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December 11, 2006
Subtle Stereotype Triggers Can Affect Performance
Wow. I am becoming a big fan of Shankar Vedantam's column in The Washington Post. It's called "Department of Human Behavior" and I've posted about his articles before. (See "Apologies and Insanity" and "Birds of a Feather")
Today's article is more fascinating reading.
"With Subtle Reminders, Stereotypes Can Become Self-Fulfilling"
The article talks about how subtly reminding people of their gender or ethnicity can cause them to act more in accordance with associated stereotypes.
For instance, ask a group of women their stance on co-ed housing, a topic that triggers a recognition of their gender, and they are more likely to express a preference for art over math than a control group of women who are asked a question that did not involve gender.
And it works for both positive and negative stereotypes. Check out this quote from the article:
"When 5- to 7-year-old and 11- to 13-year-old Asian girls are subtly reminded of their Asian identity, they do better at math tests; when subtly reminded about their sex, they do worse."
Freaky huh?
I have long believed that we are affected by more than we realize and in ways we don't realize. (See my essay "Osmosis.") But this is new.
Reading the article I sensed it was somehow related to why I am so annoyed by how the people at the church I've been trying out keep asking me if my husband will be attending and would he attend if this and would he be interested in this other church function. I don't like being dealt with as if my gender and marital status are the only important things about me. Maybe being constantly reminded of those things and the associated stereotypes is what is bothering me about those church interactions. I haven't completely parsed my thoughts on the matter.
Vedantam's article has given me even more to think about.
I highly recommend you give his article a read.
Posted by Selena at December 11, 2006 08:25 AM