Reading between the lines: Subtle stereotype threat cues can motivate performance

摘要

This research examined the impact of subtle stereotype threat cues (i.e., no mention of group differences) on motivation. Recent research suggests that blatant manipulations of threat motivate targets to attempt to disprove relevant stereotypes, but this motivation can, in turn, undermine performance. On the other hand, research suggests that subtle cues lead individuals to expend resources so as to reduce uncertainty about the presence of bias. We tested the possibility that subtle threat could also motivate individuals to try to disprove stereotypes. The results indicate that similar to blatant threat, subtle threat cues motivated participants, and this motivation directly led to worse performance in this research because of an over-reliance on traditional solution approaches and a lack of flexibility (i.e., inflexible perseverance).