Stereotype Boost and Stereotype Threat Effects: The Moderating Role of Ethnic Identification

Belonging to a stereotyped social group can affect performance in stereotype-relevant situations, often shifting performance in the direction of the stereotype. This effect occurs similarly for members of positively and negatively stereotyped groups (i.e.. stereotype boost and stereotype threat, respectively). This study examined ethnic group identification as a moderator of these effects in the math performance of Asian Americans and Latinos, who are positively and negatively stereotyped in this domain, respectively. Results showed that high ethnically identified Asian Americans performed better and high ethnically identified Latinos performed worse when an ethnicity-ethnic stereotype cue was present. The performance of low ethnically identified Asian Americans and Latinos was not affected by this cue.