Prospective memory, memory to perform future intended actions, is an important component of independent living for older adults. The current study examined prospective memory performance in 120 adults (Young-Old; 45-64 years old and Old; 65 - 87 years old) using Virtual Week (Rendell & Craik, 2000; Rendell & Henry, 2009). Virtual week was used to assess performance for regular and irregular event based, regular and irregular time based, and time check prospective memory tasks. Prospective memory performance under conditions of stereotype threat, stereotype boost, and a neutral condition was also examined. Stereotype threat occurs when individuals fear their behavior will confirm a negative opinion regarding one’s in-group. Older adults completed fewer prospective memory tasks compared to participants in the Young-Old group. No effect of stereotype condition on completion of prospective memory tasks was observed. The implication that stereotype threat may influence memory systems differently, as well as the possible role of the positivity effect on performance is considered.

Stereotype threat is defined as a sociopsychological threat evoked by an evaluative situation in which a negative stereotype about one's group could be confirmed (Steele, 1997). While the deleterious effects of stereotype threat have been demonstrated numerous times in laboratory settings (McKay, Doverspike, Bowen-Hilton, & Martin, 2002; Ngyuen & Ryan, 2008; Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999; Steele & Aronson, 1995), generalization to actual testing situations has been limited (Stricker & Ward, 2004). The current study sought to increase ecological validity by examining stereotype threat among racial/ethnic minority students undergoing assessment using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) without explicit priming. Another aim was to reduce stereotype threat by emphasizing the malleability of intelligence, as recommended by previous researchers (Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003). Additionally, the relationship of ethnic identity to stereotype threat and test performance and the role of anxiety, a proposed mechanism of stereotype threat, were examined. Participants were also interviewed about their experiences of stereotype threat using a phenomenological approach. A 2(condition) x 3(race/ethnicity) experimental design was used, and 138 college students were randomized to the control or malleability conditions. Due to manipulation failure, the hypothesis that African and Latino American students would experience less stereotype threat and perform better on the WAIS-IV in the malleability condition could not be tested. Qualitative findings suggested that while participants endorsed perceptions of stereotype threat in general societal settings, they did not report stereotype threat while undergoing the WAIS-IV. The hypothesis that ethnic identity moderates the relationship between stereotype threat and performance received mixed support: ethnic identity-affirmation interacted with perceived stereotype threat on Digit Span, but all other interactions were nonsignificant. Lastly, the hypothesis that anxiety mediates the relationship between perceived stereotype threat and WAIS-IV performance was not supported. However, post-hoc analyses suggested that perceived stereotype threat mediates the relationship of anxiety and WAIS-IV performance. Correlational results revealed that perceived stereotype threat and stereotype vulnerability were related to WAIS-IV scores. In addition, students of color reported greater test and state anxiety than their European American counterparts. Implications for researchers, test administrators, and admissions officers are discussed. / text

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The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how stereotype threat impacts women and minorities within the College of Engineering. Within this study, I present a mixed-methods study that begins with an exploratory qualitative study into an sequential explanatory study. The purpose of the first study, Manuscript 1, was to identify common barriers present to women in engineering that negatively impact their motivations within engineering. During the analysis of this data, stereotype threat emerged as a common theme which lead to a literature review and subsequent explanatory study. A quantitative study, using Picho and Brown’s Social Identities and Attitudes Scale, was conducted to help pin point which groups on campus (i.e. women, men, and racial groups plus their intersections) were most impacted by stereotype threat (Manuscript 2, Chapter IV). The instrument also divides stereotype threat amongst six different constructs which allowed insight into specifically which types of stereotypes persist within engineering. Using the data collected from the 137 participants, I was able to identify that women are the most at risk for stereotype threat across 4 of the constructs in the instrument. Using the information from the SIAS instrument, I developed a focus group protocol and conducted 4 different focus groups with 8 different participants to gather data on what ways these negative stereotypes persist and interfere with women’s motivations within engineering (Manuscript 3, Chapter V). The implications of this research is then utilized to formulate proposed solutions to increase diversity and inclusivity within engineering.

