Another Top-secret Weapon For SP600125

Immigration, Achievement, and Stereotype Threat Stereotype threat is conceived as a state of psychological discomfort that is thought to arise when individuals are confronted with a negative stereotype about their own group in a situation in which the negative stereotype could be confirmed (Steele and Aronson, 1995; Steele et al., 2002). According to an integrative model of stereotype threat (Schmader et al., 2008; Schmader and Beilock, 2012) this state is characterized by the interplay of a physiological stress response, increased monitoring of the performance situation, and the regulation of negative thoughts and emotions. These processes consume working memory capacity, which is unavailable for the task at hand. The reduced working memory in turn leads to underperformance in cognitively challenging tasks (e.g., Schmader and Johns, 2003; Beilock et al., 2007). Stereotype threat is best known for its influence in testing situations. In line with the theoretical framework (e.g., Steele, 1997; Steele et al., 2002) several recent empirical studies furthermore connected stereotype threat to poorer learning and disidentification from school (e.g., Rydell et al., 2010; Appel et al., 2011; Taylor and Walton, 2011; Appel and Kronberger, 2012). Stereotype threat theory and research has put little emphasis on the distinction of stereotyped groups. Indeed, many of the main findings have been demonstrated for learn more samples of women as well as for samples of African Americans, despite important differences in stereotype content and breadth (Shapiro and Neuberg, 2007; Logel et al., 2012). Although Latinos in the US and immigrant groups in other countries outside the US are regularly mentioned in theoretical pieces and overview papers as potential targets of stereotype threat (cf. Inzlicht and Schmader, 2012), empirical studies are rare and an integrative review is missing. The passing attention paid to this group is particularly noteworthy in view of the overwhelming number of stereotype threat studies published in recent years. In stark contrast to this neglect are the systematic detrimental effects suffered by immigrants in educational systems around the globe. In most OECD countries, first generation immigrants (i.e., foreign-born immigrants) achieve lower scores in ability tests than students without immigration backgrounds. Second generation immigrants (i.e., immigrated before the age of six or at least one parent foreign-born) tend to score higher than first generation immigrants, but still fall short of non-immigrants (OECD, 2010). While language problems and low socio-economic status may be responsible for large parts of the achievement gap, a substantial part of the variance remains to be explained. Thus, it is of high interest to examine whether stereotype threat affects the cognitive performance of diverse immigrant groups in the same way as other minorities.