Steele gave male and female students who performed equally well in math a section of the math GRE, and likewise for English literature. Women report a “chilly climate” in advanced math classes, fearing their abilities are under suspicion, feminine characteristics discredit their seriousness, and that they have to prove themselves constantly. Steele hypothesizes that stigmatization is the primary cause of underperformance (Nancy Hewitt, Elaine Seymour). How is this relevant outside of experiments? Schools inherit a social organization from the larger society and their own history that place black students under “downwardly constituting pressures” which can interfere directly with intellectual performance. Students’ environment seemed to be an actual component of ability. Jane Elliott conducted an experiment where she treated blue-eyed and brown-eyed students differently, and found that the marginalized group performed significantly worse-they paid less attention, didn’t remember instructions, were slow, and got many answers wrong. Ideas of who and what was “cool” were dominated by whites. Social groups are important for example, over 85% of Americans get jobs through acquaintances. Rather, it was caused by racialized aspects of campus life: racial marginalization, racial segregation of networks, group underrepresentation, etc. Underperformance didn’t seem to be caused primarily by racism by teachers and classmates, nor by motivational nor cultural defecits. 2Īmong their six closest friends, neither white nor black students averaged even one friend from the other racial group. Steele saw thatĪmong students with comparable academic skills, as measured by the SAT, black students got less of a return on those skills in college than other students. They didn’t have low expectations or make excuses for academic performance. They talked about how social life was organized by race, expressed a desire for a place where they weren’t made aware of being a minority, and worried about how others see them. They were concerned about the university environment and talked about being a minority. An observer emphasizes things about the actor (characteristics, traits) while an actor is aware of the circumstances.ĭuring his visit to Ann Arbor, Steele talked to minority students. There are things we can do as individuals to reduce the impact of these threats.Ģ A Mysterious link between identity and performanceĮdward Jones and Richard Nisbett argued that when explaining people’s behavior, the “observer’s perspective” and “actor’s perspective” are very different.These threats impair a broad range of human functioning through predictable psychological effects.Identity threats play an important role in society’s most important social problems.Even though we think of ourselves as autonomous individuals, contingencies tied to our social identities have an undeniable effect on our lives.Steele’s research shows the following general ideas: White students who were told that a golf task measures “natural athletic ability” did worse what white students in the control group, because there is a stereotype that compared with blacks, whites have less natural athletic ability.īlack students who were told that a golf task measures “sports strategic intelligence” did worse, because there is a stereotype of blacks being less intelligent. The stereotype of violent blacks was no longer applicable to him personally. When he whistled Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, however, he diffused the negative stereotype-people stopped being afraid of him. 2īrent Staples, an African American man, recounts how when he walked down the streets of Chicago Hyde Park, people were frightened of him (ex. A central identity contingency is stereotype threat. The book will show that identity contingencies have a strong effect on standardized test scores, memory, comfort level, etc. This is an example of an identity contingency, something a person deals with because of a given social identity. 1 An introduction: at the root of identity 1Ĭlaude Steele first realized he was black when he learned blacks couldn’t swim at the neighborhood pool except on Wednesday afternoons. (Incidentally, this makes a strong argument for affirmative action in certain cases.) Moreover, it proposes several steps we can take counteract these stereotypes. The book is very revealing, showing through many careful experimental studies how stereotypes have wide-ranging effects beyond our conscious awareness-for example, how just simply being in a society where there are stereotypes can depress academic performance of black students or math scores of female students. These are my notes on Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us by Claude Steele.
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