STEREOTYPE THREAT’S EFFECT ON NON-ATHLETE STUDENTS’ INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES

Abstract

Stereotype threat has become widely known to negatively impact humans’ abilities to perform. This phenomenon and its counterpart, stereotype lift, are both examined in this study regarding their effects on non-athlete students. Positive stereotypes elicit intelligence threat which, in turn, has led targeted groups to perceive negative stereotypes being expressed as well. Black undergraduates are typicallystereotyped as being more athletic, regardless of their athletic ability, than white undergraduates. This can lead to them being misidentified as being a student-athlete on a college campus. To directly determine stereotype effects, this study will examine the effects of misidentifying non-athlete students as student-athletes and measured by having participants complete a verbal anagrams task. Effects will also be examined through questionnaires relating to mind wandering, perceived belonging at one’s academic institution, and stereotype distancing. Black, White, and Asian undergraduates will participate in order to examine cross-racial effects. Black participants are expected to demonstrate stereotype threat, White participants are expected to experience stereotype lift, and Asian participants are expected to have a null effect as athleticism is not an inherent stereotype for their ethnicity.