At the start of her calculus class, Professor Ann Siety tells her class that "while math majors do well in this class, non-science majors tend to earn very low grades." Steve, an English major who is already nervous about being in this class, remembers this statement all semester long, and during each exam, his anxiety becomes so overpowering that he forgets to answer many questions, and fails each one. His friend Jon, however, who is also an English major, missed the first class where the professor made her statement; he is nowhere near as nervous about the class as his friend. Steve's performance, relative to Jon's, can be seen as arising from:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Steve's poor performance can be attributed to stereotype threat, which is the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about a group to which you belong. In this case, Professor Siety's statement created a negative stereotype about non-science majors, causing Steve to feel anxious and leading him to underperform on exams. Jon did not experience this stereotype threat as he was not present when the statement was made.

At the Start of Her Calculus Class, Professor Ann Siety