & Sloboda, J. A. (1998). Innate talents: Reality or myth? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 399–442. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X9800123X
Jordan, A. H., & Lovett, B. J. (2007). Stereotype threat and test performance: A primer for school psychologists. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 45–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.09.003
Juvonen, J. (2007). Reforming middle schools: Focus on continuity, social connectedness, and engagement. Educational Psychologist, 42, 197–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520701621046
Kellow, J. T., & Jones, B. D. (2008). The effects of stereotypes on the achievement gap: Reexamining the academic performance of African American high school students. Journal of Black Psychology, 34(1), 94–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798407310537
Klein, W. M. P., Harris, P. R., Ferrer, R. A., & Zajac, L. E. (2011). Feelings of vulnerability in response to threatening messages: Effects of self-affirmation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1237–1242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.005
Korpershoek, H., Canrinus, E. T., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & de Boer, H. (2020). The relationships between school belonging and students’ motivational, social-emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes in secondary education: A meta-analytic review. Research Papers in Education, 35(6), 641–680. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116
Lemons, C. J., Fuchs, D., Gilbert, J. K., & Fuchs, L. S. (2014). Evidence-based practices in a changing world. Educational Researcher, 43(5), 242–252. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x14539189
Lichtenfeld, S., Pekrun, R., Stupnisky, R. H., Reiss, K., & Murayama, K. (2012). Measuring students’ emotions in the early years: The achievement emotions questionnaire-elementary school (AEQ-ES). Learning and Individual Differences, 22(2), 190–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.005
Liu, S., Liu, P., Wang, M., & Zhang, B. (2021). Effectiveness of stereotype threat interventions: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(6), 921 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/apl0000770
Mark, D. L. H. (2013). Academic achievement gap or gap of opportunities? Urban Education, 48(2), 335–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085913476936
Martens, A., Johns, M., Greenberg, J., & Schimel, J. (2006). Combating stereotype threat: The effect of self-affirmation on women’s intellectual performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2005.04.010
Marx, D. M., Ko, S. J., & Friedman, R. A. (2009). The “Obama effect”: How a salient role model reduces race-based performance differences. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.03.012
McKown, C. (2013). Social equity theory and racial-ethnic achievement gaps. Child Development, 84(4), 1120–1136. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12033
Mello, Z. R., Mallett, R. K., Andretta, J. R., & Worrell, F. C. (2012). Stereotype threat and school belonging in adolescents from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Journal of At-Risk Issues, 17(1), 9–14.
Milner, R. (2012). Beyond a test score: Explaining opportunity gaps in educational practice. Journal of Black Studies, 43(6), 693–718. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934712442539
Murphy, M. C., Gopalan, M., Carter, E. R., Emerson, K. T., Bottoms, B. L., & Walton, G. M. (2020). A customized belonging intervention improves retention of socially disadvantaged students at a broad-access university. Science Advances, 6(29), [eaba4677]. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba4677.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). Achievement gaps: How black and white students in public schools perform in mathematics and reading on the national assessment of educational progress. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2009455.pdf
National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Achievement gaps: How Hispanic and white students in public schools perform in mathematics and reading on the national assessment of educational progress. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2011459.pdf
National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Achievement gaps dashboard. The Nation’s Report Card. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/dashboards/achievement_gaps.aspx
Nelson, S. K., Fuller, J. A. K., Choi, I., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). Beyond self-protection: Self-affirmation benefits hedonic and eudemonic well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulleting, 40(8), 998–1011. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214533389
Oates, G. L. S. C. (2009). An empirical test of five prominent explanations for the black- white academic performance gap. Social Psychological Education, 12, 415–441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-009-9091-5
Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Corwith, S. (2018). Poverty, academic achievement, and giftedness: A literature review. Gifted Child Quarterly, 62(1), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986217738015
Owens, J., & Massey, D. S. (2011). Stereotype threat and college academic performance: A latent variables approach. Social Science Research, 40, 150–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.09.010
Parker, T. S., & Wampler, K. S. (2006). Changing emotion: The use of therapeutic storytelling. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 32(2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2006.tb01597.x
Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 315–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9029-9
Riciputi, S., & Erdal, K. (2017). The effect of stereotype threat on student-athlete math performance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 32, 54–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.06.003
