Stereotype threat and social facilitation: how both affect math performance among white males

Stereotype threat and evaluation apprehension have both been individually shown to affect performance, either negatively on a difficult task, or positively on an easy task (Zajonc, 1965, Cottrell, 1968, Geen, 1981, Inzlicht, M & Ben-Zeev, 2000, OBrien & Crandall, 2003). In this study, stereotype threat and evaluation apprehension are manipulated to study the effect of the combination of both factors on test performance. Participants either took an easy or difficult math exam under stereotype threat, evaluation apprehension, both, or neither. The hypothesis of this study is that combining evaluation apprehension with stereotype threat causes participants taking easy math exams to score even higher than the control group, where as those taking difficult math exams score even lower. A significant 2-way interaction of evaluation apprehension and test difficulty was found, consistent with past research. However, contrary to past research, no significant 2-way interaction of stereotype threat and test difficulty was found. A 3-way interaction was found when stereotype threat, evaluation apprehension, and test difficulty was combined, but the trend did not support the hypothesis. Finally, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed