'Be prepared': An implemental mindset for alleviating social‐identity threat. (12th April 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dennehy, Tara C.; Ben‐Zeev, Avi; Tanigawa, Noriko
• Is Part Of: British journal of social psychology. Volume 53:Part 3(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 585
• Page End: 594
• Publication Date: 2014-04-12
• Subjects: Social psychology -- Periodicals; 302.05
• DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12071
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-6665

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="bjso12071-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Stereotype threat occurs when people who belong to socially devalued groups experience a fear of negative evaluation, which interferes with the goal of staying task focused. The current study was designed to examine whether priming socially devalued individuals with an implemental (vs. a deliberative) mindset, characterized by forming <italic>a priori</italic> goal‐directed plans, would help these individuals to overcome threat‐induced distracting states. Participants from low and high socioeconomic status backgrounds (measured by maternal education; SES_m) completed a speeded mental arithmetic test, an intellectually threatening task. Low‐SES_m individuals performed comparably and exhibited similar confidence levels to high‐SES_m counterparts only when induced with an implemental mindset, suggesting that implemental mindset priming may help to create equity in the face of stereotype threat.</p> </abstract>