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Threatened to distraction: Mind-wandering as a consequence of stereotype threat

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Abstract

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the threat of a negative stereotype increases the frequency of mind-wandering (i.e., task-unrelated thought), thereby leading to performance impairments. Study 1 demonstrated that participants anticipating a stereotype-laden test mind-wandered more during the Sustained Attention to Response Task. Study 2 assessed mind-wandering directly using thought sampling procedures during a demanding math test. Results revealed that individuals experiencing stereotype threat experienced more off-task thoughts, which accounted for their poorer test performance compared to a control condition. These studies highlight the important role that social forces can have on mind-wandering. More specifically, these results serve as evidence for task-unrelated thought as a novel mechanism for stereotype threat-induced performance impairments.

Research Highlights

► Anticipating a stereotype-laden test leads to more task-unrelated thoughts. ► Mind-wandering mediates the impact of stereotype threat on performance. ► Stereotype threat may be ameliorated by targeted interventions focused on mind-wandering.

Section snippets

How stereotype threat affects attention and thought

Stereotype threat, defined as the risk of behaving in a way that substantiates a negative stereotype against one's group (Steele & Aronson, 1995), has emerged as a phenomenon of great theoretical and practical interest. Recent advances have revealed an integrated set of mechanisms that are responsible for these impairments (Schmader, Johns, & Forbes, 2008). These include an increased physiological stress response, more conscious monitoring of performance, and active regulation of negative

Mind-wandering under stereotype threat

Mind-wandering is defined as a decoupling of attention from the immediate task context toward unrelated concerns (Smallwood & Schooler, 2006). Previous research has indicated that mind-wandering can have detrimental effects on performance in several domains (e.g., Smallwood et al., 2008, Cheyne et al., 2009), and may play an important role in educational settings (Smallwood, Fishman, & Schooler, 2007). Moreover, just as situations of stereotype threat are most likely to impair performance on

Experimental overview

To test these hypotheses, two experiments were conducted employing methodological advances developed to measure mind-wandering. Study 1 tested the effect of stereotype threat on indirect performance markers of mind-wandering during the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART; Robertson, Manly, Andrade, Baddeley, & Yiend, 1997). Study 2 was designed to build on the first study by using thought sampling to directly measure task-unrelated mind-wandering during a demanding math test. These

Participants

43 female undergraduate students from the University of California Santa Barbara participated in exchange for course credit (mean age = 19.0, SD = 1.85).

Procedure

Study 1 was a between subjects design comparing the frequency of mind-wandering among women under stereotype threat to women in a control condition. Stereotype threat was induced by adapting a widely used manipulation to the specific task context of the present study (Schmader and Johns, 2003, Johns et al., 2005, Johns et al., 2008, Schmader et

Participants

72 female undergraduate students participated in exchange for course credit (mean age = 18.76, SD = .99).

Procedure

Study 2 manipulated stereotype threat in the same manner as Study 1. In Study 2, however, participants actually took a math test rather than the SART. The test contained 30 items from the quantitative portion of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). In the stereotype threat condition, the cover page of the exam read “QUANTITATIVE EXAMINATION” in bold print, and required that participants indicate

General discussion

The present research demonstrated that stereotype threat can increase mind-wandering, and in doing so, impair performance on tasks requiring focused attention. Study 1 found that females anticipating a stereotype threat-laden task underperformed on the SART, demonstrating a robust increase on several widely accepted markers of mind-wandering. Study 2 built on this finding using thought sampling to more directly measure mind-wandering during a demanding math task. Once again, females

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