It is well documented that some populations experience higher rates of certain diseases. While researchers have explored factors contributing to health disparities, attention has turned to the influence of social factors. For instance, stereotype threat has recently been applied to the health care setting in order to explain growing health disparities (e.g., Aronson et al., 2013). Health care stereotype threat (HCST) may arise when patients become aware that a negative health stereotype exists about a group or groups with which they identify, thus negatively impacting their utilization of health care services. Furthermore, patients with multiple marginalized identities have unique experiences of stereotyping and discrimination within the health care system. The purpose of the current study is to address Abdou et al.’s (2016) recommendation that researchers examine health care stereotype threat among individuals with multiple marginalized identities. The present study identified patients with a chronic illness and multiple marginalized identities including: (a) identifying as Black, (b) being considered overweight by medical community, and/or (c) identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT). These identities were chosen based on research indicating that physicians hold implicit bias attitudes towards and stereotypes about these groups (e.g., Blair et al., 2013; Chapman et al., 2001; Sabin et al., 2009). I utilized qualitative research methodology to contextualize patients’ experiences of stereotyping in a health setting. In person, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight patients. During the interview process, four major categories and 22 sub-level categories emerged. Grounded theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) was used to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed a complex relationship between negative experiences with a provider (i.e., dismissive communication and perceived stereotyping) and health care utilization. Patients’ negative experiences with providers made it more difficult for patients to continue engaging in care. Systemic barriers as well as level of coping and social support influenced patients’ perception of stereotyping and discrimination. Level of support from other providers and use of coping skills also determined the extent to which patients continued to utilize available health care in the face of discrimination. Implications for future research and clinical practice are delineated.

Science thrives when there is a continuous flow of new ideas and diverse generations of scholars contributing to the field. Although academic institutions aim to encourage diverse viewpoints, a culture of atheism among university faculties may unwittingly be contributing to an anti-religious atmosphere. The main focus of this dissertation is to investigate people’s attitudes toward religious individuals, and how these attitudes affect the religious believers’ mental health and academic performance. Study 1 (N = 899) found that people tend to explicitly report that religious believers have lower intelligence, but to implicitly associate them with higher intelligence. Although this is the case, faculty members, particularly those from secular institutions, did not have this implicit association and had the strongest congruity between their explicit and implicit intelligence preferences. Studies 2-3 showed that religious believers of diverse backgrounds reported experiencing overt and covert forms of religious bias, including biases related to their academic ability. Religious believers reported that they encountered more incidences of overt and covert forms of religious bias inside of higher education than outside of academia. Experiences of religious microaggressions significantly predicted higher rates of depression in Study 2 (N = 383) and marginally in Study 3 (N = 129). Finally, Study 4 (N = 169) found that compared to other religious groups, Christians were stereotyped to lack science competency. Study 5 (N = 237) demonstrated that these stereotypes applied to Christian college students and was at a comparable rate to how women are stereotyped to lack scientific competency and interest. Study 6 (N = 93) demonstrated that these negative stereotypes cause Christian college students to become less interested in and identify less with sciences. They also caused Christian college students to underperform on science-relevant tasks, especially those students with a stronger religious identity (Study 7; N = 90). These studies reveal that stereotypes play a key role in pushing religious believers out of science. Implications and future directions in the representation of religious believers in academia and science fields are discussed. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material. / 2021-01-11

The present research examined how interactions with sexist men can trigger stereotype threat among women, undermining their engineering and mathematical performance. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the literatures on sexism and on stereotype threat. Chapter 2 validates a subtle sentence completion measure of sexism. In Chapter 3, male engineering students who scored highly on this sexism measure behaved in a dominant and sexually interested way towards an ostensible female classmate. In Chapter 4, female engineering students who interacted with such sexist men, or with confederates trained to behave in the same way, performed worse on an engineering test than women who interacted with nonsexist men. Chapter 5 conceptually replicated this finding and showed that women’s underperformance did not extend to an English test, an area in which women are not negatively stereotyped. Furthermore, interacting with sexist men lead women to suppress concerns about gender stereotypes, an established mechanism of stereotype threat. Chapter 6 discusses the implications for stereotype threat and for addressing barriers to women’s performance at school and in the workplace.

