Abstract
Stereotype threat refers to individual’s being at risk of confirming the negative stereotype of self and their own groups. Stereotype threat usually comes from individual’s negative stereotypic perception of self and his or her belonging groups. According to the Identity Threat Model of Stigma suggested by Major and O'Brien, an individual in negative stereotype situation would experience potential identity threat, which would influence mental activities and behavioral performance via alternative approach of conscious or unconscious. Identity threat would happen when an individual appraises the stereotype threat as potentially harmful to his or her social identity or as surpassing his or her coping resources. Possible personal traits that would influence individual’s evaluation towards his or her own performance include situational cues, the group representation of his or her belonging group, motivation and goals. On the basis of Major and O'Brien’s Identity Threat Model, the present study organized the strategies from the perspective of improving situation, changing cognitive schema and training positive internal attribution, and systemically reviewed the possible strategies that could be useful for dealing with stereotype, including attributional techniques, role models of high achievers of the stereotyped group, deemphasizing stereotypic identity, providing multiple social identities, encouraging self-affirmation, and reframing the task context, and so on. Although the above three coping and intervening strategies are all individual-oriented and they all are effective in reducing or eliminating stereotype threat effect, their working mechanisms work out different. The schema-based coping strategy is centered on controlling the negative stereotype situation, and the self-based coping strategy mainly focuses on training individuals’ implicit attitude and motivation so as to intervene with stereotype threat, while the situation-based intervention can be regarded as a kind of educational implication because the long-lasting change of implicit perception relies on education.
In the end of the paper, limitations of previous studies and futures directions in the area of dealing with stereotype threat were pointed out. First, future research can be carried out by combining with more group identities. Second, long-lasting and developmental coping strategies should be discussed in the further studies. Third to improve the intervening efficiency, the intervention strategies should be promoted to groups instead of to individuals. What’s more, the positive stereotype and its advantages are in need to be explored in later studies. And social system should improve its service to appeal to the elimination of negative stereotype and attentions should be paid to the perfecting of social systems as well. Finally, to put forward a more credible and reliable classification criteria for intervention strategies, some statistical methods (such as meta-analysis) should be employed to reveal the specific mechanism for each category of intervention strategies.
Key words
Stereotype Threat /
Coping Strategies /
Schemata /
Self /
Social Context
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Reducing the effects of Stereotype Threat: Intervention Strategies and Future Directions[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2014, 37(1): 197-204
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