Positive Stereotypes and Their Effect on Anxiety and Performance in College Students

Alnajada, Alexander

Positive Stereotypes and Their Effect on Anxiety and Performance in College Students

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10456/35939

Author(s)

Alnajada, Alexander

Date Issued

March 31, 2014

Abstract

Previous stereotype threat research has primarily focused on the negative stereotypes of race or sex differences and standardized test performance. The present study expands on that by looking into positive college student stereotypes. The first hypothesis of this study was that college students exposed to the positive college student stereotypes will perform worse on the standardized test than those not exposed. The second hypothesis of the study was that those students exposed to the positive stereotypes would have increased anxiety. Participants completed a questionnaire manipulating identity salience, took a test containing questions from a practice GRE, and then completed a mood questionnaire. Data were analyzed on 49 college students. The manipulation check was not successful in that neither group was more worried about their performance. Differences were present in the total GRE scores and the total quantitative scores but not for the total verbal scores. Overall, differences were not present in anxiety. However, the experimental group reported feeling more confident and more tired compared to the control group. These findings can be utilized in school and college settings. These findings also add to the body of literature in stereotype threat in relation to positive stereotypes. Limitations and future research are discussed.

First Reader(s)

Jackson, Lydia