The present research examined how interactions with sexist men can trigger stereotype threat among women, undermining their engineering and mathematical performance. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the literatures on sexism and on stereotype threat. Chapter 2 validates a subtle sentence completion measure of sexism. In Chapter 3, male engineering students who scored highly on this sexism measure behaved in a dominant and sexually interested way towards an ostensible female classmate. In Chapter 4, female engineering students who interacted with such sexist men, or with confederates trained to behave in the same way, performed worse on an engineering test than women who interacted with nonsexist men. Chapter 5 conceptually replicated this finding and showed that women’s underperformance did not extend to an English test, an area in which women are not negatively stereotyped. Furthermore, interacting with sexist men lead women to suppress concerns about gender stereotypes, an established mechanism of stereotype threat. Chapter 6 discusses the implications for stereotype threat and for addressing barriers to women’s performance at school and in the workplace.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a series of the ¡§Gender Stereotype Threat Inventory¡¨(GSTI) of junior high school students in science classroom. The GSTI was included three scales: domain indentification, gender stereotype and learning environment. The GSTI was conducted to a total of 640 8th graders in Kaohsiung city. Results of the study were employed for internal consistency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Rasch modeling analysis, as well as the multiple invariance approach to test its reliability and validity. The result manifested that each scale had reasonable coefficient Cronbach alpha ranging from .73 to .85 and the overall model fit indices indicated that model fitted the oberserved data and had cross-validation. Finally, the results of gender stereotype threat in science classroom and implications for using the GSTI inventory in future research are presented.

There is plenty of research on effects of negative stereotypes on performance, but less is known about effects of positive stereotypes. Research examining effects of positive stereotypes on performance has found mixed, often competing, results; positive stereotypes have been shown to lead to performance decrements, performance boosts, both boosts and decrements, or neither. One goal of the current study was to examine how domain identification, mode of stereotype activation, group membership of social referents, and valence of performance feedback (i.e. threat salience antecedents) influence whether positive stereotypes harm or benefit performance. I asserted that different combinations of the aforementioned variables would result in differential levels of threat salience, which I define as feelings of stress or pressure that arise from a dynamic interplay between performance motivation, anxiety and self-efficacy. Furthermore, as threat salience increased performance boosts from the positively stereotyped identity were expected to decrease and eventually lead to performance decrements. I also aimed to pinpoint the exact condition, or level of threat salience, that would lead to the switch from performance boosts to performance decrements (i.e. a tipping point). The threat salience antecedents of social referent’s group membership and feedback valence were combined to create a 2 (male/negative feedback vs female/positive feedback) X 2 (implicit activation vs explicit activation) design with a measured causal antecedent (domain identification). Participants took part in a laboratory study utilizing the positive stereotype that females are better than males at verbal ability tasks. Before arriving to the lab, participants were required to complete measures of verbal ability domain identification. Upon arrival to the lab, participants completed one trial of verbal ability items before being exposed to one of the four combinations of threat salience antecedents; following the manipulations, participants completed a subsequent trial of verbal ability items. The results of the study did not support the hypotheses; greater threat salience was not found to lead to worse performance nor was there support for a tipping point whereby performance boosts shifted to performance decrements. Possible reasons for null findings are discussed along with implications of exploratory analyses. / Master of Science / Research on the impact of positive stereotypes on performance has often resulted in mixed conclusions, with some research finding evidence for performance boosts, some finding evidence for performance decrements, and some finding both or neither. The current study sought to demonstrate that certain variables (i.e. domain identification, mode of stereotype activation, group membership of social referents, and valence of performance feedback) impact whether positive stereotypes lead to increases or decreases in performance outcomes through presenting differential threat salience. Threat salience essentially being feelings of pressure or worry about contradicting a positive stereotype; said feelings are believed to be the result of a dynamic interplay between motivation, self-efficacy, and anxiety about performance outcomes. I hypothesized that as threat salience increased then performance would decrease, eventually causing performance boosts from positive stereotypes to switch to performance decrements. Furthermore, I aimed to identify the exact level of threat salience that resulted in a switch from performance boosts to performance decrements (i.e. a tipping point). The study results did not provide support for the hypotheses, nor was I able to identify a tipping point whereby performance switched from boosts to decrements. Implications of exploratory analyses are discussed, along with possible explanations for null findings.