Rosenthal, H. E. S., & Crisp, R. J. (2006). Reducing stereotype threat by blurring intergroup boundaries. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(4), 501–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167205281009
Rossi-Arnaud, C., Spataro, P., & Geraci, L. (2018). Effects of stereotype threat and prior task success on older adults’ eyewitness memory. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7(3), 422–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2018.02.001
Rydell, R. J., Rydell, M. T., & Boucher, K. L. (2010). The effect of negative performance stereotypes on learning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 883–896. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021139
Schmader, T., & Johns, M. (2003). Converging evidence that stereotype threat reduces working memory capacity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(3), 440–452. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.440
Sherman, D. K., Cohen, G. L., Nelson, L. D., Nussbaum, A. D., Bunyan, D. P., & Garcia, J. (2009). Affirmed yet unaware: Exploring the role of awareness in the process of self-affirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(5), 745–764. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015451
Smith, J. L. (2004). Understanding the process of stereotype threat: A review of meditational variables and new performance goal directions. Educational Psychology Review, 16, 177–206. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EDPR.0000034020.20317.89
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
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
Steele, C. M., Spencer, S. J., & Aronson, J. (2002). Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 379–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(02)80009-0
Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., & Fryberg, S. A. (2012). Social class disparities in health and education: Reducing inequality by applying a sociocultural self model of behavior. Psychological Review, 119(4), 723–744. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029028
Sukhera, J., Wodzinski, M., Milne, A., Teunissen, P. W., Lingard, L., & Watling, C. (2019). Implicit bias and the feedback paradox: Exploring how health professionals engage with feedback while questioning its credibility. Academic Medicine, 94(8), 1204–1210. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000002782
Taylor, V. J., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Stereotype threat undermines academic learning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(8), 1055–1067. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211406506
Thoman, D. B., Smith, J. L., Brown, E. R., Chase, J., & Lee, J. Y. K. (2013). Beyond performance: A motivational experiences model of stereotype threat. Educational Psychology Review, 25, 211–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-013-9219-1
Tomasetto, C., Alparone, F. R., & Cadinu, M. (2011). Girls’ math performance under stereotype threat: The moderating role of mothers’ gender stereotypes. Developmental Psychology, 47, 943–949.
Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Yazedjian, A., & Bamaca-Gomez, M. (2009). Developing the ethnic identity scale using Eriksonian and social identity perspectives. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 4(1), 9-38. 10.1207/S1532706XID0401_2.
Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Quintana, S. M., Lee, R. M., Cross, W. E., Rivas-Drake, D., Schwartz, S. J., et al. (2014). Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: An integrated conceptualization. Child Development, 85, 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12196
Vermeulen, L., Castellar, E. N., Janssen, D., Calvi, L., & Van Looy, J. (2016). Playing under threat. Examining stereotype threat in female game players. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 377–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.042
Voight, A. M., Geller, J. D., & Nation, M. (2014). Contextualizing the “behavior gap”: Student prosocial behavior and racial composition in urban middle schools. Journal of Early Adolescence, 34(2), 157–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431613482043
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 82–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82
Walton, G. M., Cohen, G. L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S. J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 513–532. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025731
Weinstein, R. S. (2002). Reaching higher: The power of expectations in schooling. Harvard University Press.
Wout, D., Danso, H., Jackson, J., & Spencer, S. (2008). The many faces of stereotype threat: Group- and self-threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 792–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2007.07.005
Yeager, D., Walton, G., & Cohen, G. L. (2013). Addressing achievement gaps with psychological interventions. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(5), 62–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171309400514
Yeung, W. J., & Conley, D. (2008). Black-white achievement gap and family wealth. Child Development, 79(2), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01127.x
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
This material is the authors’ own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere. The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. The paper reflects the authors’ own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner.
Ethical Statement
This study was approved by the University of Connecticut Institutional Review Board.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.
Conflict of Interest to Disclose
The authors confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, J.S., Kehle, T.J., Bray, M.A. et al. Using self-affirmations to improve achievement in fourth-grade students. Curr Psychol 42, 15388–15402 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02697-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02697-9